Donald Snyder, former director of the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC), forfeited his right to pension benefits when he was convicted of engaging in “a scheme to defraud the people of the state of Illinois,” Attorney General Lisa Madigan said.

Gregory Lockhart, owner of Laser Saver Inc., a printer cartridge remanufacturer in Columbus, has pleaded guilty to willful failure to file financial reports for the company’s 401(k) plan with the U.S. Department of Labor.

As the impact of the global economic crisis takes hold, a quarter of U.S. employers expect to make layoffs in the next 12 months—if they haven’t already done so. However, most companies are focusing on increased employee communication and smaller cost-saving measures, according to a survey by Watson Wyatt, a leading global consulting firm.

Gov. Jon Corzine signed into law a new benefits package for state employees that raised the retirement age from 60 to 62 and increased the minimum salary workers must earn before being eligible for pension benefits. Now state government employees must earn at least $7,500 per year to qualify for a pension. The previous minimum was $500.

Companies that self-administer their ERISA benefits plans, take note: Because your benefits decisions carry an implied conflict of interest (since rejecting a request for benefits such as retirement or payment of a medical bill means spending fewer company assets), courts expect your decisions to be transparent and based on good documentation.

New research shows that more workers of retirement age are staying in their current jobs or returning to work, in part because of the sinking economy and dwindling nest eggs.

Many of these older employees aren’t seeking full-time return at their past pay rates. They’re hunting for “bridge jobs,” lower-pay, part-time posts that they’ll want for about five years.

A cash-balance pension plan is one in which the employer contributes a set amount each month on behalf of an employee. The employee eventually collects pension benefits based on the cash balance in his or her account. Some employees have claimed that such plans favor younger employees and therefore are illegal ...

Here’s a new resource for HR pros who work for state and local governments: You’ll find detailed, defined-contribution data for the 20 primary plans operated by state governments at http://tinyurl.com/SLGEstatepensiondata.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has unveiled a new online calculator that allows people to estimate their monthly Social Security benefit checks based on their retirement dates. Go to www.socialsecurity/gov.estimator.

Two years ago, Congress made it easier to automatically enroll your employees in the company’s 401(k) plan. The law gave employers the green light to run their 401(k) plans as opt-out plans, rather than opt-in. The result: 42% of 401(k) plans now include an auto-enroll feature ...

New regulations proposed by the U.S. Department of Labor would require employers with 401(k) plans to disclose more information to employees about plan-related fees and investment performance ...

The Altoona City Council fired Police Officer Herrick Johnson on Sept. 10 for allegedly having sex with a 16-year-old girl he met online. Johnson, 49, met the girl through a web site that promoted law enforcement careers ...

The New Jersey Department of the Treasury has received court approval to invest $9 billion of the state’s public employee pension fund in alternative investments, including hedge funds, in an attempt to improve performance in a sluggish market.

New regulations proposed by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) would require fiduciaries of 401(k) plans to disclose more information to employees about plan-related fees and investment performance. The goal: Allow employees to “peek behind the curtain” of the fees they pay for their 401(k)s ...