No More Missing Pieces: U.S. Department of Labor Issues Guidance on Missing Participants February 2, 2021 Share On January 12, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released additional guidance regarding plan fiduciaries’ duties to find and distribute benefits to missing retirement plan participants. This guidance is helpful because (1) prior guidance lacked clarity in the case of ongoing plans, and (2) missing participants have been a particular focus of DOL plan audits in recent years. What’s New in the Missing Participant Guidance? Red Flags The DOL’s guidance identifies the following items as “red flags” that may signal that the plan has an issue relating to missing or nonresponsive participants: