Most Employers Don't Know They're Already on the List
The DOL doesn't audit randomly. It looks for patterns, and those patterns come straight from your Form 5500. Filing late, missing a schedule, or misreporting participant counts, any one of those puts you in the review queue.
The question isn't whether the DOL is watching. It's whether your filing gives them a reason to stop.
The Audit Threshold Rule Most Plans Get Wrong
According to Trullion's 2026 401(k) Audit Requirements Guide, most plans with 100 or more participants must attach an independent CPA audit to their Form 5500. That participant count is based on the first day of the prior plan year, not the current one.
Before 2023, the DOL counted every eligible employee, including people who never contributed a dollar and carried a $0 balance. That rule changed. But plenty of plan sponsors are still counting wrong, or still unclear on which year's headcount actually applies.
Missing the audit requirement entirely is a direct red flag. NESA 401k lists it explicitly as one of the triggers that draws DOL attention on large plan filings.
The Four Things the DOL Is Actively Looking For in 2026
These aren't hypothetical. They're the patterns the DOL's enforcement team uses to flag filings for follow-up.
- Late employee contributions. Payroll deductions must hit the plan as soon as administratively feasible. Per NESA 401k, late deposits must be corrected under IRS guidelines, including making affected employees whole for lost earnings. The amount must be reported on the 5500.
- Delinquent loan repayments. KMCO notes that late loan repayments are treated as prohibited transactions, reported on a supplemental schedule, and disclosed directly on the filing.
- Missing participants. At the end of December 2024, the DOL activated a formal "Retirement Savings" missing participants enforcement initiative. Per Harter Secrest & Emery LLP, plans are now expected to have documented procedures for bad addresses, uncashed checks, and nonresponsive payees.
- Abandoned plans. ERISA Litigation & Compliance flagged abandoned plan identification as a specific 2026 enforcement priority, including whether a qualified custodian has been designated.
Deadlines and Dollar Limits That Matter Right Now
For plans with year-ends falling on 9/1, the 5500 filing deadline was 3/31/2026. Plans in Texas, New Mexico, and West Virginia under special extensions had a 2/2/2026 deadline, according to Wrangle 5500.
Missing either date isn't a technicality. It's a penalty trigger.
The 2026 elective deferral limit is $24,500, with updated catch-up contribution limits per IRS cost-of-living adjustments. LBMC's 2026 Employee Benefit Plan Regulatory Updates covers the full breakdown. If your plan allowed contributions above the limit, that's a compliance issue sitting inside your 5500 data.
| Trigger | Filing Impact | DOL Action |
|---|---|---|
| Late contributions | Must report | Correction required |
| Missing audit | Incomplete filing | Direct flag |
| Loan delinquencies | Supplemental schedule | Prohibited txn |
| Missing participants | Procedures required | Enforcement initiative |
| Abandoned plans | Custodian check | 2026 priority |
| Wrong headcount | Audit threshold error | Review queue |
What You Should Do Before the Next Filing
Pull last year's 5500 and look at it the way the DOL does. Did every payroll deposit hit the plan on time? Are there uncashed checks sitting in a drawer somewhere?
Is your participant count based on the right plan year? If you're not sure, that uncertainty is the problem.
The DOL isn't looking for bad intent. It's looking for sloppy processes, and your 5500 tells that story whether you mean it to or not. Fix the process first. Then file.