Amazingly, the government has had to require businesses that provide accounting, recordkeeping, legal and other services to 401(k) plans to tell employers just how much they are being paid -- and if they have any conflicts of interest. Read my earlier story about this.

Today, the Labor Department says plan service providers must start disclosing their fees by July 1. This is three months later than earlier proposed.

The department also requires that employers tell workers how much it costs them to participate in their 401(k). Fees for recordkeeping and other administrative costs are often shifted onto workers, who often have no idea this is happening, let alone how much they are paying.

Because Labor is giving service providers more time to disclose their fees, this pushes back the deadline for workers to get fee information. Workers now must start getting disclosures by Aug. 30.