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Guidance documents database
The documents listed below are PBGC’s guidance documents. The contents of these documents do not have the force and effect of law, unless expressly authorized by statute or incorporated into a contract, and are not meant to bind the public in any way. These documents are intended only to provide clarity to the public regarding existing requirements under the law or agency policies.
If you would like to comment on an existing guidance document, please submit your comment, including your contact information, to the General Counsel at GuidanceComments@pbgc.gov or at Regulatory Affairs Division, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, Office of the General Counsel, 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20024-2101.
| Title | Issuance Date | Agency Identifier (indexed field) | Topics | Summary | Posted Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opinion Letter 81-019 | 7-1-1981 | PBGC Op Let 81-19 | Withdrawal, Construction industry, sale of assets, Multiemployer | Addresses the applicability of the “sale of assets exception: to the construction industry complete withdrawal rules. |
2-28-2020 |
| Opinion Letter 76-007 | 1-14-1976 | PBGC Op Let 76-7 | Individual account plan, Coverage | Title IV does not cover Individual account plans or welfare plans. |
2-28-2020 |
| Opinion Letter 85-013 | 5-28-1985 | PBGC Op Let 85-13 | Partial Withdrawal, Multiemployer, Withdrawal Liability | Addresses the calculation of partial withdrawal liability and why the allocation fraction uses a ratio of contribution base units as opposed to contributions. |
2-28-2020 |
| Opinion Letter 81-012 | 5-13-1981 | PBGC Op Let 81-12 | Allocation of assets, Multiemployer, Withdrawal Liability | Addresses the meaning of “total amount contributed” for the purpose of the denominators in PBGC’s interim regulation on withdrawal liability alternative allocation methods. |
2-28-2020 |
| Opinion Letter 97-002 | 12-29-1997 | PBGC Op Let 97-2 | Professional service employer plan, Coverage | Surveying and engineering design consultant is a professional individual for purposes of the Professional Service Employer plan coverage exemption. |
2-28-2020 |
| Opinion Letter 83-018 | 8-5-1983 | PBGC Op Let 83-18 | Withdrawal, Multiemployer | Addresses whether incorporation of a sole proprietorship constitutes a withdrawal from a multiemployer pension plan where the successor corporation becomes party to the collective bargaining agreement and continues to contribute to the plan on behalf of its employees for the same operations for which contributions were previously contributed by the sole proprietor. |
2-28-2020 |
| Opinion Letter 77-163 | 8-30-1977 | PBGC Op Let 77-163 | Professional service employer plan, Coverage | Licensed clinical laboratory bio-analyst is a professional individual for purposes of the Professional Service Employer plan exemption. |
2-28-2020 |
| Opinion Letter 85-007 | 3-4-1985 | PBGC Op Let 85-7 | Residual assets, Allocation of assets | Termination is not subject to the spin-off/termination requirements of the implementation guidelines involving asset reversions since no assets will revert to the plan sponsor. |
2-28-2020 |
| Opinion Letter 87-006 | 7-15-1987 | PBGC Op Let 87-6 | Termination | All affected parties may submit comments to PBGC on a proposed distress termination. |
2-28-2020 |
| Opinion Letter 78-021 | 9-19-1978 | PBGC Op Let 78-21 | Professional service employer plan, Coverage | Embalmer and funeral director is not a professional individual for purposes of the Professional Service Employer plan exemption. |
2-28-2020 |
| Opinion Letter 75-040 | 8-12-1975 | PBGC Op Let 75-40 | Welfare plans, Coverage | Welfare plans are not covered under Title IV. |
2-28-2020 |
| Opinion Letter 81-018 | 6-29-1981 | PBGC Op Let 81-18 | Residual assets | Addresses the distribution of residual assets to an employer. |
2-28-2020 |
| Opinion Letter 85-002 | 1-14-1985 | PBGC Op Let 85-2 | Plans covered | A restated plan document created an aggregate of single plans and not a single pension plan, with a valid allocation of assets among those separate plans. |
2-28-2020 |
| Opinion Letter 74-021 | 12-13-1974 | PBGC Op Let 74-21 | Coverage | Profit sharing plans are excluded from coverage under Title IV. |
2-28-2020 |
| Opinion Letter 01-002 | 3-16-2001 | PBGC Op Let 2001-2 | Contributing employer, Multiemployer | Addresses whether a multiemployer plan with only one remaining contributing employer continues to be a multiemployer plan. |
2-28-2020 |
| Opinion Letter 81-010 | 5-5-1981 | PBGC Op Let 81-10 | tax qualification, Termination, Coverage | A plan that in practice met the criteria for tax qualification for five years prior to its termination date was covered under Title IV at plan termination. |
2-28-2020 |
| Opinion Letter 85-031 | 12-30-1985 | PBGC Op Let 85-31 | Asset Sale Exception, Multiemployer, Withdrawal Liability | Addresses the bond / escrow requirements of section 4204 of ERISA which, if satisfied along with the other 4204 requirements, mean that a sale of assets by a contributing employer will not constitute a withdrawal from a multiemployer plan. |
2-28-2020 |
| Opinion Letter 81-030 | 9-22-1981 | PBGC Op Let 81-30 | Governmental plan, Coverage | Plan meets the Governmental plan coverage exemption. |
2-28-2020 |
| Opinion Letter 84-008 | 12-27-1984 | PBGC Op Let 84-08 | Construction industry, Multiemployer, Withdrawal Liability | Addresses whether the construction industry exception to withdrawal applies where a contractor's CBA expires, its employees do not perform any more work for which the contractor was previously required to make contributions, but the contractor subcontracts for the performance of such work. |
2-28-2020 |
| Opinion Letter 83-016 | 7-12-1983 | PBGC Op Let 83-16 | Governmental plan, Coverage | Government contractors are not excluded from PBGC coverage. |
2-28-2020 |
| Opinion Letter 82-008 | 3-25-1982 | PBGC Op Let 82-08 | Unrelated buyer, Multiemployer, Withdrawal Liability | Addresses the meaning of the term "the unfunded vested benefits attributable to employees of the employer" for purposes of the cap on the unfunded vested benefits attributable to employees of an employer that sold substantially all of its assets to an unrelated buyer. |
2-28-2020 |
| Opinion Letter 80-001 | 1-10-1980 | PBGC Op Let 80-1 | Employer liability, Governmental plan | State liability with respect to private-sector plans to which employees contribute. |
2-28-2020 |
| Opinion Letter 84-007 | 12-20-1984 | PBGC Op Let 84-07 | Corporate transactions, Multiemployer, Withdrawal Liability | Addresses whether a withdrawal would take place if a corporation transfers all of its assets to one of its divisions and whether a withdrawal occurs in the event of a stock sale if contributions to the plan continue. |
2-28-2020 |
| Opinion Letter 81-026 | 8-24-1981 | PBGC Op Let 81-26 | Residual assets | Addresses the distribution of residual assets to an employer. |
2-28-2020 |
| Opinion Letter 94-003 | 8-2-1994 | PBGC Op Let 94-03 | Multiemployer, Withdrawal Liability | Addresses mass withdrawal generally, the effect of a "substantially all" mass withdrawal on the de minimis reduction and 20-year cap, and the meanings of "substantially all" and "agreement or arrangement". |
2-28-2020 |