Guidance Document 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 81-10 | 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 85-31 | 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 81-30 | 9-22-1981 | PBGC Op Let 81-30 | Governmental plan, Coverage | Plan meets the Governmental plan coverage exemption. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 84-08 | 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 83-16 | 7-12-1983 | PBGC Op Let 83-16 | Governmental plan, Coverage | Government contractors are not excluded from PBGC coverage. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 82-08 | 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 80-01 | 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 75-11 | 1-14-1975 | PBGC Op Let 75-11 | Interest, Penalties | PBGC is not authorized to waive interest charges on late premium payments. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 84-07 | 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 81-26 | 8-24-1981 | PBGC Op Let 81-26 | Residual assets | Addresses the distribution of residual assets to an employer. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 94-03 | 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 |
Opinion Letter 86-27 | 12-17-1986 | PBGC Op Let 86-27 | Termination | PBGC disapproves proposed plans that an employer wishes to adopt because they would effect an impermissible continuation of terminated plans for which guaranteed benefits are being paid. |
3-5-2020 |
Opinion Letter 89-03 | 4-18-1989 | PBGC Op Let 89-03 | Mass Withdrawal, Reallocation liability, Multiemployer | Addresses whether, based on an employer's date of withdrawal, that employer is subject to reallocation liability in the event of a mass withdrawal termination. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 76-28 | 2-24-1976 | PBGC Op Let 76-28 | Coverage | Advises that defined contribution plans which defined benefit features may be subject to coverage. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 86-02 | 1-31-1986 | PBGC Op Let 86-02 | Pre-MPPAA withdrawals, Multiemployer, Withdrawal Liability | Addresses a question as to what constitutes a facility for purposes of determining what CBUs get excluded due to a pre-1980 closure of a facility. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 98-02 | 5-20-1998 | PBGC Op Let 98-2 | Governmental plan, Coverage | Plan does not meet the Governmental plan exemption from coverage. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 84-01 | 1-4-1984 | PBGC Op Let 84-1 | Premiums | For a plan that is being divided into 18 plans, participants should not be double counted for the purpose of premiums. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 77-129 | 2-9-1977 | PBGC Op Let 77-129 | Residual assets | Each participant is entitled to a share of the excess plan assets where the plan does not provide for return of excess assets to employer upon plan termination. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 75-116 | 12-31-1975 | PBGC Op Let 75-116 | Withdrawal, Termination | Discusses the difference between a multiemployer plan and a multiple employer plan and the termination provisions applicable to the latter. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 83-23 | 9-23-1983 | PBGC Op Let 83-23 | Mass Withdrawal, Multiemployer, Withdrawal Liability | This opinion letter declines to provide an opinion on the meaning of “substantially all” for the purposes of determining whether a substantially all mass withdrawal has occurred. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 85-20 | 8-2-1985 | PBGC Op Let 85-20 | Asset Sale Exception, Multiemployer | Addresses bond waivers and withdrawal liability and how regulations do not apply to the liquidation bond upon seller’s liquidation. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 81-35 | 10-26-1981 | PBGC Op Let 81-35 | Benefit guarantee | Addresses the calculation of guaranteed benefits; PBGC measures benefits using plan factors at date of plan termination. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 82-40 | 12-27-1982 | PBGC Op Let 82-40 | Withdrawal, Multiemployer | Regards a statutory provision under which a contributing employer to a multiemployer plan does not withdraw from the plan because it ceases to exist due to a change in organizational form if there is no interruption in the employer's contributions or obligation to contribute; addresses whether that exception to withdrawal applies to an employer that sells its assets where the purchaser takes over the seller's name, plant, and employees. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 81-13 | 5-13-1981 | PBGC Op Let 81-13 | Governmental plan, Coverage | A plan maintained by a company under contract to provide services for a Federal agency does not meet the Governmental plan coverage exemption. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 79-07 | 4-17-1979 | PBGC Op Let 79-7 | Benefit guarantee | $20 minimum in the regulation is not subject to actuarial adjustment for the participant’s age at the time the benefit started. |
2-28-2020 |