Withdrawal Liability

Reviews information that PBGC finds helpful and factors that PBGC considers in reviewing multiemployer plan proposals for alternative terms and conditions to satisfy withdrawal liability.

Clarifies that any multiemployer plan that is not amended to adopt a non-presumptive allocation method is required to allocate unfunded vested benefits using the presumptive method.

Addresses the meaning of “total amount contributed” for the purpose of the denominators in PBGC’s interim regulation on withdrawal liability alternative allocation methods.

Addresses the calculation of partial withdrawal liability and why the allocation fraction uses a ratio of contribution base units as opposed to contributions.

Addresses whether a withdrawal liability overpayment must be refunded by a multiemployer plan sponsor to an employer where the plan sponsor subsequently discovers the underlying calculation error and the employer had failed to initiate the plan review and arbitration process.

Addresses the calculation of reallocation liability when calculating withdrawal liability under the "presumptive method" and whether to include the unfunded vested benefits of an employer that is subject to the construction rule.

Addresses the determination of an employer's withdrawal date when the employer ceases to contribute because of a strike and is covered by the labor dispute exemption until a subsequent plan year when the labor dispute exemption expires.

Provides that a multiemployer plan may not declare an employer to be in default during the statutory 90-day period within which the employer may request review of a withdrawal liability assessment.

Addresses the distinction between a non-binding estimated withdrawal liability assessment for informational purposes and an "actual" withdrawal liability assessment.

Addresses the joint employer doctrine under the National Labor Relations Act and whether a company that leased employees from an outsourcing firm that was a contributing employer to a multiemployer plan, and that was required to contribute to the plan as a "joint employer" with the outsourcing firm, would be subject to withdrawal liability if its obligation to contribute permanently ceased.