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 86-21 | 9-29-1986 | PBGC Op Let 86-21 | Multiemployer, Withdrawal Liability | Addresses (1) how withdrawal liability should be assessed when the contributing employer is a partnership, and (2) whether an employer continues to perform work of the type and jurisdiction covered by a collective bargaining agreement for purposes of determining whether a withdrawal has occurred. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 89-01 | 2-8-1989 | PBGC Op Let 89-1 | Asset reversion | PBGC’s position requiring distribution of assets as soon as practicable after PBGC’s 60-day review does not apply to surplus assets when there is a dispute concerning distribution. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 80-13 | 6-20-1980 | PBGC Op Let 80-13 | Professional service employer plan, Coverage | Provider of advertising and public relations services is not a professional individual for purposes of the Professional Service Employer plan exemption. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 82-10 | 3-26-1982 | PBGC Op Let 82-10 | Mass Withdrawal, Multiemployer | Addresses a plan sponsor’s obligations when a plan terminates by mass withdrawal, including the payment of benefits to participants in a terminated plan. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 80-11 | 6-9-1980 | PBGC Op Let 80-11 | Professional service employer plan, Coverage | Artist-designer is not a professional individual for purposes of the Professional Service Employer plan exemption. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 83-06 | 2-10-1983 | PBGC Op Let 83-6 | Benefit guarantee | Laid-off employees may accrue guaranteed benefits up to date of plan termination. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 75-05 | 4-24-1975 | PBGC Op Let 75-5 | Individual account plan | Individual account plan is exempt from coverage under Title IV. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 81-02 | 2-24-1981 | PBGC Op Let 81-2 | Governmental plan, Coverage | Plan meets the Governmental plan coverage exemption. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 75-19 | 1-9-1975 | PBGC Op Let 75-19 | Substantial owners plan, Professional service employer plan, Coverage | Addresses the Professional Service Employer plan and Substantial Owner plan coverage exemptions. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 85-32 | 12-31-1985 | PBGC Op Let 85-32 | sale of assets, Multiemployer, Withdrawal Liability | Addresses whether an employer that has withdrawn from a multiemployer plan may be relieved of withdrawal liability by a subsequent sale of assets. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 75-06 | 1-21-1975 | PBGC Op Let 75-6 | Plan year | A plan year is the fiscal year on which the records of a plan are kept. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 02-1 | 12-10-2002 | PBGC Op Let 02-1 | Restoration | PBGC has no legal authority to terminate and then restore a pension plan in order to implement more lenient funding requirements for the successor plan. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 79-08 | 4-25-1979 | PBGC Op Let 79-8 | Allocation of assets, Benefits | How to determine eligibility for a “Category 3 Benefit,” which is a benefit of a participant who retired, or could have retired, 3 years or more before the plan terminated. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 83-12 | 5-20-1983 | PBGC Op Let 83-12 | Standard termination | Standard termination of plans and establishment of new plans that do not include past service credits will not cause PBGC to reject a proper notice of intent to terminate. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 76-37 | 3-15-1976 | PBGC Op Let 76-37 | Benefit guarantee | Discusses how the five-year phase-in rule impacts guarantee of certain recent benefit increases and that certain early retirement supplements are not guaranteed. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 82-32 | 10-28-1982 | PBGC Op Let 82-32 | Multiemployer, Dispute Resolution, Withdrawal Liability | Addresses the procedure to follow when parties to a dispute over withdrawal liability do not agree on the selection of an arbitrator. PBGC adopted a rule addressing the issue. (See 29 CFR § 4221.4.) |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 82-03 | 2-2-1982 | PBGC Op Let 82-3 | Church plans, Coverage | Plan meets the Church plan coverage exemption. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 76-91 | 7-9-1976 | PBGC Op Let 76-91 | Individual account plan | A plan amendment that preserves a defined benefit does not allow a plan to fit under the individual account exemption from coverage. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 76-34 | 3-8-1976 | PBGC Op Let 76-34 | Voluntary plan termination, Termination | Involuntary termination requirements in section 4042(a) do not apply to voluntary terminations under section 4041. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 86-23 | 10-15-1986 | PBGC Op Let 86-23 | Multiemployer, Withdrawal Liability | Addresses abatement when a contributing employer withdraws and then acquires a division of a company that contributions to the same plan. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 75-110 | 7-15-1975 | PBGC Op Let 75-110 | Individual account plan, Coverage | Individual account plan is exempt from coverage. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 86-15 | 6-30-1976 | PBGC Op Let 86-15 | Coverage, Premiums | A fully insured plan is covered under Title IV and must pay premiums to PBGC. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 81-04 | 3-12-1981 | PBGC Op let 81-4 | Residual assets, Allocation of assets | A plan document’s provision allowing for reversion of residual plan assets to the plan sponsor was invalid and therefore residual assets were required to be distributed to participants. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 87-10 | 9-15-1987 | PBGC Op Let 87-10 | Suspension, Termination | PBGC suspended the processing of a plan termination following receipt of a letter from a union that the termination of the plan violated the terms of a collective bargaining agreement. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 00-01 | 1-27-2000 | PBGC Op Let 00-1 | Multiemployer, Withdrawal Liability | The sponsor of a multiemployer plan, other than a plan that primarily covers employees in the building and construction industry, may adopt any of the statutory allocation methods and any of the modifications set forth in §§ 4211.12 and 4211.13, without PBGC’s approval. PBGC will not opine on whether such adoption is consistent with trustees’ fiduciary duties. |
2-28-2020 |