Guidance Document Database

A participant who has completed the requisite number of years of service and has attained retirement age has a nonforfeitable vested benefit in the plan, even if he has not ended his employment as the time of plan termination.

Addresses the calculation of withdrawal liability in a situation where several members of a controlled group have an obligation to contribute to the same multiemployer pension plan and are sold or liquidated in a series of transactions.

Economist is a professional individual for purposes of the Professional Service Employer plan coverage exemption.

Addresses the circumstances under which a bankruptcy proceeding may give rise to withdrawal liability.

A terminated multiemployer plan cannot transfer assets and liabilities to other multiemployer plans pursuant to reciprocity agreement.

Regards a statutory provision under which a contributing employer to a multiemployer plan that sells its assets to an unrelated buyer does not withdraw from the plan if (among other things) the buyer posts a bond or escrow for 5 years and the sales contract makes the seller secondarily liable if the buyer withdraws during the 5 plan years after the sale. This opinion letter addresses whether the buyer may escrow a letter of credit instead of cash.

Discusses that change of insurance carrier is not a termination nor a reportable event

Discusses premium payment obligations under specific circumstances.

Merger/transfer rules do not apply to merger of a welfare fund and pension fund.

Physician-secretary is a Professional Service Employer plan exempt from Title IV coverage.

A trust under a plan must be "created or organized" in the "United States" and be "maintained at all times as a

Plan is not an Individual account plan and is not exempt from coverage under Title IV.

A plan without a written plan document is not a qualified plan and is excluded from coverage.

Addresses whether the construction industry exception to withdrawal applies where a contractor terminates its CBA, 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.

Addresses whether or not an 18-month contribution holiday is a partial withdrawal.

Addresses effects on withdrawal liability of a proposed transfer of benefit liabilities from a multiemployer plan to a single-employer plan.

Look to plan documents to determine plan administrator

Assets intended to fund insurance company annuities, but which are retained by the plan are subject to allocation procedures.

Real estate broker is not a professional individual for purposes of the Professional Service Employer plan exemption.

Corrects opinion letter 85-1 and addresses calculation of withdrawal liability installment payments other than on a quarterly schedule.

Plan has not met conditions for coverage since ERISA enacted; Title IV doesn’t apply to the termination of the plan.

“Licensed” or “registered” engineers are “public” engineers under ERISA 4021(c)(2)(B) and the plan is exempt under the Professional Service Employer plan exemption.

Addresses applicability to construction industry employers of the sale-of-assets limitation on withdrawal liability.

Whether the method of distribution proposed for a plan is acceptable when the plan administrator is terminating its DB plan and creating a DC plan.

Reaffirms PBGC’s prior review of its determination that a severance benefit provided by the plan is not a guaranteed benefit because it is not a benefit that is payable as an annuity or one or more payments related thereto.