WHAT DOCUMENTS BELONG TO MEMBERS UNDER THE REAL LAW AND NOT UBC OR HACK LAWYERS DELUSIONS
When a plan participant or beneficiary
asks for information or documents relating
to the plan, ERISA is fairly specific about how the plan NEEDS TO BY FEDERAL LAW TO RESPOND
ERISA Sections 101(k), 104(b)(4)
and 105(a) set forth the principal rules
governing participant requests for in-
formation. If a request falls within the
categories enumerated in these sections, the plan must provide the information.
Specifically, the PPA added
ERISA Section 101(k), which requires
multiemployer plan administrators
to provide a copy of the following in-
formation when a participant or beneficiary, employee representative or
contributing employer requests it in
writing:
•
Any periodic actuarial report
(including any sensitivity testing)
received by a plan for any plan
year that has been in the plan’s
possession for at least 30 days
(including actuarial reports pre-
pared in connection with the
plan’s annual valuation or pursu-
ant to the requirements for plans
in endangered or critical status)
•
Any quarterly, semiannual
or annual financial
report prepared for
the plan by any investment manager
or advisor or other fiduciary
that has been in the plan’s
possession for at least 30 days
-
Section 3(2) of Title I of ERISA to include: “[A]ny plan, fund, or program . . . established or maintained by an employer or employee organization, or by both, to the extent that by its express terms or as a result of surrounding circumstances such plan, fund or program . . . (ii) results in a deferral of income by employees for periods extending to the termination of covered employment or beyond . . .”
The term “employee organization,” defined in section 3(4) of ERISA,
in pertinent part, includes “any labor union or any organization of any
kind . . . in which employees participate and which exists for the
purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with employers concerning an
employee benefit plan, or other matters incidental to employment
relationships; or any employees’ beneficiary association organized for
the purpose in whole or in part, of establishing such a plan.”
Section 3(5) of ERISA provides that the term “employer” means “any
person acting directly as an employer, or indirectly in the interest of
an employer, in relation to an employee benefit plan; and includes a
group or association of employers acting for an employer in such
capacity.”
The term “plan sponsor” is defined in section 3(16) of ERISA as (i)
the employer in the case of an employee benefit plan established or
maintained by a single employer, (ii) the employee organization in the
case of a plan established or maintained by an employee organization, or
(iii) in the case of a plan established or maintained by two or more
employers or jointly by one or more employers and one or more employee
organizations, the association, committee, joint board of trustees, or
other similar group of representatives of the parties who establish or
maintain the plan.
