ATTORNEY CLIENT PRIVILEGE YOUR ASS

 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

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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.