The Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act of 1974 (MPPAA) was enacted purposefully by Congress to seize moneys from contributing employers to fund multiemployer defined benefit pension funds regardless of the employers’...more
Withdrawal liability is a statutory obligation under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) that any unionized employer may have to confront. Exemptions from liability include one applicable to construction...more
A most basic precept of the law is the attorney-client privilege. A litigant being able to speak freely and completely with his or her counsel without the fear of the conversation being revealed has been a cornerstone of...more
The Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act (MPPAA), the Employee Retirement Income Security Act’s (ERISA) progeny, can create significant unexpected liabilities for companies that have agreed to collective bargaining...more
Individuals who serve as a fiduciaries to their company’s retirement plan often feel they may not be sufficiently informed or qualified to make prudent decisions for the plan. They might ask themselves: “How do I know which...more
On July 9, 2021, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) issued its interim final rule on the process for eligible troubled Multiemployer Pension Plans (MEPPs) to apply for and obtain Special Financial Assistance...more
In the clamor that surrounded the current administration’s adoption of the American Rescue Act of 2021 (ARPA), quietly tucked in as Subtitle H is the Butch Lewis Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act of 2021 (Butch Lewis). Butch...more
By now, plan fiduciaries and their service providers likely have heard about the DOL’s cybersecurity guidance. The Department of Labor’s stepping into cybersecurity in this way – a posting of best practices on the agency’s...more
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 includes a modified version of the Butch Lewis Act, referred to as the Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act of 2021 (EPPRA), which restores to financial health more than 100 failing...more
3/16/2021
/ American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Insolvency ,
Joe Biden ,
MPRA ,
Multi-Employer Pensions ,
Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act (MPPAA) ,
Multiemployer Plan ,
Pensions ,
Relief Measures ,
Withdrawal Liability
I – Overview of the Butch Lewis Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act-
The much-heralded Butch Lewis Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act of 2021 (the “Butch Lewis Act of 2021”) is closer to becoming a reality as part of the...more
What could be in the next stimulus bill in response to the COVID-19 pandemic? Congress reportedly is working on a bill (dubbed “Stimulus 3.5”) that includes additional funding for the Paycheck Protection Program created by...more
The effect of the coronavirus (COVID-19) on businesses and individuals is unprecedented and staggering. Many employers have or soon will be forced to implement some type of COVID-19-related workforce reduction, which can have...more
Since its passage late in 1980, the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act (MPPAA) has proven to be a hindrance to the profitable operations of employers that contribute to multiemployer pension funds by imposing a...more
The Segal Group is the premier actuarial firm in the country providing services for hundreds of multi-employer pension funds. For almost 40 years it has used its own methodology, known as the “Segal Blend” to calculate...more
The aging of the baby boomer generation has increased the level of scrutiny with which the Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (“EBSA”) will review the efforts of pension plans to locate missing...more
This is another blog on our monitoring the status of defined benefit multi-employer pension funds. Since this author last wrote to you, it has been revealed that the Central States Pension Fund is scheduled to become...more
In a decision that could have far-reaching implications for multiemployer pension plans and employers, a federal district court has held that the use of the “Segal Blend” to calculate a company’s withdrawal liability when it...more
This is the most recent article in our series which focuses on the impact on employers of the downward spiral and death knell of the multi-employer defined benefit plan.
The Eleventh Circuit has dealt another blow to...more
The New York Teamsters Road Carriers Local 707 Pension Fund (the “Local 707 Pension Fund”) is dead, reportedly having run out of money in early March 2017.
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (“PBGC”) the federal...more
This is another article in our series addressing the continued deterioration and downward spiral of multi-employer defined benefit pension funds and the resulting impact upon participants, unions and most importantly on...more
This is another in our series addressing the continuing deterioration of multi-employer defined benefit pension plans.
Regardless of the identity of the next tenant of the White House, a major item on the new...more
The precarious financial status of some multiemployer benefit funds has led to criminal indictment against non-contributors. This troubling expansion of potential sanctions for failure to make required contributions to...more
In the aftermath of the rejection of the Central States Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Plan (“Central States”) application to reduce core benefits by Treasury Special Master Kenneth Feinberg, it is critical that...more
For the past several months, we have been reporting on the application filed by the Central States Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund (“Central States”) to the Department of Treasury to reduce “core” benefits to...more