In a decision that bodes poorly for unionized employers, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently held that a union benefit fund was contractually entitled to conduct an audit whose scope far exceeded the...more
9/12/2022
/ Appellate Courts ,
Audits ,
Breach of Duty ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fund Managers ,
Labor-Managment Relations Act ,
Multiemployer Plan ,
Nurses ,
Self-Reporting ,
Trustees ,
Trusts
The recently published final regulation implementing last year’s massive multiemployer pension plan bailout contains a very thin silver lining, but overall, more bad news for already overburdened employers....more
Under the provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) as modified by the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act of 1980 (“MPPAA”), an employer who withdraws from a multiemployer pension plan is...more
An employer’s permanent cessation of contributions to a multiemployer pension plan can trigger withdrawal liability. This liability may reach affiliated trades or businesses with sufficient common ownership to be under...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
On May 11, 2021, the City Council of New York enacted a local law to establish a retirement savings program for certain employees of private entities.
What are the Details?
The new law creates a mandatory...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
For years, steep arbitration fees have made many employers think twice about contesting a questionable withdrawal liability determination. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s (PBGC) approval of a lower fee schedule may...more
In a white paper and technical explanations, Republican Senators Charles E. Grassley (Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance) and Lamar Alexander (Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and...more
A withdrawing employer must make withdrawal liability installment payments during the pendency of an arbitration proceeding contesting the existence of withdrawal liability, a federal court has affirmed, rejecting the...more
Section 104(b)(4) of ERISA provides that a plan administrator must respond to a written request for certain documents (including the plan documents and summary plan description) by a participant or beneficiary by providing...more
Congress enacted the withdrawal liability provisions of the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act (MPPAA) with the ultimate goal of protecting participants and beneficiaries entitled to benefits from multiemployer pension...more
As our earlier article reported, Judge Robert W. Sweet of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York had recently held that a multiemployer pension fund’s use of the “Segal Blend” to calculate a withdrawn...more
The expansion of the multiemployer pension plan successor withdrawal liability doctrine continues for asset purchasers. Establishing a constructive notice standard, the federal appellate court in San Francisco has ruled that...more
The district court erred in finding a multiemployer pension plan did not show sufficient continuity of business operations to support imposing successor liability on an asset purchaser, the federal appeals court in Chicago...more
Collective bargaining agreements, including those that establish ERISA plans, should be interpreted according to ordinary principles of contract law, the U.S. Supreme Court has reaffirmed in a per curiam opinion. CNH...more
3/6/2018
/ CBAs ,
CNH Industrial N.V. v Reese ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Contract Interpretation ,
Employee Benefits ,
Former Employee ,
Health Insurance ,
M&G Polymers v Tackett ,
Retirement ,
SCOTUS ,
Vested Benefits
Under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”), as amended by the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act (“MPPAA”), an employer that has assumed an obligation to contribute to collectively-bargained and...more