Headlines about "Multiemployer plans"
Gathered from the web by the editors at BenefitsLink.com.
Union Membership, 2011
"In 2011, 7.6 million employees in the public sector belonged to a union, compared with 7.2 million union workers in the private sector. The union membership rate for public-sector workers (37.0 percent) was substantially higher than the rate for private-sector workers (6.9 percent)." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Multiple Employer Plans: Qualified Retirement Plans (PDF)
"[As an alternative to single employer plans, the 'MultipleEmployer Plan' or MEP is] being increasingly promoted by service providers as the panacea for eliminating fiduciary liability and administrative costs. The value proposition of a MEP can vary by operational design and type of plan at issue, but the common benefits of a MEP to an employer include the elimination of most plan sponsor functions such as an annual plan audit and Form 5500 filing, and some planfiduciary functions such as choosing which investment options will be available to plan participants." (The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. via K&L Gates LLP)
[Guidance Overview] 2012 Reporting & Disclosure Calendar for Multiemployer Plans (PDF)
"The [calendar] summarizes compliance requirements for multiemployer plans." (The Segal Group, Inc.)
New FASB Rules on Multiemployer Plan Disclosures: Where to Find the Information
"The new requirements ask employers to provide a lot of detail concerning the pension plans they contribute to. Some of the information will be readily available within the employer's own records, such as the amount of contributions made to each 'significant' plan and to all plans in the aggregate, as well as the expiration dates of collective bargaining agreements. However, much of the rest needs to be gathered with a little bit of help from the plans themselves." (Retirement Town Hall)
Philadelphia Orchestra Association Negotiating Split with National Musicians' Pension Fund
"Under discussion are the amounts the association would pay, and over what period of time, to the American Federation of Musicians and Employers' Pension Fund (AFM-EPF), said the orchestra association's lawyer, Lawrence G. McMichael. Although the association won't contribute to it anymore, the fund will still be responsible for providing some benefits players earn." (Philadelphia Media Network Inc.)
[Guidance Overview] Seventh Circuit Determines Solvent Companies Responsible for Withdrawal Liability of an Insolvent Affiliate
"Under ERISA, for purposes of computing withdrawal liability, all 'trades or businesses' under 'common control' are treated as constituting a single employer. Each such trade or business is jointly and severally liable for any withdrawal liability of any other. The district court held here that the solvent MCRI and MCOF were both trades or businesses that were under common control with insolvent SCOFBP at the relevant times, so that both MCRI and MCOF are liable for SCOFBP's withdrawal liability." (401k Fiduciary News)
[Official Guidance] EBSA Advisory Opinion 2011-10A: Where the Trust Fund Is Entity that Is Separate from, and Holds Assets that Are Not Part of, the Pension Plan
"[DOL was asked w]hether certain cash contributions to a pension plan by the Cement and Concrete Workers District Council Labor Management Cooperation Trust would result in prohibited transactions under section 406 of ERISA and section 4975 of the Code." (U.S. Employee Benefits Security Administration)
Pension Remains Contentious Issue for Automakers
"Three years after the bailout of two of Detroit's three automakers was set in motion, pensions for thousands of former employees throughout the domestic auto industry remain a contentious issue." (The Oakland Press)
[Official Guidance] Text of PBGC Notice of Pendency of Request for Approval of Special Withdrawal Liability Rules for the Cultural Institutions Pension Plan (PDF)
"This notice advises interested persons that [PBGC] has received a request from The Cultural Institutions Pension Plan for approval of a plan amendment providing for special withdrawal liability rules. . . . Such approval is granted [to a multiemployer pension plan] only if PBGC determines that the rules apply to an industry with characteristics that make use of the special rules appropriate and that the rules will notpose a significant risk to PBGC." (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)
[Guidance Overview] Fourth Circuit Holds Trustees Are Liable Only If Their Fiduciary Breach Caused the Plan's Loss
"In Plasterers' Local Union No. 96 Pension Plan v. Pepper, . . . the Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court's findings that trustees of a multi-employer pension plan breached ERISA fiduciary duties by not diversifying plan investments and by failing to prudently investigate investment alternatives for the plan. However, the district court's holding that the trustees were liable to the plan was reversed because the Fourth Circuit concluded that the lower court never undertook to determine what losses, if any, resulted from the trustees' breaches of duty." (Goodwin Procter LLP)
[Guidance Overview] Year-End Compliance Issues for Multiemployer Retirement Plan Sponsors (PDF)
This review looks at key areas that plan sponsors should address by December 31, 2011. (Milliman, Inc.)
Revised Edition of Trustee Handbook: A Guide to Labor-Management Employee Benefit Plans Released
"This tool is for all multiemployer plan trustees and administrators who are committed to fulfilling their fiduciary responsibilities. The book is a guide for professional providers who work with multiemployer plans." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)
Multiemployer Plans Look to Value-Based Health Care
"A new survey released by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans finds that in the last year, the number of multiemployer and public employer plans that consider their health and wellness offerings to be a part of a broader VBHC strategy more than doubled from 16% to 37%." (Employee Benefit News)
[Opinion] Government Worker Pensions ARE Wall Street
"In an editorial posted in January 2011 entitled 'Wall Street & Public Sector Unions,' we identified an irony still lost on the occupy movement's rank and file ? Wall Street is financed by the pension funds of unionized government workers. Every year, taxpayer funded government agencies pour hundreds of billions of dollars into Wall Street investment funds." (Union Watch)
Withdrawal Liability to Multi-Employer Pension Plans under ERISA (PDF)
"This paper is intended as a general guide to the withdrawal liability provisions of ERISA, which were added in 1980 by the Multi-Employer Pension Plan Amendments Act ('MPPAA') for practitioners and executives. It discusses the MPPAA's background and the operation of its major provisions, with some emphasis on litigation procedures. [This paper was included in the meeting materials for the 21st Annual National Institute on ERISA Litigation, presented by the American Bar Association's Joint Committee on Employee Benefits.]" (Vedder Price P.C.)
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