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The answer is YOU ABSOLUTELY MAY NOT allow this one union member in the plan UNLESS the bargaining unit has provided for such a benefit in the bargaining agreement that covers these folks. If you let him in and the bargaining agreement does not permit it, you have engaged in an unfair labor practice. Letting the one employee in without negotiating the benefit is a forbidden union "busting" technique. This is also the reason why every non-collectively bargained plan of any sort should exclude collectively bargained employees. My limited experience is that the bargaining unit will not likely permit one member in and not the others. Bill William D. Roberts Attorney ebplans@hallrender.com | vCard | @hallrender on Twitter Hall, Render, Killian, Heath & Lyman, P.C. 603 Munger Avenue, Suite 350 | Dallas, TX 75202 D: (502) 568-9364 | C: (502) 314-6667 | F: (214) 615-2001

I, as an ERPA, get to pick the beer for the office on Fridays. But really, I think it's just stuff like that....VCP applications, determination letters, and audits of plans other than any actuarial calculations.

Larry's advice is of course good. When we merge plans and are in control (e.g., represent acquirer), we always prepare a "plan of merger" document that is adopted by sponsor of each plan. Will typically say that the beneficiary designations survive the merger. If you don't do this and someone dies before you get a new beneficiary designation, you will have a slight quandary. Because of 414(l), as you cite, I think that if there was a fight among potential beneficiaries (e.g., participant with no spouse named friend, but following death kids want to say that the beneficiary designation did not survive merger), the argument that the beneficiary designation survived would be stronger in the absence of any other fact or circumstance. But the plan fiduciaries, now that this issue has been identified, owe the participants a clarification one way or the other pending receipt of the new beneficiary designations.

Forbidden. 1.401(k)-(b)(4)(iiii)(B) ...for example a plan that applies the current year testing method may not be aggregated with another plan that applies the prior year testing method. (And you have to be consistent, if you aggregate for coverage you have to aggregate for nondiscrim and vice versa)