erisa_novice

The union group. We have been negotiating with the company group regarding retirement benefits

To clarify: we do not yet have a contract but have had pretty extension negotiations concerning a retirement plan for employees. We have never dealt with employees becoming ineligible to participate in a 401k and having to switch. We just want to make sure we don't end up harmed somehow in the process of migrating to the new plan.

Here's the situation. A group of employees recently voted to unionize and negotiations for a collective bargaining agreement has commenced. The current 401k plan offered by the company prospectively excludes union members. Accordingly, the company now wants to establish a separate 401k plan for union employees. There are a number of employees who participate in the current plan will now be ineligible for the current plan and have to switch to the plan which will be established for union members. What are the legal considerations in having employees have to switch plans? What types of things should we (union employees) be paying particular attention to? We want to make sure people who have to switch plans aren't harmed in the process. Any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated.

We are currently bargaining for a first contract with an employer. The Employer currently has a 401k plan in place and has stated that union members cannot participate in the plan and have pointed to language in their SPD which states that union employees whose employment is governed by a collective bargaining agreement under which retirement benefits were the subject of good faith bargaining are excluded from the plan. (The Employer is offering a separate 401k plan for union members with lower contributions). The exclusion of union members seems permissible to me. Am I missing something? Any feedback would be appreciated.

Sorry, yes, I'm referring to a defined benefit plan.

Can anyone point me towards any authority (ERISA or IRC) which holds that a pension plan participant cannot receive pension benefits which are 25% greater than the salary they earned from the the employer? If this is true, does this figure include severance payments and/or payments for unused personal/sick time?

Thank you so much for your assistance. Is there anything in particular you would recommend be included in the consulting agreement to ensure it fits in the mold of a bonafide consulting arrangement?

The plan is silent on in-service distributions except as providing that the participant's entire interest will be distributed to them upon the participant reaching age 70 1/2, regardless of whether or not they are still working. The former employee/participant has not returned as a consultant; it is something the employer is considering but the employer seems to think that ERISA and/or the IRC places a monetary limit on how much someone participating in an employer's pension plan may be paid in a year. The employer is concerned that paying the employee severance, plus unused sick days, and possibly a small monthly fee as a consultant could run afoul of ERISA and/or the IRC or some other law. Is that the case?

Hi all, I have a question regarding possible ERISA restrictions on payments to a participant in a defined benefit plan. The plan at issue is a single employer, defined benefit plan. The participant, 65 years old, commenced payments under the plan in January 2017. The participant retired from employment with the employer in December 2016. Either then or in January 2017, the employer paid the employee severance pay as well as pay for unused personal/sick days. The employer now wants to bring back the former employee and pension plan participant as a consultant for a few months. The former employee would be under a consulting agreement which provides that they are an independent contractor, working up to 40 hours per week. The amount of compensation is a small, monthly payment. Is there anything in ERISA or the internal revenue code which would limit how much the employer can pay this former employee/pension plan participant, taking into account their severance, payout for unused sick days, and consulting retrainer? Are there any provisions of ERISA (and the IRC) which the employer should pay special attention to?