Jim Nichols

The DOL informed me that enforcement is not going to proceed. Apparently the IRS froze the pension due to it being underfunded. The DOL told me that if that happens then the Plan sponsor has not obligation to inform the participants that the Plan has been frozen. Does anyone have any IRS code section that I can provide to the DOL in response to this? I would think that a 101(j) notice would still be required.

The lady I'm dealing with at the DOL told me that it appears that they are looking to blame the actuary and play the ignorance card.

Update: The DOL has requested copies of the notices that would have been provided to the participants to inform them of the Plan freeze and also a copy of the most recent 5500 that was filed. They originally had until today to respond but they have requested a two week extension.

I just spoke to the DOL and they confirmed that the plan has not filed a 5500 since 2008. The woman I spoke to at the DOL was very shocked by what she was hearing. Unfortunately she said they only have 10 investigators for my 5 state area so it might take some time for them to get to my case.

The plan fiscal year end is 3/31. Since the plan was frozen on 4/1/08 the 2008 Form 5500 would have been the filing for the year it was frozen.

What is my best option at this point? To talk to the DOL or an attorney?

Unfortunately there wasn't. The letter didn't even mention when the plan was terminated. When I spoke to the managing partner of the firm the other day he informed me that the plan was terminated on 11/1/15 (19 months ago). I don't think that falls within the notification guidelines.

I PM'd BG5150 with all the info and he couldn't locate any 5500s either unfortunately.

I've had no luck finding any 5500s on the above mentioned website. It only goes back to 2009 but it doesn't show any matches. I'm putting the correct plan name, sponsor name, ein and plan number in. Is it possible that they haven't been filing 5500s since the freeze? I've also asked the plan sponsor for the 2015 form 5500 but I have not received it and don't anticipate receiving it.

I have now contacted an ERISA attorney.

The managing partner of the CPA firm just called me and told me that the actuary froze the plan in 2008 by "statute" because it was underfunded and supposedly didn't inform the managing partner until five years later that it was frozen. He also told me that they had no responsibility to tell the participants that it was frozen and that they couldn't pay out anything other than the reduced benefit that they are currently offering.

After much harassment they finally provided me a copy of their calculation and my average compensation and years of service was calculated as of the freeze date. They have yet to provide me with a copy of the 204(h) notice. I'm afraid they are going to try to give me a letter that they have recreated to cover themselves.

Thanks, I've thought about contacting the DOL but I wasn't sure if they would be more interested in penalizing my ex employer more than they would be in righting the wronged participants. Also, someone brought it to my attention to look at my W-2s since the plan was frozen to see if they indicated that I was an active participant in a retirement plan. Every year (2008 through 2015) indicated that I was an active participant in a retirement plan.

Thanks for the responses everyone. It was a defined benefit pension plan. They are saying it was frozen nine years before I terminated my employment with them. Yesterday I asked for a copy of the 204(h) notice but so far I have not received anything. I have spoken to at least 5 people (it was a relatively small firm) and no one remembers being notified of the plan being frozen. Also, we stopped getting any type of plan communication at all around the time frame. They weren't real good about giving us the required annual communication so no one thought much of it.

I had worked for a CPA firm for 17 years before taking a job in a different city. The CPA firm recently terminated their pension plan and sent me a letter advising me of what my benefit would be and giving me the option to roll it over into or take a lump sum. The amount was significantly smaller than I expected. Upon talking to the actuary of the plan I was informed that my employer had frozen the pension nine years ago. I have spoken to several employees and not one of them remembers being informed of the plan being frozen. Does anyone know what actions we can take?