If a self-funded plan is funded, in part, by employee contributions an

[KJohnson]

If a self-funded plan is funded, in part, by employee contributions and there is no 125 Plan in place, is there any way to get out of the Trust requirement?

[Brigid Anderson]

Nope. DOL Technical Release 92-01 reflects the DOL's nonenforcement policy with respect to the ERISA trust requirement. It provide relief for plans under which the sole reason for application of the trust requirement is the presence of participant contributions. Without 92-01, a plan with participant contributions has plan assets (under DOL regulations) and is, therefore, clearly subject to the trust requirement. Consequently, the participant contributions would have to be placed in trust as soon as they can be segregated from employer general assets (i.e., where participant contributions are made by wage withholding). Sorry.

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[GBurns]

How did you get the employee's contributions?You said that there was no 125 Cafeteria Plan in place. Were the employee contributions on a pre-tax basis and if so how come? I have been searching for a method of doing this.