withdrawal liability from national pension fund

[JanetM]

Does anyone have experience with calculating withdrawal liability from a union national pension fund?

Or if there are any resources that could help me?

[KJohnson]

My experience has been that multis are pretty good at explaining what goes into the calculation. If this is a potential withdrawal, look at 4221(e) of ERISA that obligates the multi to give you general information for free regarding the calculation and the multi is obligated to give you an employer-specific estimate if you are willing to pay the reasonable cost of providing such an estimate.

Finally the BNA Tax Management Portfolio on multiemployer plans has a pretty good explanation of what goes into a calculation.

[Kirk Maldonado]

The calculations are all plan-specific. You need to contact the specific plan to find out how they do the computations.

[KJohnson]

The permissible methods of calculaiton are dictated by the statute (4211) and it should be fairly easy to find out which method the Plan uses.

However, the actual calculation will be dependent on things such as your own employer's contribution history and the unfunded vested benefits of the plan which, in turn will be geared to mortality and interest assumptions.

That is why I agree with Kirk that you should contact the Plan. In addition to their statutory obligations to provide estimates and information, I think they tend to be more than willing to walk you through any calculation that was made and the assumptions underlying the calculation.

[JanetM]

Thanks for all the comments.

I will have to consider contacting the union. During a recent acquisition the Plan told us they do not calculate withdrawal liability unless the they are sure it has been triggered.

[KJohnson]

I don't think they can refuse based on the Section of ERISA cited in my previous post. I would be interested in their response if you provide them with this cite.

Under Taft-Hartley the Plan must be jointly trusted with union and management trustees. If the Plan won't give you an estimate even after you provide them with the statutory cite, you might want to try contacting one of the management trustees.

I think you need to contact the Plan. My guess is that the union, understandably, won't give you much help if you are planning to withdraw and I don't believe that they have any statutory obligation to do so.

[JanetM]

Thanks! I will keep that card up my sleeve - may need it if the time comes to get a number for the liability.

The Union is not aware of the possible withdrawal - the contract is up for negotiation soon. I hesitate to contact the Plan because of this and do not want to taint the negotiations.

Again thanks for your help.