Trustee Compensation/Expenses

[mal]

I have a group of Trustees who are pushing for the following:

1. A stipend equal to 8 hrs foreman-journeyman pay

for a retiree who occassionally attends conferences in

his capacity as a trustee. This person is not receiving any

pay from a contributing employer or the union, but does

receive a monthly annuity check from the plan.

2. In addition to the "lost wages" (paid to the trustees who

do not receive regular, full-time wages from the union

or a contributing employer) this board wants to pay trustees

at the regular foreman-journeymen rate for time spent at

seminars during non-working hours. For example, if Bob

leaves for a seminar on Friday evening, he wants to be

compensated for his time spent in class on Saturday and

Sunday, even though he is not missing any work hours as

a result of the seminar.

This group already pushes the limits of what can be considered reasonable travel expenses and I am not comfortable with the new proposals. Nonetheless, I have been unable to find a clear answer by looking at ERISA 406,408 and the regs.

How do other plans handle this? Are there any good articles covering this topic? Any suggestions? Thanks.

[Bill Ecklund]

Item 1 is not prohibited by ERISA sec 408©(2) since he is not a full time employee. The issue is whether or not this is prudent. Item 2 is a problem. See DOL advisory opinion letters 79-59A and 76-3. Also there are number of DOL information letters which are helpful. 2/1/91, 5/7/92, 1/7/92, and 2/16/84.