loan payments when missing work/limited income

[Lori H]

a participant took a small loan for a period of 18 months. weekly payments are $20. However, the participant has been working very little due to various health issues. Her checks are spotty and have been minimal. Can the plan sponsor take out multiple payments on a single payroll to make up for weeks when she did not earn a check?

[QDROphile]

If the the plan had set things up correctly (cut off my legs and call me Shorty if it did) the plan would have an assignement of pay and would be able to instruct the employer to deduct amounts due and overdue at any time the employee is paid. The plan may have other remedies that efectively allow the plan to grab more than an installment's worth of dollars from a payment. As it is, the repayment arrangement is a contract that must be respected or renegotiated, and I doubt the the employer has anything to do with extraordinary actions. If the employer is the plan administrator or loan administrator, the employer would have the rights of the administrator, but in its capacity as administrator, not employer. The employer, as employer, simply follows the terms of the payroll deduction authorization. The employee can authorize special deductions for the sake of avoiding consequences of default.