Employer has an NQDC plan in the form of "appreciation units." Executive wants any payments under the plan to be paid to a trust, of which he and his wife are the trustees, instead of to him directly. My understanding is this does not avoid taxation for him, but he wants the trust to hold all of his assets. Plan currently does not permit the assignment of rights under the plan. Does amending the plan to allow a participant to assign his/her right to payment to a trust present problems under 409A? Any right to payment is still subject to forfeiture.

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Many DC plans have a requirement that an otherwise eligible plan participant must complete a minimum hours of service during the plan year to receive an employer contribution, but IRS LRMs say that it can't be more than 1,000 hours, which is what I always assumed is the limit. Does anyone know what the source of the 1,000-hour ceiling is (a Revenue Ruling or a regulation)? Is it based on IRC section 410(a)? If it is based on 410(a), does that mean all of the hour-counting service-crediting rules applicable to eligibility would apply for the annual contribution requirement (e.g., you must count hours not worked for which you are paid up to 501 hours)?

Plan allows incoming rollovers by employees who are expected to become a participant but who haven't met the requirements yet. Are these people "participants" when it comes to the availability of a participant loan? Definition of a participant is: "Any current Employee who met the applicable eligibility requirements and reached his or her Entry Date and, where the context so requires, pursuant to the terms of the Plan, any living former Employee on whose behalf an Account is maintained or former Employee who has met the eligibility requirements. "To me, neither of these conditions have been met.

Employer allows union employees to donate unused PTO to a bank from which other union employees can apply for a withdrawal from the bank if they have exhausted their own PTO and have a medical event causing the need for time off. Union has a committee that reviews/approves/disapproves requests which must be supported by a doctor's opinion as to the length of leave that is needed. Is this type of plan considered an ERISA plan? Employer wants to know due to the new disability claims procedure regulations applicable when an an employee of the plan sponsor determines who is disabled.

Takeover of an existing 401(k) plan on a volume submitter document. The plan has 500 hours but no last day requirement for its discretionary pro-rata profit sharing formula. The owner's spouse has a business with no employees, just self-employed, but is not a participating employer in the plan. They are a group under common control. They do not meet the spousal exception. They want to add the spouse's business to the plan as a participating employer, but want the profit sharing allocation under that business to be a different percentage, meaning the plan sponsor can allocate X% but the newly added employer could allocate Y%. Issues?

Are PBGC plans exempt from an ERISA bond? Specifically asking about small DB plans that typically would not be subject to audit if the bond requirement is met.