Advisory Opinions

Requests for interpretations and other rulings under Title 1 of ERISA are handled by the Office of Regulations and Interpretations under the provisions established by ERISA Procedure 76-1. The office answers inquiries from individuals and organizations in the form of advisory opinions, which apply the law to a specific set of facts, or information letters, which merely call attention to well established principles or interpretations.

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**1982**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
1982-51A 09/28/1982	Dr. David T. Livingston Vice President and Corporate Director of Research TIC International Corporation 2323 North Mayfair Road, Suite 500 Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53226	The application of the offset rule in the suspension of benefits regulation issued by the Department of Labor under section 203(a)(3)(B) of ERISA to situations involving the Plasterers and Cement Masons Local 109 Pension Fund.
1982-50A 09/22/1982 3(1) 3(4) 3(5)	Mr. Thomas F. Dean Kirkland & Ellis 200 East Randolph Drive Chicago, Illinois 60601	Whether the Realtors Group Insurance Trust (REGIT) is an "employee welfare benefit plan" which is "maintained by an employer" within the meaning of sections 3(1) and 3(5) of ERISA.
1982-49A 09/21/1982 3(14) 3(21)(A) 3(21)(A)(ii) 401(b) 403(a)	Howard Pianko, Esq. Baer Marks & Upham 299 Park Avenue New York, N.Y. 10171	Application of ERISA relating to employee benefit plan investments in futures contracts.
1982-48A 09/16/1982 3(1) 3(5)	Mr. Gene M. Williams Mehaffy, Weber, Keith & Gonsoulin San Jacinto Building Beaumont, Texas 77701	Whether the Major Medical Plan of Orange Memorial Hospital Corporation would still constitute an employee benefit plan covered under title I of ERISA if it is also extended to cover employees of the Orange County Ambulance Service.
1982-47A 09/08/1982 3(2)	Frank Persico, President Catholic University Federal Credit Union 620 Michigan Avenue, N.E. Washington, D.C. 20064	Whether a multi-purpose payroll deduction arrangement which includes contributions to an Individual Retirement Account (IRA), made available to members of the Catholic University Federal Credit Union, will not be considered to be an employee pension benefit plan within the meaning of section 3(2) of title I of ERISA.
1982-46A 09/03/1982 503	Ms. Mary Swenson 727 Bellingham Towers Bellingham, Washington 98225	Whether the provision in section 503 of ERISA requiring plans to provide for full and fair review of claims for benefits is consistent with the Washington-Idaho-Montana Carpenters-Employers Retirement Trust’s procedure for arbitration on appeal of claim denials insofar as the procedure requires a plan participant to share the expenses of arbitration and does not provide for de novo review by the arbitrator of the trustees' decision.
1982-45A 08/27/1982 404(a)(1)	Mr. John F. Eden 10100 Santa Monica Boulevard Suite 2500 Los Angeles, California 90067	Whether the transfer of real property to the plan in repayment of an exempt participant loan will not be a prohibited transaction under section 4975 of the Code.
1982-44A 08/27/1982 3(1)	Mr. Frank Albino Parker, Milliken, Clark & O'Hara 27th Floor, Security Pacific Plaza 333 South Hope Street Los Angeles, California 90071	Whether a leave of absence policy for associates in the firm of Parker, Milliken, Clark & O'Hara is a payroll practice within the meaning of regulation 29 C.F.R. §2510.3-1(b)(2) and thus excluded from title I of ERISA.
1982-43A 08/27/1982 3(1) 3(2)	Mr. Otis M. Smith General Counsel General Motors Building 3044 West Grand Boulevard Detroit, Michigan 48202	Whether the Guaranteed Income Stream Benefit Program, part of the collective bargaining agreement between General Motors Corporation (GM) and the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (the UAW), is an employee welfare benefit plan within the meaning of section 3(1) of title I of ERISA and not an employee pension benefit plan within the meaning of section 3(2) of title I of ERISA.
1982-42A 08/16/1982 3(21)(A)	James G. Johnson, Esq. Fred T. Ashley, Esq. Hill, Farrer and Burrill Thirty-Fourth Floor -Union Bank Square 445 South Figueroa Street Los Angeles, California 90071 James G. Varga, Esq. Margolis, McTernan, Scope, Sacks & Epstein 3600 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 2200 Los Angeles, California 90010	Whether Mr. Melvin Lennard, an impartial arbitrator, is a fiduciary under section 3(21)(A) of ERISA in settling a dispute between management and union trustees of the Warehousemen's Health & Welfare Trust Fund.