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.

Data Dictionary

1982
AO/ Date/ Reference Recipient Description of Request
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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.