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.
AO/ Date/ Reference | Recipient | Description of Request |
---|---|---|
09/28/1982
|
Dr. David T. Livingston |
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 |
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. |
Application of ERISA relating to employee benefit plan investments in futures contracts. |
09/16/1982
3(1) 3(5) |
Mr. Gene M. Williams |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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. James G. Varga, Esq. |
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. |