Advisory Opinions

Whether the Toyota Motor Manufacturing, U.S.A., Inc. Employer's Short Term Disability Plan and its Salary Continuation Plan, which pay benefits out of the employer’s general assets for absences due to certain medical reasons that equal or are a significant portion of, but do not exceed, the employee’s normal compensation, are payroll practices within the meaning of the Department of Labor regulations at 29 C.F.R. §2510.3-1(b) and therefore are not "employee welfare benefit plans" within the meaning of section 3(1) of Title I of ERISA.

Whether Prohibited Transaction Exemption 77-4 applies to transactions involving IRAs not covered by Title I of ERISA but which are subject to section 4975 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Whether the Armstrong Dependent Care Reimbursement Account, adopted by Armstrong World Industries, Inc. to provide its full-time and part-time employees with dependent care assistance by reimbursing dependent care services freely chosen by employees , is an employee welfare benefit plan within the meaning of section 3(1) of ERISA.

Whether a bank acting as an agent or trustee for employee benefit plans earning interest for their own accounts from the "float" when a benefit check is written to a participant until the check is presented for payment is prohibited under section 406(b)(3) of ERISA.

What are the appropriate actions to be taken by plan administrators under Title I of ERISA when presented with requests for recovery of mistaken primary payments made by Medicare under the Medicare Secondary Payer provisions. Whether medical providers or plan participants who have been paid for the same services by both Medicare and employee benefit plans, or who have otherwise misled plan fiduciaries, could be held liable as knowing participants in any fiduciary breach resulting from such actions.

In preparing an annual report for a defined benefit pension plan (Plan) subject to Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), what is the proper disclosure of information relating to assets held in an insurance company separate account established pursuant to a specific group annuity contract to provide benefit payments under the Plan. Specifically, what are the plan's annual reporting requirements with respect to the plan's statement of assets and liabilities, the Schedule A for the Contract, and the plan's Schedule B.

Whether the term "similar institution," as used in 29 C.F.R. § 2520.103-8, includes securities brokerage firms.

Whether the Short-Term Disability Income Plan for Non-Exempt Employees of The Coca-Cola Company is an employee welfare benefit plan within the meaning of section 3(1) of Title I of ERISA.

Whether the Western Growers Assurance Trust (WGAT) is a multiple employer welfare arrangement (MEWA) within the meaning of section 3(40) of Title I of ERISA and therefore subject under section 514(b)(6) of that title to applicable state insurance regulation.

Addresses several questions on the application of the fiduciary responsibility provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to the termination and proposed transfer of the excess funds of one employee welfare benefit plan to another employee welfare benefit plan where both plans are jointly-administered, labor management trust funds established under collective bargaining agreements pursuant to section 302(c) of the Labor Management Relations Act.