Insights on benefits counseling and litigation issues impacting employers nationwide
Twenty-two multiemployer pension plans (MEPPs), representing more than 25,000 participants, have filed suit against the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, alleging that the agency improperly denied them access to billions of dollars in emergency retirement funding.
What’s at stake? In 2021, Congress passed…
Private equity funds that acquire unionized portfolio companies may face significant withdrawal liability under ERISA’s multiemployer pension plan rules. A recent federal court decision in Longroad Asset Management, LLC v. Boilermaker-Blacksmith National Pension Trust underscores that liability hinges on whether the fund is deemed a “trade or business” and under “common control.” While the court…
An employer can contest a withdrawal liability assessment and ultimately prevail. That is the moral of Bulk Transport Corp. v. Teamsters Union No. 142 Pension Fund, No. 23-1563 (7th Cir. Mar. 22, 2024).
Withdrawal liability is a statutory liability imposed on employers whose obligation to contribute to union pension funds (called…
Unionized employers participating in an underfunded multiemployer pension plan face significant financial exposure when withdrawing (completely or partially) from the plan. The cost (called “withdrawal liability”) is generally based on the employer’s pro rata share of the pension plan’s unfunded vested benefits and typically amounts to hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars. This withdrawal…
The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (SECURE 2.0) provides welcome relief to private sector single employer sponsors of defined benefit pension plans (Pension Plan(s)). Effective for plan years beginning on and after January 1, 2024, SECURE 2.0 caps the variable rate premium paid by Pension Plan sponsors to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) at…
Withdrawal liability is a statutory obligation under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) that any unionized employer may have to confront. Exemptions from liability include one applicable to construction industry employers. More…
The recently published final regulation implementing last year’s massive multiemployer pension plan bailout contains a very thin silver lining, but overall, more bad news for already overburdened employers.
Last year, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) issued its interim final rule on the process for eligible troubled Multiemployer Pension Plans (MEPPs) to apply for and…
