29 Usc 1024

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29 U.S. Code § 1024 - Filing with Secretary and furnishing information to participants and certain employers | U.S. Code | US Law | LII / …

29 U.S. Code § 1024. Filing with Secretary and furnishing
information to participants and certain employers
U.S. Code

Notes

(a) F

S

(1) The administrator of any employee benefit plan subject to this part
shall file with the Secretary the annual report for a plan year within
210 days after the close of such year (or within such time as may be
required by regulations promulgated by the Secretary in order to
reduce duplicative filing). The Secretary shall make copies of such
annual reports available for inspection in the public document room of
the Department of Labor.
(2)
(A) With respect to annual reports required to be filed with the
Secretary under this part, he may by regulation prescribe simplified
annual reports for any pension plan which covers less than 100
participants.
(B) Nothing contained in this paragraph shall preclude the
Secretary from requiring any information or data from any such
plan to which this part applies where he finds such data or
information is necessary to carry out the purposes of this
subchapter nor shall the Secretary be precluded from revoking
provisions for simplified reports for any such plan if he finds it
necessary to do so in order to carry out the objectives of this
subchapter.
(3) The Secretary may by regulation exempt any welfare benefit plan
from all or part of the reporting and disclosure requirements of this
subchapter, or may provide for simplified reporting and disclosure if he
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finds that such requirements are inappropriate as applied to welfare
benefit plans.
(4) The Secretary may reject any filing under this section—
(A) if he determines that such filing is incomplete for purposes of
this part; or
(B) if he determines that there is any material qualification by an
accountant or actuary contained in an opinion submitted pursuant
to section 1023(a)(3)(A) or section 1023(a)(4)(B) of this title.
(5) If the Secretary rejects a filing of a report under paragraph (4) and
if a revised filing satisfactory to the Secretary is not submitted within
45 days after the Secretary makes his determination under paragraph
(4) to reject the filing, and if the Secretary deems it in the best interest
of the participants, he may take any one or more of the following
actions—
(A) retain an independent qualified public accountant (as defined in
section 1023(a)(3)(D) of this title) on behalf of the participants to
perform an audit,
(B) retain an enrolled actuary (as defined in section 1023(a)(4)(C)
of this title) on behalf of the plan participants, to prepare an
actuarial statement,
(C) bring a civil action for such legal or equitable relief as may be
appropriate to enforce the provisions of this part, or
(D) take any other action authorized by this subchapter.
The administrator shall permit such accountant or actuary to
inspect whatever books and records of the plan are necessary for
such audit. The plan shall be liable to the Secretary for the
expenses for such audit or report, and the Secretary may bring an
action against the plan in any court of competent jurisdiction to
recover such expenses.
(6) The administrator of any employee benefit plan subject to this part
shall furnish to the Secretary, upon request, any documents relating to
the employee benefit plan, including but not limited to, the latest
summary plan description (including any summaries of plan changes
not contained in the summary plan description), and the bargaining
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agreement, trust agreement, contract, or other instrument under which
the plan is established or operated.
(b) P
Publication of the
summary plan descriptions and annual reports shall be made to
participants and beneficiaries of the particular plan as follows:
(1) The administrator shall furnish to each participant, and each
beneficiary receiving benefits under the plan, a copy of the summary
plan description, and all modifications and changes referred to in
section 1022(a) of this title—
(A) within 90 days after he becomes a participant, or (in the case
of a beneficiary) within 90 days after he first receives benefits, or
(B) if later, within 120 days after the plan becomes subject to this
part.
The administrator shall furnish to each participant, and each
beneficiary receiving benefits under the plan, every fifth year after
the plan becomes subject to this part an updated summary plan
description described in section 1022 of this title which integrates
all plan amendments made within such five-year period, except
that in a case where no amendments have been made to a plan
during such five-year period this sentence shall not apply.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the administrator shall furnish to
each participant, and to each beneficiary receiving benefits under
the plan, the summary plan description described in section 1022
of this title every tenth year after the plan becomes subject to this
part. If there is a modification or change described in section
1022(a) of this title (other than a material reduction in covered
services or benefits provided in the case of a group health plan (as
defined in section 1191b(a)(1) of this title)), a summary
description of such modification or change shall be furnished not
later than 210 days after the end of the plan year in which the
change is adopted to each participant, and to each beneficiary who
is receiving benefits under the plan. If there is a modification or
change described in section 1022(a) of this title that is a material
reduction in covered services or benefits provided under a group
health plan (as defined in section 1191b(a)(1) of this title), a
summary description of such modification or change shall be
furnished to participants and beneficiaries not later than 60 days
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after the date of the adoption of the modification or change. In the
alternative, the plan sponsors may provide such description at
regular intervals of not more than 90 days. The Secretary shall
issue regulations within 180 days after August 21, 1996, providing
alternative mechanisms to delivery by mail through which group
health plans (as so defined) may notify participants and
beneficiaries of material reductions in covered services or benefits.
(2) The administrator shall make copies of the latest updated summary
plan description and the latest annual report and the bargaining
agreement, trust agreement, contract, or other instruments under
which the plan was established or is operated available for examination
by any plan participant or beneficiary in the principal office of the
administrator and in such other places as may be necessary to make
available all pertinent information to all participants (including such
places as the Secretary may prescribe by regulations).
(3) Within 210 days after the close of the fiscal year of the plan, the
administrator (other than an administrator of a defined benefit plan to
which the requirements of section 1021(f) of this title applies) [1] shall
furnish to each participant, and to each beneficiary receiving benefits
under the plan, a copy of the statements and schedules, for such fiscal
year, described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of section 1023(b)(3) of
this title and such other material (including the percentage determined
under section 1023(d)(11) of this title) as is necessary to fairly
summarize the latest annual report.
(4) The administrator shall, upon written request of any participant or
beneficiary, furnish a copy of the latest updated summary,[2] plan
description, and the latest annual report, any terminal report, the
bargaining agreement, trust agreement, contract, or other instruments
under which the plan is established or operated. The administrator may
make a reasonable charge to cover the cost of furnishing such
complete copies. The Secretary may by regulation prescribe the
maximum amount which will constitute a reasonable charge under the
preceding sentence.
(5) Identification and basic plan information and actuarial information
included in the annual report for any plan year shall be filed with the
Secretary in an electronic format which accommodates display on the
Internet, in accordance with regulations which shall be prescribed by
the Secretary. The Secretary shall provide for display of such
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information included in the annual report, within 90 days after the date
of the filing of the annual report, on an Internet website maintained by
the Secretary and other appropriate media. Such information shall also
be displayed on any Intranet website maintained by the plan sponsor
(or by the plan administrator on behalf of the plan sponsor) for the
purpose of communicating with employees and not the public, in
accordance with regulations which shall be prescribed by the Secretary.
(c) S
The Secretary may by regulation require that the administrator of any
employee benefit plan furnish to each participant and to each beneficiary
receiving benefits under the plan a statement of the rights of participants
and beneficiaries under this subchapter.
(d) F
(1) I
With respect to a multiemployer plan subject to this
section, within 30 days after the due date under subsection (a)(1) for
the filing of the annual report for the fiscal year of the plan, the
administrators shall furnish to each employee organization and to each
employer with an obligation to contribute to the plan a report that
contains—
(A) a description of the contribution schedules and benefit formulas
under the plan, and any modification to such schedules and
formulas, during such plan year;
(B) the number of employers obligated to contribute to the plan;
(C) a list of the employers that contributed more than 5 percent of
the total contributions to the plan during such plan year;
(D) the number of participants under the plan on whose behalf no
contributions were made by an employer as an employer of the
participant for such plan year and for each of the 2 preceding plan
years;
(E) whether the plan was in critical or endangered status under
section 1085 of this title for such plan year and, if so, include—
(i) a list of the actions taken by the plan to improve its funding
status; and

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(ii) a statement describing how a person may obtain a copy of
the plan’s funding improvement or rehabilitation plan, as
applicable, adopted under section 1085 of this title and the
actuarial and financial data that demonstrate any action taken by
the plan toward fiscal improvement;
(F) the number of employers that withdrew from the plan during
the preceding plan year and the aggregate amount of withdrawal
liability assessed, or estimated to be assessed, against such
withdrawn employers, as reported on the annual report for the plan
year to which the report under this subsection relates;
(G) in the case of a multiemployer plan that has merged with
another plan or to which assets and liabilities have been transferred,
the actuarial valuation of the assets and liabilities of each affected
plan during the year preceding the effective date of the merger or
transfer, based upon the most recent data available as of the day
before the first day of the plan year, or other valuation method
performed under standards and procedures as the Secretary may
prescribe by regulation;
(H) a description as to whether the plan—
(i) sought or received an amortization extension under section
1084(d) of this title or section 431(d) of title 26 for such plan
year; or
(ii) used the shortfall funding method (as such term is used in
section 1085 of this title) for such plan year; and
(I) notification of the right under this section of the recipient to a
copy of the annual report filed with the Secretary under subsection
(a), summary plan description, summary of any material
modification of the plan, upon written request, but that—
(i) in no case shall a recipient be entitled to receive more than
one copy of any such document described during any one 12month period; and
(ii) the administrator may make a reasonable charge to cover
copying, mailing, and other costs of furnishing copies of
information pursuant to this subparagraph.

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(2) E
Nothing in this subsection waives any other provision under this
subchapter requiring plan administrators to provide, upon request,
information to employers that have an obligation to contribute under
the plan.
(e) C
For regulations respecting coordination of reports to the Secretaries of
Labor and the Treasury, see section 1204 of this title.
(Pub. L. 93–406, title I, § 104, Sept. 2, 1974, 88 Stat. 847; Pub. L. 99–272,
title XI, § 11016(b)(2), Apr. 7, 1986, 100 Stat. 273; Pub. L. 100–203, title IX,
§ 9342(a)(2), Dec. 22, 1987, 101 Stat. 1330–371; Pub. L. 101–239, title VII,
§ 7894(b)(3), (4), Dec. 19, 1989, 103 Stat. 2448; Pub. L. 104–191, title I,
§ 101(c)(1), Aug. 21, 1996, 110 Stat. 1951; Pub. L. 104–204, title VI,
§ 603(b)(3)(D), Sept. 26, 1996, 110 Stat. 2938; Pub. L. 105–34, title XV,
§ 1503(c)(1), (2)(A), (d)(1)–(3), Aug. 5, 1997, 111 Stat. 1062; Pub. L. 109–
280, title V, §§ 503(c)(1), (d), 504(a), Aug. 17, 2006, 120 Stat. 943–945;
Pub. L. 110–458, title I, § 105(c)(1), Dec. 23, 2008, 122 Stat. 5105; Pub. L.
116–94, div. O, title I, § 101(d)(2), Dec. 20, 2019, 133 Stat. 3145.)

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ACCESSIBILITY
ABOUT LII
CONTACT US
ADVERTISE HERE
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TERMS OF USE
PRIVACY

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