1、956 29 CFR Ch. XL (7111 Edition) Pt. 4011 PART 4011DISCLOSURE TO PARTICIPANTS Sec. 4011.1 Purpose and scope. 4011.2 Definitions. 4011.3 Notice requirement. 4011.4 Small plan rules. 4011.5 Exemption for new and newly-covered plans. 4011.6 Mergers, consolidations, and spinoffs. 4011.7 Persons entitled
2、 to receive notice. 4011.8 Time of notice. 4011.9 Method and date of issuance of no-tice; computation of time. 4011.10 Form of notice. 4011.11 OMB control number. APPENDIX A TO PART 4011MODEL PARTICI-PANT NOTICE APPENDIX B TO PART 4011TABLE OF MAX-IMUM GUARANTEED BENEFITS AUTHORITY: 29 U.S.C. 1302(b
3、)(3), 1311. SOURCE: 61 FR 34026, July 1, 1996, unless otherwise noted. 4011.1 Purpose and scope. This part prescribes rules and proce-dures for complying with the require-ments of section 4011 of ERISA. This part applies for any plan year begin-ning on or after January 1, 1995, and on or before Dece
4、mber 31, 2006, with re-spect to any single-employer plan that is covered by section 4021 of ERISA. 61 FR 34026, July 1, 1996, as amended at 72 FR 2616, Jan. 22, 2007 4011.2 Definitions. The following terms are defined in 4001.2 of this chapter: contributing sponsor, employer, ERISA, normal re-tireme
5、nt age, PBGC, person, plan, plan administrator, plan year, and single- employer plan. In addition, for purposes of this part: Participant has the meaning in 4041.2 of this chapter. Participant Notice means the notice required pursuant to section 4011 of ERISA and this part. 4011.3 Notice requirement
6、. (a) General. Except as otherwise pro-vided in this part, the plan adminis-trator of a plan must provide a Partici-pant Notice for a plan year if a variable rate premium is payable for the plan under section 4006(a)(3)(E) of ERISA and part 4006 of this chapter for that plan year, unless, for that p
7、lan year or for the prior plan year, the plan meets the Deficit Reduction Contribution (DRC) Exception Test in paragraph (b) of this section. The DRC Exception Test may be applied using the Small Plan DRC Exception Test rules in 4011.4(b), where applicable. (b) DRC Exception Test(1) Basic rule. A pl
8、an meets the DRC Exception Test for a plan year if it is exempt from the requirements of section 302(d) of ERISA for that plan year by reason of section 302(d)(9), without regard to the small plan exemption in section 302(d)(6)(A). (2) 1994 plan year. A plan satisfies the DRC Exception Test for the
9、1994 plan year if, for any two of the plan years beginning in 1992, 1993, and 1994 (wheth-er or not consecutive), the plan satis-fies any requirement of section 302(d)(9)(D)(i) of ERISA. (c) Penalties for non-compliance. If a plan administrator fails to provide a Participant Notice within the specif
10、ied time limit or omits material informa-tion from a Participant Notice, the PBGC may assess a penalty under sec-tion 4071 of ERISA of up to $1,100 a day for each day that the failure continues. 61 FR 34026, July 1, 1996, as amended at 62 FR 36994, July 10, 1997 4011.4 Small plan rules. (a) 1995 pla
11、n year exemption. A plan that is exempt from the requirements of section 302(d) of ERISA for the 1994 or 1995 plan year by reason of section 302(d)(6)(A) is exempt from the Partici-pant Notice requirement for the 1995 plan year. (b) Small Plan DRC Exception Test. In determining whether the Participa
12、nt Notice requirement applies for a plan year beginning after 1995, the plan ad-ministrator of a plan that is exempt from the requirements of section 302(d) of ERISA by reason of section 302(d)(6)(A) for the plan year being test-ed may use any one or more of the fol-lowing rules in determining wheth
13、er the plan meets the DRC Exception Test for that plan year: (1) Use of Schedule B data. For any plan year for which the plan is exempt from the requirements of section 302(d) of ERISA by reason of section 302(d)(6)(A), provided both of the fol-lowing adjustments are made VerDate Mar2010 09:56 Sep 2
14、2, 2011 Jkt 223117 PO 00000 Frm 00966 Fmt 8010 Sfmt 8010 Y:SGML223117.XXX 223117erowe on DSK2VPTVN1PROD with CFRProvided by IHSNot for ResaleNo reproduction or networking permitted without license from IHS-,-,-957 Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation 4011.9 (i) The market value of the plans as-sets
15、as of the beginning of the plan year (as required to be reported on Form 5500, Schedule B) may be sub-stituted for the actuarial value of the plans assets as of the valuation date; and (ii) The plans current liability for all participants total benefits as of the beginning of the plan year (as requi
16、red to be reported on Form 5500, Schedule B) may be substituted for the plans current liability as of the valuation date. (2) Pre-1995 plan year 90 percent test. A plan that is exempt from the require-ments of section 302(d) of ERISA for a pre-1995 plan year by reason of section 302(d)(6)(A) satisfi
17、es the requirements of section 302(d)(9)(D)(i) for that pre- 1995 plan year if the ratio of its assets to its current liability for that plan year is at least 90 percent. For this purpose, the plans assets are valued without subtracting any credit balance under section 302(b) of ERISA, and its curre
18、nt liability is determined using the highest interest rate allowable for the plan year under section 302(d)(7)(C). (3) Interest rate adjustment. If the in-terest rate used to calculate current li-ability for a plan year is less than the highest rate allowable for the plan year under section 302(d)(7
19、)(C) of ERISA, the current liability may be reduced by one percent for each tenth of a percentage point by which the highest rate exceeds the rate so used. 4011.5 Exemption for new and newly- covered plans. A plan (other than a plan resulting from a consolidation or spinoff) is ex-empt from the Part
20、icipant Notice re-quirement for the first plan year for which the plan must pay premiums under parts 4006 and 4007 of this chap-ter. 4011.6 Mergers, consolidations, and spinoffs. In the case of a plan involved in a merger, consolidation, or spinoff trans-action that becomes effective during a plan y
21、ear, the plan administrator shall apply the requirements of section 4011 of ERISA and of this part for that plan year in a reasonable manner to ensure that the Participant Notice serves its statutory purpose. 4011.7 Persons entitled to receive no-tice. The plan administrator must provide the Partici
22、pant Notice to each person who is a participant, a beneficiary of a deceased participant, an alternate payee under an applicable qualified do-mestic relations order (as defined in section 206(d)(3) of ERISA), or an em-ployee organization that represents any group of participants for purposes of coll
23、ective bargaining. To determine who is a person that must receive the Participant Notice for a plan year, the plan administrator may select any date during the period beginning with the last day of the previous plan year and ending with the day on which the Par-ticipant Notice for the plan year is d
24、ue, provided that a change in the date from one plan year to the next does not exclude a substantial number of par-ticipants and beneficiaries. 4011.8 Time of notice. The plan administrator must issue the Participant Notice for a plan year no later than two months after the deadline (including exten
25、sions) for fil-ing the annual report for the previous plan year (see 2520.104a5(a)(2) of this title). The plan administrator may change the date of issuance from one plan year to the next, provided that the effect of any change is not to avoid disclosing a minimum funding waiver under 4011.10(b)(5)
26、or a missed con-tribution under 4011.10(b)(6). When the President of the United States declares that, under the Disaster Relief Act of 1974, as amended (42 U.S.C. 5121, 5122(2), 5141(b), a major disaster exists, the PBGC may extend the due date for pro-viding the Participant Notice by up to 180 days
27、. 4011.9 Method and date of issuance of notice; computation of time. (a) Method of issuance. The PBGC ap-plies the rules in subpart B of part 4000 of this chapter to determine permis-sible methods of issuance of the Partic-ipant Notice. The Participant Notice may be issued together with another docu
28、ment, such as the summary an-nual report required under section VerDate Mar2010 09:56 Sep 22, 2011 Jkt 223117 PO 00000 Frm 00967 Fmt 8010 Sfmt 8010 Y:SGML223117.XXX 223117erowe on DSK2VPTVN1PROD with CFRProvided by IHSNot for ResaleNo reproduction or networking permitted without license from IHS-,-,
29、-958 29 CFR Ch. XL (7111 Edition) 4011.10 104(b)(3) of ERISA for the prior plan year, but must be in a separate docu-ment. (b) Issuance date. The PBGC applies the rules in subpart C of part 4000 of this chapter to determine the date the Participant Notice was issued. (c) Computation of time. The PBG
30、C ap-plies the rules in subpart D of part 4000 of this chapter to compute any time period for issuances under this part. 68 FR 61353, Oct. 28, 2003 4011.10 Form of notice. (a) General. The Participant Notice (and any additional information under paragraph (d) of this section) shall be readable and w
31、ritten in a manner cal-culated to be understood by the aver-age plan participant and not to mislead recipients. The Model Participant No-tice in appendix A to this part (when properly completed) is an example of a Participant Notice meeting the re-quirements of this section. (b) Content. The Partici
32、pant Notice for a plan year shall include (1) Identifying information (the name of the plan and the contributing spon-sor, the employer identification num-ber of the contributing sponsor, the plan number, the date (at least the month and year) on which the Partici-pant Notice is issued, and the name
33、, title, address and telephone number of the person(s) who can provide informa-tion about the plans funding); (2) A statement to the effect that the Participant Notice is required by law; (3) The Notice Funding Percentage for the plan year, determined in ac-cordance with paragraph (c) of this sec-ti
34、on, and the date as of which the No-tice Funding Percentage is determined; (4) A statement to the effect that (i) To pay pension benefits, the em-ployer is required to contribute money to the plan over a period of years; (ii) A plans funding percentage does not take into consideration the finan-cial
35、 strength of the employer; and (iii) The employer, by law, must pay for all pension benefits, but benefits may be at risk if the employer faces a severe financial crisis or is in bank-ruptcy; (5) If, for any of the five plan years immediately preceding the plan year, the plan has been granted a mini
36、mum funding waiver under section 303 of ERISA that has not (as of the end of the prior plan year) been fully repaid, a statement identifying each such plan year and an explanation of a minimum funding waiver; (6) For any payment subject to the requirements of this paragraph, a statement identifying
37、the due date for the payment and noting that the pay-ment has or has not been made and (if made) the date of the payment. Once participants have been notified (under this part or title I of ERISA) of a missed contribution that is subject to the requirements of this paragraph, the delinquency need no
38、t be reported in a Participant Notice for a subsequent plan year if the missed contribution has been paid in full by the time the subsequent Participant Notice is issued. The payments subject to the re-quirements of this paragraph are (i) Any minimum funding payment necessary to satisfy the minimum
39、funding standard under section 302(a) of ERISA for any plan year beginning on or after January 1, 1994, if not paid by the earlier of the due date for that payment (the latest date allowed under section 302(c)(10) or the date of issuance of the Participant Notice; and (ii) An installment or other pa
40、yment required by section 302 of ERISA for a plan year beginning on or after Janu-ary 1, 1995, that was not paid by the 60th day after the due date for that payment; (7) A statement to the effect that if a plan terminates before all pension ben-efits are fully funded, the PBGC pays most persons all
41、pension benefits, but some persons may lose certain benefits that are not guaranteed; (8) A summary of plan benefits guar-anteed by the PBGC, with an expla-nation of the limitations on such guar-antee; and (9) A statement that further informa-tion about the PBGCs guarantee may be obtained by request
42、ing a free copy of the booklet Your Guaranteed Pen-sion from Consumer Information Cen-ter, Dept. YGP, Pueblo, Colorado 81009. The Participant Notice may include a statement that the booklet may be ob-tained through electronic access via the World Wide Web from the PBGC Homepage at http:/www.pbgc.gov
43、. VerDate Mar2010 09:56 Sep 22, 2011 Jkt 223117 PO 00000 Frm 00968 Fmt 8010 Sfmt 8010 Y:SGML223117.XXX 223117erowe on DSK2VPTVN1PROD with CFRProvided by IHSNot for ResaleNo reproduction or networking permitted without license from IHS-,-,-959 Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation Pt. 4011, App. A (c)
44、 Notice Funding Percentage(1) General rule. The Notice Funding Per-centage that must be included in the Participant Notice for a plan year is the funded current liability percent-age (as that term is defined in section 302(d)(9)(C) of ERISA) for that plan year or the prior plan year. (2) Small plans
45、. A plan that is exempt from the requirements of section 302(d) of ERISA for a plan year by reason of section 302(d)(6)(A) may determine its funded current liability percentage for that plan year using the Small Plan DRC Exception Test rules in 4011.4(b). (d) Additional information. The plan adminis
46、trator may include with the Participant Notice any information not described in paragraph (b) of this section only if it is in a separate docu-ment. (e) Foreign languages. In the case of a plan that (as of the date selected under 4011.7) covers the numbers or percent-ages specified in 2520.104b10(e)
47、 of this title of participants literate only in the same non-English language, the plan administrator shall provide those par-ticipants either (1) An English-language Participant Notice that prominently displays a leg-end, in their common non-English lan-guage, offering them assistance in that langu
48、age, and clearly setting forth any procedures participants must follow to obtain such assistance, or (2) A Participant Notice in that lan-guage. 61 FR 34026, July 1, 1996, as amended at 65 FR 75165, Dec. 1, 2000 4011.11 OMB control number. The collections of information con-tained in this part have
49、been approved by the Office of Management and Budg-et under OMB control number 12120050. APPENDIX A TO PART 4011MODEL PARTICIPANT NOTICE The following is an example of a Partici-pant Notice that satisfies the requirements of 4011.10 when the required information is filled in (subject to 4011.10(d)(e), where ap-plicable). NOTICE TO PARTICIPANTS OF PLAN NAME The law requires that you receive informa-tion on the fun
