If your company offers an employee benefit plan that is subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”), for example a 401(k) plan, it is important to remember that your Company is responsible for ensuring that the Plan and any plan transactions comply with the fiduciary standards ERISA has created. Even though a Plan …
Lost participants are those participants who have balances in the plan (unclaimed benefits) or have been distributed an amount from the plan (uncashed benefit checks) and cannot be located. The participant either doesn’t know or forgot they have a balance since their employment was terminated or have relocated with no forwarding address. The participant’s account …
The census is prepared by the plan sponsor on an annual basis and includes the social security number, name, date of birth, date of hire, number of hours worked during the year, date of termination (if applicable), yearly compensation (which needs to meet the definition of compensation in the plan document), employee contribution for the …
DO – educate your employees DON’T – try to give investing advice DO – have a trusted advisor, whether this is your TPA or an investment advisor. DON’T – rely exclusively on your TPA or investment advisor. DO – make sure your providers continue to “pass muster” (read their SAS 70 audit reports) DON’T – …
The IRS issues favorable letters for various types of plans that meet the requirements of the Code. The type of letter a Plan needs to obtain depends on the structure of the Plan. You may have retirement plans that have been individually designed plans which are drafted to meet particular needs of the employer or …
How to file The July 31st filing deadline has come and gone. Did you file an extension? If you’re not sure, check with your TPA. We are just one month away from the extended filing deadline, October 15th. Have you filed yet? Beginning January 2010, all Form 5500’s are required to be submitted online through …
You’ve read all the articles and DOL publications about how to choose a Third Party Administrator (TPA) (see Monitoring your TPA, Selecting a TPA, Duties of Plan Administration, and Fiduciary Responsibilities). You’ve done the research, and you feel like you’ve hired a competent company to administer your plan. And so you just go about your …
Oftentimes during a 401(k) plan audit, the employer will respond to various questions about their plan with the answer “Our TPA handles all of that for us.” Indeed it is very common for plan sponsors to hire third-party administrators (TPAs) to manage some of the plan’s day-to-day operations. While there is much to be gained …
The act of hiring a third party administrator (“TPA”) is one of the responsibilities of a Plan Sponsor. One of the first steps in this hiring process is to sit down with your Plan Committee and determine what exactly your needs are in a TPA. Does your Company have specific situations that will need to …