Thread: Reporting and Disclosure Guide for Employee Benefit Plans

Reporting and Disclosure Guide for Employee
Benefit Plans

Introduction
This Reporting and Disclosure Guide for Employee Benefit Plans has
been prepared by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits
Security Administration (EBSA) with assistance from the Pension
Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). It is intended to be used as a
quick reference tool for certain basic reporting and disclosure
requirements under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of
1974 (ERISA). Not all ERISA reporting and disclosure requirements are
reflected in this guide. For example, the guide, as a general matter, does
not focus on disclosures required by the Internal Revenue Code or the
provisions of ERISA for which the Treasury Department and Internal
Revenue Service have regulatory and interpretive authority.
The guide contains, on page 19, a list of EBSA and PBGC resources,
including agency Internet sites, where laws, regulations, and other
guidance are available on ERISA’s reporting and disclosure
requirements. Readers should refer to the law, regulations, instructions
for any applicable form, or other official guidance issued by EBSA or the
PBGC for complete information on ERISA’s reporting and disclosure
requirements.
This guide contains three chapters. The first chapter, beginning on page
2, provides an overview of the most common disclosures that
administrators of employee benefit plans are required to furnish to
participants, beneficiaries, and certain other individuals under Title I
of ERISA. The chapter has three sections: Basic Disclosure
Requirements for Pension and Welfare Benefit Plans; Additional
Disclosure Requirements for Welfare Benefit Plans That Are Group
Health Plans; and Additional Disclosure Requirements for Pension
Plans.
The second chapter, beginning on page 10, provides an overview of
reporting and disclosure requirements for defined benefit pension plans
under Title IV of ERISA. The PBGC administers these provisions. The
chapter focuses primarily on single-employer plans and has four
sections. The first section - Pension Insurance Premiums - applies to
covered single-employer and multiemployer defined benefit plans. The
last three sections - Standard Terminations, Distress Terminations, and
Other Reports - apply only to covered single-employer defined benefit
plans.
The third chapter, beginning on page 14, provides an overview of the
Form 5500 and Form M-1 Annual Reporting requirements. The chapter
consists of the following quick reference charts: Pension and Welfare
Benefit Plan Form 5500 Quick Reference Chart; DFE Form 5500 Quick
Reference Chart; and Form M-1 Quick Reference Chart.
This Department of Labor publication is intended to improve public
access to information about the reporting and disclosure rules under
ERISA. We made every effort to ensure that the information presented
reflects current laws and final regulations as of July 2008. Please be
sure to check current laws and regulations on our website at
Employee Benefits Security Administration Main Page.

the complete file is attached