HERE IS WHAT THE DEPT OF LABOR THINKS ARE PLAN DOCUMENTS - ERISA 2520-104
BOEING DOESN'T SEEM TO UNDERSTAND OR AGREE !
" It is the view of the Department of Labor (the Department) that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) currently requires disclosure to participants and beneficiaries of any procedure, formula, or methodology applicable to the determination of a participant's or beneficiary's benefit entitlement under an employee benefit plan. Participants and beneficiaries have, under sections 104(b)(2) and 104(b)(4), a statutory right to examine and obtain copies of among other things, "instruments under which the plan is established or operated."
" For purposes of the disclosures required under sections 104(b)(2) and 104(b)(4), any document or instrument that specifies the procedures, formulas or methodologies to be applied in determining or calculating benefit entitlements under an employee benefit plan, including documents describing formulas to be applied in the calculation of deferred compensation under a plan, would, in the view of the Department, constitute "instruments under which an employee benefit plan is established or operated," even if such information is not specifically referenced in a document designated as the "plan document." For example, if the formulas to be applied in determining distributions under a pension plan are set forth only in the minutes of a meeting of the plan's fiduciaries (e.g., board of trustees), such minutes, in relevant part, would constitute an "instrument" under which the plan is operated and would have to be disclosed to participants and beneficiaries in accordance with sections 104(b)(2) and 104(b)(4). "
" Participants and beneficiaries have the right to bring a civil action to enforce their disclosure rights. Thus, an administrator who fails or refuses to disclose the formula(s) pursuant to which lump sum distributions are calculated under the plan may, in the discretion of the court, be personally liable to the participant or beneficiary in the amount of up to $110 per day from the date of the failure or refusal. "
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