They usually either direct the trustee on plan decisions, such as voting shares, or actually serve as trustee, but they can just have an advisory role. Finally, they often act as the vehicle for communicating the plan to participants and even oversee the company's employee involvement program. There are no rules about who can be on the ESOP Committee or how they should be selected. More participative companies get non-management employees involved on the committee, as minority or majority members. Usually, these are elected by other employees, but sometimes they are appointed by management or are simply whoever volunteers.
Most committees have three to six members.
Making Plan Decisions To the extent the ESOP Committee actually makes decisions affecting the plan, acts as the plan trustee, or directs a trustee to make such decisions, it is acting as a plan fiduciary, meaning it is legally responsible for the operation of the plan. This is the case whether the ESOP Committee is actually named as the plan fiduciary or not. Making sure the plan administrator gets everyone who is qualified into the plan, and that once they are there, they get their proper allocations, statements, and forfeitures. Making sure the administrator files the proper reports with the government and provides required forms to plan participants. Guaranteeing that proper procedures are followed in the case of employee complaints about the plan and that other employee rights, such as voting and the opportunity to inspect plan documents, are provided.