Opinion ID: 581400
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: statutory and regulatory requirements for spd

Text: 11 ERISA requires that welfare benefit plans be governed by formal written plan documents that are prepared and filed in compliance with ERISA's reporting and disclosure rules. 5 One such document, the SPD, is the statutory plain-language mechanism for informing plan participants of the terms of the plan and its benefits. ERISA provides that the plan administrator must furnish the SPD to each participant and beneficiary. 6 ERISA does not define the term Summary Plan Description--hence the dispute in this case. Instead, it sets out with great specificity how the SPD must be written and what information it must contain. These requirements are found in §§ 1022(a) and (b): 12 (a)(1). A summary plan description of any employee benefit plan shall be furnished to participants and beneficiaries as provided in section 1024(b) of this title. The summary plan description shall include the information described in subsection (b) of this section, shall be written in a manner calculated to be understood by the average plan participant, and shall be sufficiently accurate and comprehensive to reasonably apprise such participants and beneficiaries of their rights and obligations under the plan.... 13 (b). The plan description and summary plan description shall contain the following information: The name and type of administration of the plan; the name and address of the person designated as agent for the service of legal process, if such person is not the administrator; the name and address of the administrator; names, titles, and addresses of any trustee or trustees (if they are persons different from the administrator); a description of the relevant provisions of any applicable collective bargaining agreement; the plan's requirements respecting eligibility for participation and benefits; a description of the provisions providing for nonforfeitable pension benefits; circumstances which may result in disqualification, ineligibility, or denial or loss of benefits; the source of financing of the plan and the identity of any organization through which benefits are provided; the date of the end of the plan year and whether the records of the plan are kept on a calendar, policy, or fiscal year basis; the procedures to be followed in presenting claims for benefits under the plan and the remedies available under the plan for the redress of claims which are denied in whole or in part (including procedures required under section 1133 of this title). 14 ERISA also requires that the plan administrator file the SPD with the Secretary of Labor. Assuming the Secretary finds it adequate under the law, the SPD is available for public inspection. 15 DOL regulations significantly extend and amplify ERISA's statutory requirements on the types of information that must be contained in the SPD. 7 For example, DOL regulations require that the SPD include a so-called statement of ERISA rights, 8 the employer identification number assigned by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to the plan sponsor, 9 and the plan number assigned by the plan sponsor, 10 even though this information is not explicitly required by § 1022(b). Unlike ERISA itself, moreover, DOL regulations clearly identify those categories of information relevant only to pension benefit plans, and, consequently, not required in an SPD for a welfare benefit plan. 11