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Compliance October 14, 2011
EBSA Issues Q&A on Prohibited Transactions in Multiemployer Plans
October 14, 2011 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has issued Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to help trustees of multiemployer benefit plans better understand how to avoid prohibited transactions in common leasing arrangements.
Reported by Tara Cantore
A multiemployer plan is an employee benefit plan maintained pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement between more than one employer, usually within the same or related industries, and a labor union.
The FAQs describe arrangements in which a multiemployer plan leases office space or classroom space to or from a sponsoring union or other party who has a relationship to the plan and the prohibited transaction rules that are violated by those arrangements. Also addressed are the administrative and statutory exemptions that may apply with an analysis of the specific prohibited transaction provisions that are covered by each exemption.
The FAQs also describe the consequences to a plan fiduciary if a leasing arrangement is prohibited but does not qualify for an exemption.
The questions and answers are available at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa.
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