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Guidance Document Database
The documents listed below are PBGC’s guidance documents. The contents of these documents do not have the force and effect of law, unless expressly authorized by statute or incorporated into a contract, and are not meant to bind the public in any way. These documents are intended only to provide clarity to the public regarding existing requirements under the law or agency policies.
If you would like to comment on an existing guidance document, please submit your comment, including your contact information, to the General Counsel at GuidanceComments@pbgc.gov or at Regulatory Affairs Division, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, Office of the General Counsel, 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20024-2101.
Title | Issuance Date | Agency Identifier (indexed field) | Topics | Summary | Posted Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Opinion Letter 82-01 | 1-19-1982 | PBGC Op Let 82-1 | Professional service employer plan, Coverage | Pharmacist is a professional individual for purposes of the Professional Service Employer plan exemption. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 81-06 | 4-1-1981 | PBGC Op Let 81-6 | Termination | Plan termination date agreed to by PBGC and the company was after participants had constructive notice of termination . |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 85-12 | 5-28-1985 | PBGC Op Let 85-12 | Multiemployer, Withdrawal Liability | Addresses the special partial withdrawal rule for the retail food industry, and the meaning of “retail food industry.” |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 74-17 | 11-14-1974 | PBGC Op Let 74-17 | Individual account plan, Professional service employer plan, Coverage | Professional service employer plans and individual account plans are excluded from coverage. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 77-162 | 8-30-1977 | PBGC Op Let 77-162 | Benefit guarantee | A profit-sharing benefit in the plan is nonforfeitable and a pension benefit because the plan states it may be paid as an annuity. Because PBGC guarantees and pays the benefit as an annuity, it won’t be paid in a lump sum if the plan is insufficient. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 82-39 | 12-20-1982 | PBGC Op Let 82-39 | Multiemployer, Dispute Resolution, Withdrawal Liability | Addresses the determination of withdrawal liability and the procedure to dispute withdrawal liability. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 89-10 | 12-8-1989 | PBGC Op Let 89-10 | Professional service employer plan, Coverage | Plan does not meet the Professional Service Employer plan exemption. Plan is covered under Title IV because number of active participants exceeds 25. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 75-116 | 12-31-1975 | PBGC Op Let 75-116 | Withdrawal, Termination | Discusses the difference between a multiemployer plan and a multiple employer plan and the termination provisions applicable to the latter. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 75-07 | 5-8-1975 | PBGC Op Let 75-7 | Merger, Reportable events | A reportable event takes place with the merger of a single employer plan into a multiemployer plan. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 81-20 | 7-15-1981 | PBGC Op Let 81-20 | Determination of plan sufficiency, Termination, Reportable events | The sale by a parent corporation with a division that maintains a pension plan with nonforfeitable benefits which are not funded of $1 million or more of an incorporated subsidiary, irrespective of its relative size, results in a reportable event. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 83-23 | 9-23-1983 | PBGC Op Let 83-23 | Mass Withdrawal, Multiemployer, Withdrawal Liability | This opinion letter declines to provide an opinion on the meaning of “substantially all” for the purposes of determining whether a substantially all mass withdrawal has occurred. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 85-20 | 8-2-1985 | PBGC Op Let 85-20 | Asset Sale Exception, Multiemployer | Addresses bond waivers and withdrawal liability and how regulations do not apply to the liquidation bond upon seller’s liquidation. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 81-35 | 10-26-1981 | PBGC Op Let 81-35 | Benefit guarantee | Addresses the calculation of guaranteed benefits; PBGC measures benefits using plan factors at date of plan termination. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 82-40 | 12-27-1982 | PBGC Op Let 82-40 | Withdrawal, Multiemployer | Regards a statutory provision under which a contributing employer to a multiemployer plan does not withdraw from the plan because it ceases to exist due to a change in organizational form if there is no interruption in the employer's contributions or obligation to contribute; addresses whether that exception to withdrawal applies to an employer that sells its assets where the purchaser takes over the seller's name, plant, and employees. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 81-13 | 5-13-1981 | PBGC Op Let 81-13 | Governmental plan, Coverage | A plan maintained by a company under contract to provide services for a Federal agency does not meet the Governmental plan coverage exemption. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 79-07 | 4-17-1979 | PBGC Op Let 79-7 | Benefit guarantee | $20 minimum in the regulation is not subject to actuarial adjustment for the participant’s age at the time the benefit started. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 82-04 | 2-10-1982 | PBGC Op Let 82-04 | Withdrawal, Multiemployer | Addresses whether a corporation that has an obligation to contribute to a multiemployer plan withdraws from the plan if the corporation's parent sells its shares. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 75-48 | 11-19-1975 | PBGC Op Let 75-48 | Coverage, Premiums | Fully insured plans are required to pay premiums. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 74-06 | 11-14-1974 | PBGC Op Let 74-6 | Nonresident aliens, Coverage | Plan is not exempt from coverage under Title IV because of Canadian participants. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 86-07 | 3-24-1986 | PBGC Op Let 86-07 | Multiemployer, Withdrawal Liability | Addresses whether a union decertification can cause a withdrawal. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 86-21 | 9-29-1986 | PBGC Op Let 86-21 | Multiemployer, Withdrawal Liability | Addresses (1) how withdrawal liability should be assessed when the contributing employer is a partnership, and (2) whether an employer continues to perform work of the type and jurisdiction covered by a collective bargaining agreement for purposes of determining whether a withdrawal has occurred. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 89-01 | 2-8-1989 | PBGC Op Let 89-1 | Asset reversion | PBGC’s position requiring distribution of assets as soon as practicable after PBGC’s 60-day review does not apply to surplus assets when there is a dispute concerning distribution. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 80-13 | 6-20-1980 | PBGC Op Let 80-13 | Professional service employer plan, Coverage | Provider of advertising and public relations services is not a professional individual for purposes of the Professional Service Employer plan exemption. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 82-10 | 3-26-1982 | PBGC Op Let 82-10 | Mass Withdrawal, Multiemployer | Addresses a plan sponsor’s obligations when a plan terminates by mass withdrawal, including the payment of benefits to participants in a terminated plan. |
2-28-2020 |
Opinion Letter 80-11 | 6-9-1980 | PBGC Op Let 80-11 | Professional service employer plan, Coverage | Artist-designer is not a professional individual for purposes of the Professional Service Employer plan exemption. |
2-28-2020 |