Learn to navigate SPD regulations, improve employee communication, ensure compliance, and avoid costly legal issues in your organization.
This program will assist you to follow the SPD regulations to avoid legal liability for your plan and organization and provide better communication with your employees and beneficiaries. The ERISA requirement for distribution of a Summary Plan Description (SPD) may be dismissed as a regulatory, legal requirement, similar to legal disclaimers that we ignore every day in all facets of daily life. However, the SPD is intended to be a communication describing eligibility and benefits requirements to your employees and beneficiaries in layman’s or common language. It should be viewed as an opportunity to communicate clearly with your plan’s beneficiaries.
The SPD is not just a regulatory box to check, but should be considered as an opportunity to clearly and concisely educate your employees and beneficiaries. On the flipside, failure to adequately describe the benefits to your employees can cause extra expense, and even lawsuits, that could have been avoided if the beneficiaries understood the plan’s requirements up front. Conflicting language between the SPD and other plan documents can cause confusion, complaints and excess expenses.
This program will review the complex content and distribution requirements of the SPD to allow you to review your own processes and SPD contents for compliance. Electronic distribution of the SPD is common in this age of email, electronic enrollment and website posting and seems like it would be a simple endeavor. However, the ERISA regulations for electronic distribution are surprisingly complex and filled with recordkeeping requirements that can trip up the unknowledgeable employer or administrator. We will discuss the electronic distribution requirements in detail and review safe harbor requirements. This program will review some recent court decisions related to SPD distribution, requests for information, and clarity of plan terms and educate you on how to avoid these lawsuits in your organization. Finally, we will discuss the difference between the SPD and the Plan document, their coordination, and how courts enforce and interpret these two documents.
Learning Objectives
- You will be able to describe the statutory requirements for the contents and distribution of a Summary Plan Description.
- You will be able to discuss the reasons why clear and concise language is necessary in a Summary Plan Description.
- You will be able to explain the safe harbor requirements for distribution of a Summary Plan Description.
- You will be able to identify potential failures in your current Summary Plan Description distribution process.
Agenda
Speakers
Linda Stuessi,
The Wagner Law Group- Of Counsel in the San Diego office of The Wagner Law Group
- Leads the retiree medical trust practice group at Wagner Law Group
- Practice includes drafting various trust documents, conducting research on legal issues in employee benefits law and tax law, coordinating with trust advisors, reviewing contracts with service providers, and preparing IRS requests for private letter rulings defending Department of Labor investigations
- Has practiced in ERISA and employee benefits for over 16 years, with prior experience in employment law, First Amendment law, securities class actions, and litigation
- J.D. degree, cum laude, University of Wisconsin Law School
Who Should Attend
This live webinar is designed for human resource managers, benefits administrators, payroll managers, controllers, CFOs, finance directors, presidents, vice presidents, business and office managers, accountants, insurance professionals, and attorneys.
