Tag Archives: preemption

A severance plan may be subject to the requirements of ERISA as an employee welfare benefit plan. The determination of whether a severance plan is subject to ERISA depends in large part on whether the plan is part of an “ongoing administrative scheme.”

Severance plans subject to ERISA have certain requirements, such as the obligation to file annual Forms 5500, to follow ERISA’s formal claims procedure, and to provide a summary plan description (“SPD”), a summary annual report (“SAR”), and any required summaries of material modification (“SMM”) to participants.

For a severance plan subject to ERISA, failure to comply with these requirements can carry a hefty fee – up to $110 per day for failure to provide required documents to participants on request and up to $1,100 per day for failure to file a Form 5500. Read More ›