Division I

Employer, Plan, and Fiduciary Foundations

The four Parts in this Division address questions that come before almost every other benefits question.

Which entities are the employer? Part 1 explains when separate businesses are treated as a single employer under the controlled-group and affiliated-service-group rules.
What must the plan say, and how does it change? Part 2 covers the plan document, amendments, mergers, and terminations.
Who is a fiduciary, and what must a fiduciary do? Part 3 covers fiduciary status, the fiduciary duties, and the prohibited-transaction rules.
What must be reported and disclosed, and how are claims decided? Part 4 covers ERISA's reporting, disclosure, and recordkeeping requirements, and the claims and appeals procedure.

The answers here feed directly into testing, plan administration, and correction, which the later Divisions take up.

Part 1. Controlled Groups and Affiliated Service Groups

This Part covers Code §§ 414(b), (c), (m), (o), ownership attribution, ASGs, management function groups, and aggregation consequences.

Part 2. Plan Documents, Amendments, Mergers, and Terminations

This Part covers the whole plan-document lifecycle.

Part 3. Fiduciary Duties and Prohibited Transactions

This Part covers fiduciary status, governance, service provider fees, ERISA §406, ERISA §408, Code §4975, plan asset issues, VFCP, and DC plan investment menu governance (menu construction, share classes and revenue sharing, recordkeeping fees, target-date funds, CITs, managed accounts, stable value, brokerage windows, alternative assets, and ESG/proxy voting).

Part 4. Reporting, Disclosure, Recordkeeping, and Claims

This Part covers Form 5500, SPDs, SMMs, SARs, benefit statements, blackout notices, QDIA, 404a-5, participant requests, ERISA §503 claims, and electronic delivery.