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Every Part of the Desk Reference, with the topics it covers and the related Parts to consult. Benefits questions often cross subjects; the related Parts show where.

Division I. Employer, Plan, and Fiduciary Foundations

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.

Related:

• Part 10. Multiemployer Plans and Withdrawal Liability — for Title IV common-control (withdrawal) liability consequences
• Part 11. Multiple-Employer and Small-Employer Arrangements — where the entities are not aggregated and the plan is therefore a MEP or PEP under Code §413(c)/(e)
• Part 5. Qualified Plan Testing, Eligibility, and Vesting
• Part 14. ACA Employer Mandate and Health Reform
• Part 13. COBRA, HIPAA, and Welfare Benefits
• Part 25. Employee Benefits in Mergers and Acquisitions
• Part 8. 403(b) Plans
• Part 20. Governmental, Church, and Tribal Plans — where the sponsor is governmental, church, or tribal

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

This Part covers the whole plan-document lifecycle.

Related:

• Part 21. Plan Corrections: EPCRS, VFCP, and DFVCP — for the missed deadline, and for the outstanding SECURE 2.0 §305 rewrite of Rev. Proc. 2021-30 governing self-correction
• Part 25. Employee Benefits in Mergers and Acquisitions — when the amendment, merger, spinoff, or termination arises from a transaction, and for the Merged Plan determination-letter window a deal opens (often the cheapest available amnesty for a target's document history)
• Part 5. Qualified Plan Testing, Eligibility, and Vesting — for the vesting schedules underlying full- and partial-termination vesting
• Part 6. Distributions, Loans, Rollovers, and RMDs — for distributions on termination and the successor-plan restrictions
• Part 7. Defined Benefit and Hybrid Plans — for the ongoing funding, §436, and PBGC posture behind a DB termination, and for pension risk transfer
• Part 5. Qualified Plan Testing, Eligibility, and Vesting — for §1.401(a)(4)-11(g) corrective amendments
• Part 4. Reporting, Disclosure, Recordkeeping, and Claims — for Form 5310-A, the §204(h) notice as a disclosure item, and PBGC termination filings
• Part 22. Government Audits and Investigations — for how a document failure is handled on exam rather than on determination-letter review
• Part 11. Multiple-Employer and Small-Employer Arrangements — for MEP/PEP determination-letter mechanics and the employer-specific reliance carve-outs
• Part 8. 403(b) Plans — for 403(b) substance behind a Cycle 2 restatement, and for governmental and church amendment and termination, where State-law impairment constraints bind far more tightly than §411(d)(6)
• Part 20. Governmental, Church, and Tribal Plans — for 403(b) substance behind a Cycle 2 restatement, and for governmental and church amendment and termination, where State-law impairment constraints bind far more tightly than §411(d)(6)
• Part 3. Fiduciary Duties and Prohibited Transactions — for the settlor-versus-fiduciary line and surplus on termination
• Part 9. ESOPs and Employee Ownership — for the plan types whose access to the pre-approved program is often wrongly assumed away

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).

Related:

• Part 21. Plan Corrections: EPCRS, VFCP, and DFVCP — for VFCP, Form 5330, late deposits, and correction
• Part 4. Reporting, Disclosure, Recordkeeping, and Claims — for §408(b)(2), 404a-5, Form 5500, and records
• Part 5. Qualified Plan Testing, Eligibility, and Vesting — for late deferral deposits
• Part 6. Distributions, Loans, Rollovers, and RMDs — for plan loan issues
• Part 9. ESOPs and Employee Ownership — for ESOP transactions, adequate consideration, exempt loans, and employer-stock valuation
• Part 15. Health Plan Parity, CAA, and Transparency — for health-plan fee fiduciary claims, §408(b)(2)(B) covered-service-provider disclosure (including PBMs and TPAs after the CAA 2026), and the §408(b)(2)(C) PBM rebate pass-through
• Part 25. Employee Benefits in Mergers and Acquisitions — for employer stock and plan asset issues arising in a deal
• Part 2. Plan Documents, Amendments, Mergers, and Terminations — for the settlor-vs-fiduciary line in amendment/termination decisions and surplus on termination
• Part 7. Defined Benefit and Hybrid Plans — for annuity-provider selection in pension risk transfers (IB 95-1)
• Part 23. ERISA Disputes, Enforcement, Preemption, and Remedies — for §502 claims, litigation holds, and remedies doctrine
• Part 22. Government Audits and Investigations — for the DOL/EBSA investigation-process mechanics behind a fiduciary-breach inquiry
• Part 24. Benefits Cybersecurity and Data Incidents — for DOL cybersecurity guidance, cyber vendor diligence and contract terms, fraudulent distributions and loss allocation, and the bond/fiduciary/cyber insurance stack

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.

Related:

• Part 5. Qualified Plan Testing, Eligibility, and Vesting — for safe harbor, QACA, EACA, QDIA notices
• Part 6. Distributions, Loans, Rollovers, and RMDs — for §402(f), Form 1099-R, withholding notices
• Part 12. QDROs and Division of Retirement Benefits — for QDRO determination procedures and divorce-related beneficiary disputes
• Part 23. ERISA Disputes, Enforcement, Preemption, and Remedies — for exhaustion, standard of review, and the litigation posture behind a claims dispute
• Part 13. COBRA, HIPAA, and Welfare Benefits — for welfare reporting and notices
• Part 21. Plan Corrections: EPCRS, VFCP, and DFVCP — for DFVC, Form 5330, and correction records
• Part 2. Plan Documents, Amendments, Mergers, and Terminations — for Form 5310/5310-A, §204(h) notices, and PBGC termination filings
• Part 7. Defined Benefit and Hybrid Plans — for PBGC premium computation, §4043 reportable events, and §4010
• Part 8. 403(b) Plans — for ERISA 403(b) reporting and exemptions
• Part 25. Employee Benefits in Mergers and Acquisitions — for transaction notices, blackout, Form 5310-A, and PBGC

Division II. Retirement Plans

Part 5. Qualified Plan Testing, Eligibility, and Vesting

This Part covers the qualified plan's annual compliance cycle — everything that runs off one census in one testing season — plus the eligibility and vesting rules that determine who is in that census and what they have earned.

Related:

• Part 1. Controlled Groups and Affiliated Service Groups — the threshold determination
• Part 21. Plan Corrections: EPCRS, VFCP, and DFVCP — for correcting any failure identified
• Part 2. Plan Documents, Amendments, Mergers, and Terminations — for corrective amendments, the full-vesting-on-termination rule, and the partial-termination presumption
• Part 6. Distributions, Loans, Rollovers, and RMDs — for §415/§402(g) excess distributions, hardships, Roth and catch-up, and vesting determination on distribution
• Part 3. Fiduciary Duties and Prohibited Transactions — for late deferral deposits
• Part 25. Employee Benefits in Mergers and Acquisitions — for the §410(b)(6)(C) transition, §414(a) service crediting, plan-merger coordination, and short-year testing
• Part 7. Defined Benefit and Hybrid Plans — for DB nondiscrimination, cash-balance cross-testing, §401(a)(26), and closed-plan relief
• Part 4. Reporting, Disclosure, Recordkeeping, and Claims — for safe harbor, QACA, EACA, and QDIA notices
• Part 8. 403(b) Plans — for the plan types with different or no testing obligations
• Part 20. Governmental, Church, and Tribal Plans — for the plan types with different or no testing obligations
• Part 9. ESOPs and Employee Ownership — for ESOP disaggregation
• Part 11. Multiple-Employer and Small-Employer Arrangements — for the employer-by-employer testing a MEP relocates rather than eliminates

Part 6. Distributions, Loans, Rollovers, and RMDs

This Part covers hardships, in-service withdrawals, loans, rollovers, withholding, §402(f), Form 1099-R, QJSA/spousal consent, and RMDs — including the SECURE 2.0 required-beginning-date ages, the lifetime and death-benefit rules, eligible designated beneficiaries and the 10-year rule (with the final-regulation annual-distribution requirement for post-RBD deaths), beneficiary RMDs, Roth RMD treatment, and the §4974 excise tax. It also covers missing and non-responsive participants and uncashed distribution checks — the search obligation and DOL's sub-regulatory guidance package (Best Practices, CAR 2021-01, FAB 2014-01, FAB 2021-01, FAB 2025-01), the PBGC Missing Participants Program, the tax treatment of uncashed checks and of payments to State unclaimed property funds, State escheat and ERISA §514 preemption, and the Retirement Savings Lost and Found.

Related:

• Part 12. QDROs and Division of Retirement Benefits — for divorce-related division, alternate-payee awards, and QDRO taxation
• Part 5. Qualified Plan Testing, Eligibility, and Vesting — for forfeiture and reinstatement of a missing participant's benefit (minimum-participation-and-vesting chapter, unit E3)
• Part 22. Government Audits and Investigations — for the EBSA Terminated Vested Participants Project and PBGC audit exposure on missing participants
• Part 23. ERISA Disputes, Enforcement, Preemption, and Remedies — for ERISA §514 preemption of State unclaimed property law
• Part 5. Qualified Plan Testing, Eligibility, and Vesting — for 401(k)-source restrictions, §415/§402(g) excess distributions, and Roth/catch-up
• Part 21. Plan Corrections: EPCRS, VFCP, and DFVCP — for RMD, loan, and distribution failures (Form 14568 Schedules 5 and 8)
• Part 4. Reporting, Disclosure, Recordkeeping, and Claims — for §402(f), Form 1099-R, and withholding notices
• Part 3. Fiduciary Duties and Prohibited Transactions — for loan prohibited transactions
• Part 5. Qualified Plan Testing, Eligibility, and Vesting — for vesting determination on distribution
• Part 2. Plan Documents, Amendments, Mergers, and Terminations — for the §401(k) successor-plan rule and distributions on termination
• Part 7. Defined Benefit and Hybrid Plans — for §417(e) lump-sum assumptions and §436 payment restrictions
• Part 25. Employee Benefits in Mergers and Acquisitions — for severance and plan termination distributions
• Part 8. 403(b) Plans — for special 403(b) distribution rules

Part 7. Defined Benefit and Hybrid Plans

This Part covers ongoing single-employer DB and hybrid plan compliance: §§412/430 minimum funding, §436 benefit restrictions and AFTAP certifications, §430(i) at-risk status, funding waivers/§4971, cash balance and pension equity design (§411(a)(13), §411(b)(5), market rate of return, conversions), §417(e) lump-sum assumptions, §415(b) DB limits, actuarial equivalence, PBGC coverage/premiums, §4043 reportable events, §4010, §4062(e), and pension risk transfer (annuity buyouts/buy-ins/lift-outs, lump-sum windows, IB 95-1).

Related:

• Part 2. Plan Documents, Amendments, Mergers, and Terminations — for DB terminations, §411(d)(6), and §204(h) notices
• Part 3. Fiduciary Duties and Prohibited Transactions — for the fiduciary framework behind annuity-provider selection and the settlor line
• Part 4. Reporting, Disclosure, Recordkeeping, and Claims — for Schedule SB, annual funding notices, and PBGC filing mechanics
• Part 6. Distributions, Loans, Rollovers, and RMDs — for QJSA/QPSA elections, spousal consent, and rollover of lump sums
• Part 5. Qualified Plan Testing, Eligibility, and Vesting — for DB nondiscrimination, cash-balance cross-testing, and closed-plan relief
• Part 1. Controlled Groups and Affiliated Service Groups — for controlled-group funding, lien, and Title IV liability
• Part 25. Employee Benefits in Mergers and Acquisitions — for transaction-driven reportable events, §4062(e), and DB deal diligence
• Part 21. Plan Corrections: EPCRS, VFCP, and DFVCP — for §436, lump-sum, and other DB operational failures
• Part 10. Multiemployer Plans and Withdrawal Liability — for Taft-Hartley plans and withdrawal liability (a different Title IV regime)
• Part 22. Government Audits and Investigations — for PBGC premium and standard-termination audit process, reportable-events/§4010/§4062(e) compliance monitoring, and the Early Warning Program

Part 8. 403(b) Plans

This Part covers the 403(b) plan itself: eligible-employer status, the three funding vehicles, the written plan, universal availability and the permitted exclusions (with the once-in-always-in rule), ERISA versus non-ERISA status under the DOL safe harbor, contribution limits and the special 15-year catch-up, distributions and loans, contract exchanges and information-sharing agreements, plan-to-plan transfers, termination, and 403(b) corrections.

Related:

• Part 20. Governmental, Church, and Tribal Plans — the companion Part for any public school, State instrumentality, church, or church-affiliated sponsor
• Part 2. Plan Documents, Amendments, Mergers, and Terminations — for 403(b) individually designed determination letters, the 403(b) pre-approved cycles (Cycle 2 employer adoption deadline December 31, 2026), and 403(b) form defects and remedial amendment periods
• Part 5. Qualified Plan Testing, Eligibility, and Vesting
• Part 21. Plan Corrections: EPCRS, VFCP, and DFVCP
• Part 4. Reporting, Disclosure, Recordkeeping, and Claims
• Part 6. Distributions, Loans, Rollovers, and RMDs
• Part 2. Plan Documents, Amendments, Mergers, and Terminations
• Part 3. Fiduciary Duties and Prohibited Transactions
• Part 1. Controlled Groups and Affiliated Service Groups
• Part 11. Multiple-Employer and Small-Employer Arrangements — for 403(b) MEPs and PEPs under Code §403(b)(15)
• Part 25. Employee Benefits in Mergers and Acquisitions

Part 9. ESOPs and Employee Ownership

This Part covers ESOP qualification and designation (§4975(e)(7), §409(l)), leveraged/exempt-loan transactions, adequate consideration and ESOP valuation (ERISA §3(18), §408(e)), put options and §409(o) distributions, §401(a)(28) diversification and appraiser requirements, repurchase obligations, §404(a)(9)/§404(k), S-corporation ESOPs and §409(p), §1042 sales and §409(n), the §4978/§4979A excises, ESOP trustee process and DOL enforcement posture (FAB 2026-01, the employee-ownership initiative), and sales/acquisitions of ESOP companies.

Related:

• Part 3. Fiduciary Duties and Prohibited Transactions — for general §406/§4975 doctrine, VFCP, and Form 5330 mechanics behind an ESOP transaction issue
• Part 25. Employee Benefits in Mergers and Acquisitions — for the deal framework around an ESOP-company sale or acquisition
• Part 5. Qualified Plan Testing, Eligibility, and Vesting — for coverage/ADP mechanics (ESOP disaggregation) and the §415/§404 general limits
• Part 6. Distributions, Loans, Rollovers, and RMDs — for distribution, rollover, and RMD mechanics layered under §409(o)/(h)
• Part 2. Plan Documents, Amendments, Mergers, and Terminations — for ESOP termination (including on a company sale)
• Part 21. Plan Corrections: EPCRS, VFCP, and DFVCP — for EPCRS/VFCP correction of ESOP failures
• Part 18. Nonqualified Deferred Compensation, 409A, 457, and Executive Compensation — for synthetic-equity/NQDC design at S-corporation ESOP companies (§409(p) interaction)
• Part 1. Controlled Groups and Affiliated Service Groups — for §409(l)(4) controlled-group securities and employer aggregation

Part 10. Multiemployer Plans and Withdrawal Liability

This Part covers multiemployer (Taft-Hartley) plan matters, primarily employer-side: ERISA §§4201–4225 withdrawal liability (complete/partial, industry exemptions, calculation and §4213 assumptions, the §4219/§4221 review-and-arbitration process, §4225 caps, mass withdrawal), controlled-group/successor/evade-or-avoid liability, §4204 asset-sale structuring, zone status and FIP/RP schedules, MPRA, ARPA special financial assistance, plan insolvency and the multiemployer guarantee/premiums, §515 delinquent contributions and audits, and LMRA §302(c)(5) governance and employer-trustee counseling.

Related:

• Part 25. Employee Benefits in Mergers and Acquisitions — for the deal overlay around withdrawal-liability diligence and §4204
• Part 1. Controlled Groups and Affiliated Service Groups — for Code §414(c) common-control mechanics behind Title IV group liability
• Part 7. Defined Benefit and Hybrid Plans — for the single-employer Title IV contrast
• Part 3. Fiduciary Duties and Prohibited Transactions — for trustee breach and prohibited-transaction analysis
• Part 4. Reporting, Disclosure, Recordkeeping, and Claims — for Form 5500 and zone-notice mechanics
• Part 2. Plan Documents, Amendments, Mergers, and Terminations — for collectively bargained amendment/termination mechanics

Part 11. Multiple-Employer and Small-Employer Arrangements

This Part covers any arrangement in which unrelated employers share a retirement plan, and for small-employer plan selection and operation: multiple employer plans under Code §413(c) (what is tested plan-wide versus employer-by-employer, determination-letter reliance carve-outs, Schedule MEP and ERISA §103(g)); the single-ERISA-plan-or-many question under ERISA §3(5), DOL Advisory Opinion 2012-04A, and the 2019 association retirement plan rule at 29 C.F.R. §2510.3-55; PEO-sponsored plans (Rev. Proc. 2002-21/2003-86, the bona fide PEO route, and why CPEO status does not answer the qualification question); pooled employer plans and pooled plan providers (ERISA §§3(43)-(44), Code §413(e), Form PR registration under 29 C.F.R. §2510.3-44, PPP duties, conflicts, and the participating employer's retained selection-and-monitoring duty); the unified plan ("one bad apple") rule and the §413(e) notice-and-spinoff sequence for participating-employer failures; and the small-employer vehicles — SEPs, SARSEPs, SIMPLE IRA and SIMPLE 401(k) plans, starter 401(k)s, the §45E/§45E(f)/§45T/§45AA credits, the §414A automatic-enrollment mandate and its employer-by-employer application in a MEP/PEP, and State auto-IRA programs.

Related:

• Part 1. Controlled Groups and Affiliated Service Groups — the threshold aggregation question
• Part 3. Fiduciary Duties and Prohibited Transactions — the duty to select and monitor a pooled plan provider, §406(b) self-dealing and affiliate compensation, §408(b)(2), and the §412 bond
• Part 5. Qualified Plan Testing, Eligibility, and Vesting — the employer-by-employer testing a MEP relocates rather than eliminates
• Part 4. Reporting, Disclosure, Recordkeeping, and Claims — Form 5500, Schedule MEP, the participant-count method, and DFVC exposure where an arrangement was wrongly treated as one plan
• Part 21. Plan Corrections: EPCRS, VFCP, and DFVCP — the correction a §413(e) spinoff does not accomplish, and the SEP/SIMPLE correction schedules
• Part 2. Plan Documents, Amendments, Mergers, and Terminations — spinoffs, §414(l) transfers, and §411(d)(6) on entry and exit
• Part 22. Government Audits and Investigations — once a final participating-employer-failure notice has gone to EBSA's Office of Enforcement
• Part 7. Defined Benefit and Hybrid Plans — DB MEP funding and PBGC treatment (DB MEPs are outside the §413(e) exception)
• Part 8. 403(b) Plans — 403(b) MEPs under Code §403(b)(15)
• Part 5. Qualified Plan Testing, Eligibility, and Vesting — plan-wide service crediting across participating employers
• Part 23. ERISA Disputes, Enforcement, Preemption, and Remedies — State auto-IRA preemption

Part 12. QDROs and Division of Retirement Benefits

This Part covers division of retirement benefits in divorce and support matters: QDRO qualification (ERISA §206(d)(3); Code §414(p)), plan QDRO procedures, determinations, segregation, and the administrator's fiduciary role; posthumous/successive orders (29 C.F.R. §2530.206); DB separate-vs-shared-interest design and DC division formats; death, remarriage, and survivor treatment; taxation of awards (§402(e)(1)(A), §72(t)(2)(C), child-support orders); competing beneficiaries (Boggs/Egelhoff/Kennedy); and the non-ERISA regimes — IRAs (§408(d)(6)), TSP, FERS/CSRS, military retired pay, railroad retirement, and Arizona governmental plans (ASRS, PSPRS/CORP/EORP, TSRS, Nationwide 457(b)).

Related:

• Part 6. Distributions, Loans, Rollovers, and RMDs — for the rollover, withholding, §402(f), 1099-R, and QJSA/QPSA mechanics under an award
• Part 4. Reporting, Disclosure, Recordkeeping, and Claims — for claims-procedure posture on QDRO determinations and beneficiary disputes
• Part 3. Fiduciary Duties and Prohibited Transactions — for the administrator's fiduciary duties in determinations and payment disputes
• Part 18. Nonqualified Deferred Compensation, 409A, 457, and Executive Compensation — for NQDC division in divorce (Rev. Ruls. 2002-22/2004-60; not QDRO-divisible)
• Part 20. Governmental, Church, and Tribal Plans — for governmental or church plan status behind a DRO
• Part 7. Defined Benefit and Hybrid Plans — for the plan-side actuarial and §417(e) context of DB awards

Division III. Health and Welfare

Part 13. COBRA, HIPAA, and Welfare Benefits

This Part covers COBRA, Arizona mini-COBRA, HIPAA, BAAs, §125, FSAs, HSAs, HRAs (including ICHRA, QSEHRA, and excepted-benefit HRA design and administration), DCAPs, welfare Form 5500, MEWAs, and welfare compliance. It also covers retiree medical and Medicare coordination — retiree health vesting after Tackett and Reese, VEBAs and §401(h) accounts (and §420 transfers), Medicare Secondary Payer, Medicare Part D creditable-coverage disclosure, the HSA/Medicare enrollment traps, and the retiree-only plan and ADEA Medicare-coordination interactions.

Related:

• Part 15. Health Plan Parity, CAA, and Transparency — for MHPAEA, NSA/IDR, gag-clause attestations, RxDC, TiC, provider directories, and §408(b)(2)(B)
• Part 17. Fringe Benefits and Employment Taxation — for Trump Account employer contribution programs (TACPs) under Code §128, moved there in full (exclusion mechanics, ERISA plan-status, and payroll/W-2 treatment)
• Part 14. ACA Employer Mandate and Health Reform — including the retiree-only plan exception from the market reforms
• Part 7. Defined Benefit and Hybrid Plans — for the §420 transfer funding mechanics behind a §401(h) retiree health account
• Part 21. Plan Corrections: EPCRS, VFCP, and DFVCP — for the $750 DFVC cure of a late Form M-1 and the general Form 5500 penalty and DFVC machinery; MEWA status, §514(b)(6), Form M-1, and welfare Form 5500 scope stay here (MEWAs, Form M-1, and the Welfare-Plan Form 5500)
• Part 4. Reporting, Disclosure, Recordkeeping, and Claims — for the $750 DFVC cure of a late Form M-1 and the general Form 5500 penalty and DFVC machinery; MEWA status, §514(b)(6), Form M-1, and welfare Form 5500 scope stay here (MEWAs, Form M-1, and the Welfare-Plan Form 5500)
• Part 23. ERISA Disputes, Enforcement, Preemption, and Remedies — for retiree health vesting litigation and LMRA §301 claims
• Part 4. Reporting, Disclosure, Recordkeeping, and Claims
• Part 25. Employee Benefits in Mergers and Acquisitions
• Part 3. Fiduciary Duties and Prohibited Transactions
• Part 22. Government Audits and Investigations — for the HHS OCR HIPAA investigation and enforcement process
• Part 24. Benefits Cybersecurity and Data Incidents — for the parallel ERISA fiduciary cybersecurity layer on a health or welfare plan (DOL guidance applies to health and welfare plans per CAR 2024-01), vendor cyber diligence and contracts, incident response, and the insurance stack

Part 14. ACA Employer Mandate and Health Reform

This Part covers ALE, §4980H, Forms 1094-C/1095-C, Letter 226-J, ICHRAs, affordability, minimum value, ACA market reforms, the full-time determination mechanics (hours of service, measurement methods, variable-hour and seasonal employees, breaks and rehires), and ACA §1557 nondiscrimination.

Related:

• Part 1. Controlled Groups and Affiliated Service Groups — for ALE aggregation
• Part 13. COBRA, HIPAA, and Welfare Benefits — for welfare design and health plan compliance, including HRA/ICHRA/QSEHRA design, notices, and the ERISA/COBRA/§105(h) overlays (this Part keeps ICHRA affordability and §4980H)
• Part 15. Health Plan Parity, CAA, and Transparency — for the CAA/transparency layer and MHPAEA on the same health plan
• Part 4. Reporting, Disclosure, Recordkeeping, and Claims — for filings, notices, and recordkeeping
• Part 25. Employee Benefits in Mergers and Acquisitions — for transaction-related ACA issues

Part 15. Health Plan Parity, CAA, and Transparency

This Part covers MHPAEA parity and NQTL comparative analyses (including the 2024 final rule's nonenforcement posture), the No Surprises Act and federal IDR (QPA, TMA litigation, the 2026 IDR operations rule), gag-clause attestations (GCPCA), RxDC reporting, Transparency in Coverage machine-readable files and the price-comparison tool, provider directories and the other CAA patient protections, ERISA §408(b)(2)(B) covered-service-provider compensation disclosure (brokers and consultants, and since the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 also PBMs, TPAs, and other listed service providers), the CAA 2026 PBM provisions (ERISA §726/Code §9826 PBM reporting to plans, the §502(c)(13) penalties, and the §408(b)(2)(C) rebate pass-through), and health-plan fee fiduciary litigation and governance.

Related:

• Part 13. COBRA, HIPAA, and Welfare Benefits — for general welfare design, HIPAA privacy/security, and the self-insured applicability map
• Part 3. Fiduciary Duties and Prohibited Transactions — for §404/§406 doctrine and §408(b)(2) fundamentals behind fee-disclosure and fee-litigation issues
• Part 4. Reporting, Disclosure, Recordkeeping, and Claims — for claims/appeals, external review, and participant-disclosure mechanics
• Part 14. ACA Employer Mandate and Health Reform — for §4980H and §6055/§6056 on the same plan
• Part 21. Plan Corrections: EPCRS, VFCP, and DFVCP — for Form 8928/§4980D self-reporting and VFCP
• Part 25. Employee Benefits in Mergers and Acquisitions — for CAA/parity diligence in transactions

Part 16. FMLA, USERRA, and Wellness Programs

This Part applies whenever a leave of absence, a protected status, or a wellness program reaches a benefit plan: FMLA group health maintenance under 29 C.F.R. §825.209, the premium-payment arrangements and the 15-day mailed notice that must precede any lapse, the narrow §825.213 right to recover the employer's premium share, and the §825.215(d)(4) pension rule (FMLA preserves service, it does not credit it — with the last-day-condition trap); the state paid-family-leave substitution question under Opinion Letter FMLA2025-01-A; USERRA reemployment, the §4316(a) escalator and the §4316(b) paid-military-leave and benefit-accrual litigation, §4318 pension crediting and the employer's funding liability and make-up window, the Code §414(u) qualification mirror and its loan-suspension rule, the HEART Act items (differential wage payments, the mandatory §401(a)(37) death benefit, qualified reservist distributions), and §4317 health continuation; wellness program design across the HIPAA/ACA nondiscrimination rules, the ADA, and GINA, including the fact that no ADA or GINA numerical incentive limit currently exists (GINA still bars any inducement for providing genetic information itself, 29 C.F.R. §1635.8(b)(2)(ii)); and the residual protected-status overlays — the ADEA equal cost or equal benefit rule, disability-based plan distinctions, pregnancy comparability, and ERISA §510.

Related:

• Part 13. COBRA, HIPAA, and Welfare Benefits — the companion Part: COBRA qualifying events on failure to return, §125 payment options during leave, USERRA/COBRA parallel continuation, and HIPAA handling of wellness data
• Part 5. Qualified Plan Testing, Eligibility, and Vesting — service crediting, break-in-service rules, and the distinction between §825.215(d)(4) and the 501-hour rule
• Part 6. Distributions, Loans, Rollovers, and RMDs — the loan-suspension divergence between FMLA leave and qualified military service
• Part 21. Plan Corrections: EPCRS, VFCP, and DFVCP — definition-of-compensation failures from differential wage payments, and missed USERRA make-up windows
• Part 15. Health Plan Parity, CAA, and Transparency — the parity constraints that now reach many disability-based distinctions in group health plan design (MHPAEA does not reach disability-income plans)
• Part 14. ACA Employer Mandate and Health Reform — measurement-period and stability-period status during leave, and the preventive-services mandates
• Part 26. Severance, WARN, and Workforce Restructuring — OWBPA, window programs, and the §510 selection documentation that both Parts depend on
• Part 23. ERISA Disputes, Enforcement, Preemption, and Remedies — ERISA §510 interference doctrine
• Part 11. Multiple-Employer and Small-Employer Arrangements — staffing, PEO, and franchise structures, where the FMLA joint-employer test is its own test and is not the ERISA or §414 aggregation rules
• Part 1. Controlled Groups and Affiliated Service Groups — staffing, PEO, and franchise structures, where the FMLA joint-employer test is its own test and is not the ERISA or §414 aggregation rules
• Part 17. Fringe Benefits and Employment Taxation — taxation of wellness rewards and the ERISA plan-status analysis for disability and life coverage during leave

Part 17. Fringe Benefits and Employment Taxation

This Part covers the Code's income-exclusion fringe benefit provisions — §132 (the principal categories, including commuter/transportation benefits, the suspended-and-now-permanently-unavailable-to-most-civilians moving expense exclusion (intelligence-community employees and new appointees excepted for taxable years beginning after 2025), and the §132(j)(1) nondiscrimination overlay that reaches only two of the categories), §127 (educational assistance and the now-permanent student loan repayment feature), §137 (adoption assistance), §79 (group-term life insurance, Table I imputed income, and the §79(d) key-employee nondiscrimination trap), and §128 (Trump Account employer contribution programs, moved here in full from Part 13 (COBRA, HIPAA, and Welfare Benefits)) — together with the threshold ERISA plan-status analysis for disability, life, AD&D, severance, EAPs, and voluntary benefits (the payroll practice exclusion at 29 C.F.R. §2510.3-1(b), the voluntary/group-type insurance safe harbor at 29 C.F.R. §2510.3-1(j), and the Fort Halifax ongoing-administrative-scheme test for severance), and payroll taxation and Form W-2 reporting mechanics (FICA/FUTA treatment, third-party sick pay, severance wage classification under Quality Stores, and Box 12 codes).

Related:

• Part 26. Severance, WARN, and Workforce Restructuring — for severance in full
• Part 13. COBRA, HIPAA, and Welfare Benefits — for §125 delivery mechanics and the HIPAA/ACA excepted-benefit tests that run alongside (but are distinct from) the ERISA plan-status analysis here
• Part 18. Nonqualified Deferred Compensation, 409A, 457, and Executive Compensation — for the general §409A framework and executive change-in-control payments
• Part 8. 403(b) Plans — to avoid confusing Code §128 with SECURE 2.0 Act §128
• Part 4. Reporting, Disclosure, Recordkeeping, and Claims — for Form 5500/SPD/claims-procedure mechanics once an arrangement is determined to be an ERISA plan
• Part 19. Equity and Incentive Compensation — for equity-based severance and change-in-control acceleration
• Part 25. Employee Benefits in Mergers and Acquisitions — for the treatment of severance, EAPs, and fringe benefits in a transaction

Division IV. Executive and Equity Compensation

Part 18. Nonqualified Deferred Compensation, 409A, 457, and Executive Compensation

This Part covers NQDC, SERPs, 409A, 457(b), 457(f), top-hat plans, rabbi trusts, split-dollar life insurance (the economic benefit and loan regimes of Treas. Reg. §§1.61-22 and 1.7872-15, Notice 2007-34, and the §13(k)/§101(j)/ERISA overlays), 280G, 4999, 162(m), Code §4958 intermediate sanctions, and executive compensation.

Related:

• Part 19. Equity and Incentive Compensation — for award-type mechanics (ISOs/NSOs, ESPPs, restricted stock/83(b), RSUs, profits interests), FICA timing, securities overlay, and §4960
• Part 26. Severance, WARN, and Workforce Restructuring — for the §409A separation-pay exemptions worked in depth, the §457(e)(11) bona fide severance pay plan exclusion, and the ERISA plan-status, WARN, release, and taxation layers of any severance arrangement; this Part keeps the general §409A framework and §457(b)/(f) generally
• Part 25. Employee Benefits in Mergers and Acquisitions — for change-in-control and transaction payments
• Part 1. Controlled Groups and Affiliated Service Groups — for service recipient and employer classification
• Part 3. Fiduciary Duties and Prohibited Transactions — for top-hat/rabbi trust issue spotting
• Part 4. Reporting, Disclosure, Recordkeeping, and Claims — for top-hat filings and notices
• Part 21. Plan Corrections: EPCRS, VFCP, and DFVCP — only to confirm EPCRS does not correct 409A failures
• Part 17. Fringe Benefits and Employment Taxation — for the §79, §101(a), transfer-for-value, and §101(j) notice-and-consent rules that the split-dollar chapter applies; securities counsel for the Exchange Act §13(k) determination on any insider split-dollar arrangement; trusts-and-estates counsel for private (gift/ILIT) split-dollar

Part 19. Equity and Incentive Compensation

This Part covers ISOs/NSOs (§§421–424), §423 ESPPs, §83 and restricted stock, §83(b) elections (Form 15620), §83(i), RSUs, SARs, phantom equity, LLC/partnership profits interests and LLC award design, FICA timing (§3121(v)(2) special timing and non-duplication), equity withholding/deduction/reporting mechanics, the securities overlay (Rule 701, Form S-8, Section 16/Rule 16b-3), and the §4960 excise on tax-exempt employers (including the post-OBBBA all-employee covered-employee rule).

Related:

• Part 18. Nonqualified Deferred Compensation, 409A, 457, and Executive Compensation — for §409A doctrine (stock-right exemption, discount options, deferral design), §457, top-hat, 280G, 162(m), and 409A correction
• Part 9. ESOPs and Employee Ownership — for employer stock inside qualified plans and ESOP transactions
• Part 25. Employee Benefits in Mergers and Acquisitions — for §424 assumption/substitution, award treatment, and deduction allocation in deals
• Part 1. Controlled Groups and Affiliated Service Groups — for ISO parent-subsidiary chains and §4960 related-organization mapping
• Part 21. Plan Corrections: EPCRS, VFCP, and DFVCP — to confirm equity/employment-tax corrections run through payroll-tax procedures, not EPCRS

Division V. Governmental, Church, and Tribal Plans

Part 20. Governmental, Church, and Tribal Plans

This Part applies whenever the employer type, rather than the plan type, drives the analysis: a State or local government, public school district, charter school, public hospital or authority; a church or convention of churches, a church-affiliated hospital, university, or agency, or a denominational pension board; or an Indian tribal government or tribal enterprise. The unifying question is whether the plan is outside ERISA, and on what authority.

Related:

• Part 8. 403(b) Plans — the companion Part; most governmental and church sponsors run 403(b) plans
• Part 5. Qualified Plan Testing, Eligibility, and Vesting — for the testing that still applies (a non-QCCO's employer money; §415 and §402(g) for all three employer types) and for confirming which tests do not
• Part 18. Nonqualified Deferred Compensation, 409A, 457, and Executive Compensation — for §457(b)/(f) design, and for a tribal employer's nonqualified arrangement once the §457 eligibility trap is identified
• Part 12. QDROs and Division of Retirement Benefits — for §414(p)(11) governmental orders and the Arizona public systems
• Part 2. Plan Documents, Amendments, Mergers, and Terminations — for the spinoff mechanics when a mixed tribal plan must be split
• Part 15. Health Plan Parity, CAA, and Transparency — for governmental and church health plans, the sunset MHPAEA opt-out, and the church-plan non-preemption point
• Part 13. COBRA, HIPAA, and Welfare Benefits — for governmental and church health plans, the sunset MHPAEA opt-out, and the church-plan non-preemption point
• Part 11. Multiple-Employer and Small-Employer Arrangements — for denominational arrangements, without assuming §413(c)/(e) governs a genuine church plan
• Part 21. Plan Corrections: EPCRS, VFCP, and DFVCP — noting that program eligibility differs for non-ERISA plans

Division VI. Corrections, Audits, and Disputes

Part 21. Plan Corrections: EPCRS, VFCP, and DFVCP

This Part covers SCP, VCP, Audit CAP, SECURE 2.0 EIFs, VFCP, VFCP SCC, DFVC, Form 5330, loan failures, late deposits, RMD failures, and testing failures.

Related:

• Part 5. Qualified Plan Testing, Eligibility, and Vesting
• Part 6. Distributions, Loans, Rollovers, and RMDs
• Part 4. Reporting, Disclosure, Recordkeeping, and Claims
• Part 3. Fiduciary Duties and Prohibited Transactions
• Part 8. 403(b) Plans
• Part 20. Governmental, Church, and Tribal Plans — where the sponsor is governmental, church, or tribal
• Part 2. Plan Documents, Amendments, Mergers, and Terminations — for the deadline that was actually missed in a nonamender failure (the RA List, statutory, interim, cycle-restatement, or discretionary-amendment deadline), the Favorable Letter condition on self-correction, the Rev. Proc. 2019-20 Merged Plan sanction relief, and the substantive amendment/termination law behind a Form 14568 Schedule 2 failure
• Part 22. Government Audits and Investigations — for the IRS exam-side Audit CAP process (IDRs, the 30-day letter, appeal rights) and the DOL/PBGC/OCR investigation processes that often accompany a correction

Part 22. Government Audits and Investigations

This Part covers the procedural mechanics of a government audit, examination, or investigation: DOL/EBSA civil investigations (§504 authority, document requests, interviews, Voluntary Compliance letters, §502(l) penalties, criminal referral), IRS Employee Plans examinations (IDRs, the Audit CAP exam-side process, standalone closing agreements/EP VCAP, appeal rights), PBGC premium and standard-termination audits and compliance monitoring (reportable events, §4010, §4062(e), the Early Warning Program), and HHS OCR HIPAA investigations (complaints, compliance reviews, corrective action plans, resolution agreements, civil monetary penalties, criminal referral). Process and response posture only — correction substance and litigation strategy are routed elsewhere.

Related:

• Part 21. Plan Corrections: EPCRS, VFCP, and DFVCP — for the EPCRS/VFCP/DFVCP programs that typically resolve an investigation's or exam's findings
• Part 7. Defined Benefit and Hybrid Plans — for the substantive DB funding, premium, and reportable-events rules PBGC audits against
• Part 2. Plan Documents, Amendments, Mergers, and Terminations — for plan-termination substance underlying a PBGC standard-termination audit
• Part 13. COBRA, HIPAA, and Welfare Benefits — for the substantive HIPAA Privacy/Security Rule and breach-notification obligations OCR investigates
• Part 3. Fiduciary Duties and Prohibited Transactions — for the fiduciary-breach substance underlying a DOL investigation
• Part 23. ERISA Disputes, Enforcement, Preemption, and Remedies — for litigation strategy once a matter proceeds to suit, and for the fiduciary exception to privilege and insurer/plan defense allocation

Part 23. ERISA Disputes, Enforcement, Preemption, and Remedies

This Part covers §502 causes of action, standing, pleading standards, remedies and equitable relief, attorney's fees, limitations, exhaustion, standard of review, the administrative record and discovery (including the fiduciary exception to privilege), §514 preemption analysis (the Supreme Court canon, savings/deemer, complete preemption/removal), state PBM laws post-Rutledge, state auto-IRA mandates, the litigation-facing overview of DOL/EBSA investigations, litigation holds and preservation, and insurer-versus-plan allocation. Doctrine and risk analysis only — litigation strategy is reserved for litigation counsel.

Related:

• Part 3. Fiduciary Duties and Prohibited Transactions — for the §404/§406 substance and governance record behind most disputes, and VFCP
• Part 4. Reporting, Disclosure, Recordkeeping, and Claims — for §503 claims-procedure mechanics feeding exhaustion and deference
• Part 15. Health Plan Parity, CAA, and Transparency — for health-plan fee litigation, MHPAEA enforcement, and NSA/IDR disputes
• Part 9. ESOPs and Employee Ownership — for the arbitration/effective-vindication line and ESOP enforcement posture
• Part 10. Multiemployer Plans and Withdrawal Liability — for the separate §4221 arbitration track
• Part 12. QDROs and Division of Retirement Benefits — for beneficiary-dispute and QDRO-determination doctrine
• Part 21. Plan Corrections: EPCRS, VFCP, and DFVCP — for the correction programs resolving investigation findings
• Part 22. Government Audits and Investigations — for the full DOL/EBSA investigation process, and for the parallel IRS, PBGC, and HHS OCR audit/investigation processes

Part 24. Benefits Cybersecurity and Data Incidents

This Part covers benefit-plan cybersecurity and data incidents across retirement and health and welfare plans: DOL/EBSA's cybersecurity guidance (the April 2021 Best Practices / Tips for Hiring a Service Provider / Online Security Tips package, confirmed by Compliance Assistance Release No. 2024-01 (Sept. 6, 2024) to apply to all ERISA plans including health and welfare plans) and its sub-regulatory authority level; cybersecurity fiduciary process and committee governance; service-provider cyber diligence, SOC 2 review, and contract allocation of security obligations and loss; fraudulent distributions and account takeover (theories, the district-court case law, and who bears the loss); loss allocation, recordkeeper customer guarantees, and restorative payments under Rev. Rul. 2002-45; plan incident response; the notification analysis (no ERISA breach-notification rule; state law including A.R.S. §18-552; HIPAA for health plans); participant-data use and monetization; and the fidelity bond / fiduciary liability / cyber / crime insurance stack.

Related:

• Part 3. Fiduciary Duties and Prohibited Transactions — for §404 prudence and loyalty, the Tibble duty to monitor, §405 co-fiduciary liability, §410 insurance structures, the §412 bond, and VFCP
• Part 13. COBRA, HIPAA, and Welfare Benefits — for the HIPAA Security Rule risk analysis, breach notification and the four-factor assessment, BAAs, and the plan-sponsor firewall
• Part 22. Government Audits and Investigations — for the EBSA investigation process behind a cybersecurity document request, and the HHS OCR investigation process on a health-plan incident
• Part 23. ERISA Disputes, Enforcement, Preemption, and Remedies — for litigation holds and preservation, the fiduciary exception to privilege, and litigation posture (strategy reserved for litigation counsel)
• Part 21. Plan Corrections: EPCRS, VFCP, and DFVCP — for VFCP correction of a fiduciary breach identified in an incident
• Part 4. Reporting, Disclosure, Recordkeeping, and Claims — for §503 claims procedure on a participant restoration demand, electronic disclosure, and §107/§209 recordkeeping
• Part 6. Distributions, Loans, Rollovers, and RMDs — for the underlying distribution and rollover mechanics behind a fraudulent distribution
• Part 15. Health Plan Parity, CAA, and Transparency — for health-plan vendor fee and data arrangements

Division VII. Transactions and Workforce Change

Part 25. Employee Benefits in Mergers and Acquisitions

This Part covers asset sales, stock sales, mergers, benefits due diligence, plan disposition, purchase agreement review, and post-closing integration.

Part 26. Severance, WARN, and Workforce Restructuring

This Part covers any workforce reduction, facility closure, furlough, hours reduction, or voluntary separation window, and for severance arrangements generally: the ERISA plan-status question under Fort Halifax, the 29 C.F.R. §2510.3-2(b) welfare-versus-pension safe harbor (the 2×/24-month trap, whose failure loses the safe harbor and ordinarily produces a pension plan with no realistic compliance path), window programs in both their cash-severance and qualified-plan early-retirement forms, severance plan documentation and ERISA §510 selection exposure, and OWBPA releases including the group-program decisional-unit disclosure; the federal WARN Act and the state mini-WARN overlay, including single site of employment and its unresolved application to fully remote employees; the §409A separation-pay exemptions in depth (short-term deferral, the two-times/two-year involuntary separation exception, collectively bargained and foreign separation pay, and the reimbursement and limited-payment exemptions that stack), involuntariness and the good reason safe harbor, the six-month delay, and the release-timing trap; the §457(e)(11) bona fide severance pay plan exclusion; severance employment taxation (Quality Stores and the surviving SUB-pay exception); and the benefit-plan consequences a restructuring triggers across the portfolio.

Related:

• Part 18. Nonqualified Deferred Compensation, 409A, 457, and Executive Compensation — the companion Part for any executive severance or change-in-control arrangement
• Part 2. Plan Documents, Amendments, Mergers, and Terminations — partial termination, §204(h), and plan freeze/termination prompted by the restructuring
• Part 5. Qualified Plan Testing, Eligibility, and Vesting — the vesting consequence of a partial termination
• Part 7. Defined Benefit and Hybrid Plans — reportable events, §4062(e), AFTAP/§436, and plant-shutdown benefits
• Part 13. COBRA, HIPAA, and Welfare Benefits — the hours-reduction qualifying event, health FSA/HSA consequences, and retiree medical acceleration
• Part 14. ACA Employer Mandate and Health Reform — ALE status and stability-period obligations after an hours reduction
• Part 6. Distributions, Loans, Rollovers, and RMDs — the distribution wave, loan offsets, and the missing-participant tail
• Part 19. Equity and Incentive Compensation — award treatment on termination and the ISO three-month rule
• Part 25. Employee Benefits in Mergers and Acquisitions — where the reduction runs through a transaction, including WARN's sale-of-business allocation
• Part 23. ERISA Disputes, Enforcement, Preemption, and Remedies — ERISA §510 and benefit-claim litigation posture
• Part 17. Fringe Benefits and Employment Taxation — the other payroll-practice and ERISA plan-status analyses that sit alongside severance
• Part 4. Reporting, Disclosure, Recordkeeping, and Claims — the Form 5500, SPD, and claims-procedure obligations of an ERISA severance plan