SMACNA offers educational opportunities to trustees of our industry’s trust funds. These resources focus on the basic trust fund and fiduciary principles identified by the Department of Labor (DOL) as being the most needed, as well as on new developments in the law and trends in controlling plan costs.
Trustee Resources
Trustee Appointment
To the extent a party has the ability to appoint or remove a trustee of a benefit plan, that act makes the appointing party a fiduciary with respect to the plan as to that appointment. SMACNA provides guidance on how to ensure the fiduciary obligation is met in the appointment of trustees.
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Under the law, for all intents and purposes, when a local Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee (JATC) selects apprentices for its program, it is treated as an employer.
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There is a lot of talk about cybersecurity, even from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). In fact, how funds are protecting participants’ personal information has emerged as an issue of concern for the DOL.
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There is a lot of talk about cybersecurity, even from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). In fact, how funds are protecting participants’ personal information has emerged as an issue of concern for the DOL.
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Is your audit deficient? There is a good chance it is. In May, the Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) released a disturbing report assessing the quality of benefit plan audits.
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Is your audit deficient? There is a good chance it is. In May, the Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) released a disturbing report assessing the quality of benefit plan audits.
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Emergencies can come in the form of a natural disaster affecting an entire region or be brought on by something like a fire or catastrophic equipment failure affecting only your fund’s office.
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Emergencies can come in the form of a natural disaster affecting an entire region or be brought on by something like a fire or catastrophic equipment failure affecting only your fund’s office.
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The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued guidance to the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) enforcement personnel on how to use plan assets from apprenticeship and training funds for skills
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Withdrawal liability may be viewed by many contractors as highway robbery, but for underfunded pensions plans it’s a necessary “evil” that they are charged with enforcing.
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Once upon a time--actually not so long ago--most multiemployer pension fund trustees didn’t have to understand how and why withdrawal liability worked. In those idyllic days, the majority of multiemployer
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When it comes to collecting contributions from employers, whom can you trust? The nature of multiemployer plans is such that trustees must trust all contributing employers to self-report covered employees and their man-hours.
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When it comes to collecting contributions from employers, whom can you trust? The nature of multiemployer plans is such that trustees must trust all contributing employers to self-report covered employees and their man-hours.
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Calling every delinquent employer a deadbeat might be a bit harsh especially in these challenging economic times. But we all know deadbeats – those with no intention of ever paying their contributions in full and on-time –
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Can providing bagels and coffee to your trust fund employees at a morning staff meeting really be a prohibited transaction? It seems that some Department of Labor investigators think so.
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A group of sheet metal trust funds, pension, health & welfare, training etc. for a bargaining area are self-administered with much of the trust funds’ administrative operations combined for efficiency including collection of delinquent contributions.
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A group of sheet metal trust funds, pension, health & welfare, training etc. for a bargaining area are self-administered with much of the trust funds’ administrative operations combined for efficiency including collection of delinquent contributions.
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We’ve all heard about “prohibited transactions” but do you really understand what that means for you and your trust fund? Have you thought about what this rule means when making decisions about collecting delinquent
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New trustees shouldn’t be hesitant to scrutinize documents carefully and question fund operations.
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Every trustee should have these documents available to refer to often.
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Every trustee should have these documents available to refer to often.
Media Inquiries
For Media Inquiries, please contact: Susannah Forde Executive Director of Marketing & Communications
Email