(a) Scope and purpose. Sections 107 and 209 of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA), contain
certain requirements relating to the maintenance of records for
reporting and disclosure purposes and for determining the pension
benefits to which participants and beneficiaries are or may become
entitled. This section provides standards applicable to both pension and
welfare plans concerning the use of electronic media for the maintenance
and retention of records required to be kept under sections 107 and 209
of ERISA.
(b) General requirements. The record maintenance and retention
requirements of sections 107 and 209 of ERISA are satisfied when using
electronic media if:
(1) The electronic recordkeeping system has reasonable controls to
ensure the integrity, accuracy, authenticity and reliability of the
records kept in electronic form;
(2) The electronic records are maintained in reasonable order and in
a safe and accessible place, and in such manner as they may be readily
inspected or examined (for example, the recordkeeping system should be
capable of indexing, retaining, preserving, retrieving and reproducing
the electronic records);
(3) The electronic records are readily convertible into legible and
readable paper copy as may be needed to satisfy reporting and disclosure
requirements or any other obligation under Title I of ERISA;
(4) The electronic recordkeeping system is not subject, in whole or
in part, to any agreement or restriction that would, directly or
indirectly, compromise or limit a person's ability to comply with any
reporting and disclosure requirement or any other obligation under Title
I of ERISA; and
(5) Adequate records management practices are established and
implemented (for example, following procedures for labeling of
electronically maintained or retained records, providing a secure
storage environment, creating back-up electronic copies and selecting an
off-site storage location, observing a quality assurance program
evidenced by regular evaluations of the electronic recordkeeping system
including periodic checks of electronically maintained or retained
records, and retaining paper copies of records that cannot be clearly,
accurately or completely transferred to an electronic recordkeeping
system).
(c) Legibility and readability. All electronic records must exhibit
a high degree of legibility and readability when displayed on a video
display terminal or other method of electronic transmission and when
reproduced in paper form. The term ``legibility'' means the observer
must be able to identify all letters and numerals positively and quickly
to the exclusion of all other letters or numerals. The term
``readability'' means that the observer must be able to recognize a
group of letters or numerals as words or complete numbers.
(d) Disposal of original paper records. Original paper records may
be disposed of any time after they are transferred to an electronic
recordkeeping system that complies with the requirements of this
section, except such original records may not be discarded if the
electronic record would not constitute a duplicate or substitute record
under the terms of the plan and applicable federal or state law.
[67 FR 17275, Apr. 9, 2002]
