Advisory Opinions

Requests for interpretations and other rulings under Title 1 of ERISA are handled by the Office of Regulations and Interpretations under the provisions established by ERISA Procedure 76-1. The office answers inquiries from individuals and organizations in the form of advisory opinions, which apply the law to a specific set of facts, or information letters, which merely call attention to well established principles or interpretations.

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**1981**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
1981-56A 06/29/1981 3(1) 3(32) 3(4)	Ms. Jane B. Stranch Branstetter, Kilgore & Stranch 200 Church Street, Fourth Floor Nashville, Tennessee 37201	Whether a group insurance program funded by the individual contributions of the members of an association composed of government employees constitutes an employee benefit plan within the meaning of ERISA title I.
1981-55A 06/26/1981 3(2)	Mr. Jay A. Herbst Cross, Wrock, Miller & Vieson Suite 1900 400 Renaissance Center Detroit Michigan 48243	Whether the portion of the Plan which provides deferred vacation benefits (the deferral arrangement) will be regarded by the Department as solely an employee welfare benefit plan or will be deemed an employee pension benefit plan.
1981-54A 06/22/1981 3(7)	Mr. Richard M. Cosgrove Executive Director Lansing Mechanical Contractors Association 421 Seymour Avenue Lansing, Michigan 48933	Whether certain individuals should be counted as participants in the Fund, and whether the Fund is exempt from certain reporting and disclosure requirements under ERISA.
1981-53A 06/18/1981 3(32) 4(b)(1)	Mr. Patrick E. Murphy Faulkner, Banfield, Doogan & Holmes Suite 201 311 Franklin Street Juneau, Alaska 99801	Whether the Alaska Public Employees Legal Fund (the Legal Plan) is a "governmental plan" within the meaning of section 3(32) of ERISA.
1981-52A 06/15/1981 403(c )(1) 404(a)(1)(A)	Ms. Vivienne W. Nearing Stroock & Stroock & Lavan 61 Broadway New York, New York 10006	Whether the payment by the Trustees of the [redacted] Fund (the Fund) of a death benefit to the widow of [redacted], the Fund Manager, would, absent a legal obligation to pay such a benefit, does not, per se, violate the exclusive purpose of standard of section 403(c)(1) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), the fiduciary responsibility standards of section 404(a)(1) of ERISA, or the prohibited transaction provisions of section 406 of ERISA and section 4975 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (the Code).
1981-51A 06/09/1981 3(1) 3(4) 3(5)	Mr. Richard D. Hillyer Galbraith & Green, Inc. 12400 North Freeway Suite 210 Houston, Texas 77060	Whether several insurance programs of the American Association of Petroleum Landmen (AAPL) are covered by title I of ERISA.
1981-50A 06/04/1981 3(21)(A)	Curtis L. Roy, Esquire Dorsey, Windhorst, Hannaford, Whitney and Halladay 2300 First National Bank Building Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402	Whether an arbitrator would, under circumstances described below, be a fiduciary within the meaning of section 3(21)(A) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and, if so, whether an agreement by an employer and/or union to indemnify the arbitrator, out of non-plan funds, against any potential fiduciary liability would violate section 410 of ERISA.
1981-49A 05/28/1981 3(1)	Mr. Robert Matisoff O'Donoghue & O'Donoghue 1912 Sunderland Place, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036	Whether National Mechanical Equipment Service and Maintenance Education and Training Trust Fund (the Trust) is an employee welfare benefit plan under section 3(1) of ERISA.
1981-48A 05/28/1981 3(1) 3(3)	C. P. Lambos, Esq. Lorenz, Finn, Giardino & Lambos The Cunard Building 25 Broadway New York, New York10004	Whether the collectively bargained Job Security Program (the Program), administered by the JSP Agency, Inc. (JSPA), is not an employee benefit plan subject to the provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).
1981-47A 05/28/1981 3(1) 3(5)	Mr. John D. Hintze Davis, Hockenberg, Wine, Brown & Koehn 2300 Financial Center 666 Walnut Street Des Moines, Iowa 50309	Whether IBIS is bona fide group or association of employers, and if not, whether each member bank providing benefits for its employees through IBIS or IBBP would maintain a separate employee welfare benefit plan, and each such plan must comply with the reporting and disclosure requirement of Part 1 of ERISA that are applicable to it.