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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**1976**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
1976-89 08/31/1976	Anonymous	Addresses two matters raised in complaints filed on behalf of the Plaintiff concerning the applicability of the ERISA to pension fund contributions: whether (1) employees are entitled to credit for hours worked if the pension fund does not receive the contributions due it and (2) the Plaintiff, her principal or agents or other fiduciaries of the pension fund are immune and exempt from criminal and civil actions because of inability to comply with reporting and notice requirements.
1976-88 09/02/1976	Anonymous	Whether the acquisition of common stock by the Stock-Bonus Plan for employees of a company from parties in interest would constitute a prohibited transaction under sections 406 and 407 of ERISA.
1976-84 06/22/1976 514	Anonymous	Addresses the preemptive effect of ERISA on a state’s Prepaid Health Care Act.
1976-82 05/25/1976 3(1)	Anonymous	Request for a review of the Department of Labor's determination that the [union] Benefit Fund is covered under Title I of ERISA.
1976-81 05/25/1976 514	Anonymous	Whether the Association has been accepted as a plan sponsor under ERISA and whether it is required to file a plan description (EBS-1 Form) with the Department of Labor.
1976-80 05/25/1976 3(2)	Anonymous	Whether voluntary gratuitous payments by an employer to former employees who separated from service are considered employee pension benefit plans under ERISA.
1976-79 05/25/1976 3(2)	Anonymous	Whether ERISA will afford relief to an employee who entered into an agreement with his employer under which he would be paid a pension benefit upon reaching age 65 but is terminated prior to being vested in any portion of his retirement benefit.
1976-76 05/21/1976 3(14) 3(21) 406	Anonymous	Whether a violation of section 406 of ERISA would occur in a hypothetical situation where a trustee of a pension trust, also a director of a national bank that performs the services of custodial agent for securities it purchases for the pension trust, directs the bank to purchase stock of the bank for the pension trust.
1976-74 06/07/1976 404 407	Anonymous	Whether the ERISA imposes limits on the amount or percentage of plan assets that can be invested in certificates of deposit from the same banking institution or on the percentage of the total capitalization of that institution which could restrict the amount of interest-bearing accounts a fund can purchase.
1976-72 06/24/1976 406 407	Anonymous	Addresses the applicability of prohibited transaction provisions of ERISA to a proposed transaction involving the sale or assignment of rights to receive debentures by the Common Stock Trust.