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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**1979**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
1979-16A 03/12/1979 3(1)	Mr. S. Del Fuston Law Offices 609 Maclellan Building Chattanooga, Tennessee 37402	Whether a death benefit fund is an employee welfare benefit plan covered by title I of the ERISA.
1979-15A 03/12/1979 3(1) 3(2)	Mr. Homer L. Elliott Drinker Biddle & Reath 1100 Philadelphia National Bank Building Broad and Chestnut Streets Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107	Whether an employee stock incentive plan is an employee welfare benefit plan or an employee pension benefit plan, or both, within the meaning of section 3(3) of ERISA.
1979-14 03/02/1979	Mr. Neil S. Kurlander Niles, Barton & Wilmer 929 N. Howard Street Baltimore, MD 21201	Whether the vacation benefit account established pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement between the International Longshoreman's Association AFL-CIO and the Steamship Trade Association of Baltimore, Inc. is an employee welfare benefit plan within the meaning of and thereby covered by title I of ERISA.
1979-13 03/02/1979 407(d)(5) 408(e)	Mr. John D. Hintze Thoma, Schoenthal, Davis, Hockenberg and Wine 2300 Financial Center Des Moines, Iowa 50309	Whether the sale of company stock from a profit sharing plan to the sponsoring employer would be exempt from the prohibited transaction provisions of ERISA by virtue of section 408(e) of the Act.
1979-12a 03/01/1979 3(1)	Mr. Christopher C. Cornell South Mississippi Home Health and Rehabilitation Agency Inc. P.O. Box 888 Hattiesburg, Mississippi 39401	Whether certain actions taken in May 1977 by the South Mississippi Home Health and Rehabilitation Agency resulted in the termination of an existing plan and the establishment of a new one, or in a modification of the then-existing plan.
1979-11a 02/23/1979 406(b)(1) 408(b)(2)	Mr. Arthur D. Sporn Barrett, Smith, Schapiro, Simon and Armstrong 26 Broadway New York, New York 10004	Whether a securities lending service made available by the Irving Trust Company to employee benefit plans for which it serves either as discretionary or as custodian trustee is governed by ERISA’s prohibited transaction rules.
1979-10a 02/12/1979 3(14) 3(21)	Lawrence J. Hass, Esq. Groom and Nordberg Suite 450 1775 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D. C. 20006	Whether the American Savings & Loan Association is fiduciary, a party in interest, or a plan official for corporate employee pension benefit plans developed with Professional Services Incorporated in the state of Utah under the “Utah Pacer” program.
1979-09a 01/31/1979 3(2)	Mr. Robert M. Steed Vice President-Personnel Director Time Incorporated Time & Life Building Rockefeller Center New York, N.Y. 10020	Whether the Time, Incorporated Optional Retirement Program is an employee pension benefit plan within the meaning of section 3(2) of ERISA.
1979-08a 01/30/1979 3(7) 403(c )(1)	Mr. Robert W. Gilbert Suite 305 400 South Beverly Drive Beverly Hills, California 90212 Mr. Joseph McLaughlin McLaughlin and Irvin Suite 300 800 West Sixth Street Los Angeles, California 90017	Whether the wife of the owner of a participating store where she also works must be automatically precluded from participating in the Southern California Retail Clerk Unions and Food Employers Council Joint Pension Trust Fund by section 403(c)(1) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).
1979-07 01/23/1979 3(1) 3(2)	Mr. Albert S. Rose, Jr. Shifrin, Treiman, Bamburg & Dempsey St. Louis County National Bank Building 11 South Meramec Avenue St. Louis, Missouri 63105	Whether the Leader Foundation, which provides cash payments and free routine medical care to needy ex-employees of Stix, Baer, and Fuller, is an employee pension benefit plan or an employee welfare benefit plan, or both, under ERISA title I; and, if it is an employee benefit plan, to what extent it is subject to the reporting, disclosure, participation, vesting, funding and fiduciary responsibility provisions of ERISA.