Are you the fiduciary of your organization’s employee benefit plan? If so, do you fully understand what that means? More often than not, many don’t. But it’s important to know what is required of you as a fiduciary and of the company to avoid any potential pitfalls, and liabilities, in this very important area. Below are four questions you should know the answers to.
The primary role of a fiduciary is to oversee the benefit plan for the organization and to protect the interests of employees enrolled in the plan. The Department of Labor (DOL) states the primary responsibilities of a fiduciary are as follows:
Note that a person’s fiduciary status and subsequent responsibilities are based on their plan’s own function/definition. So you must understand your plan to clearly understand your particular role and responsibilities.
Fiduciaries general include plan trustees, plan administrators and members of a plan’s investment committee.
More specifically, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) states that a person is a fiduciary to the plan "to the extent that he exercises discretionary control or authority over plan management or authority or control over management or disposition of plan assets, renders investment advice regarding plan assets for a fee, or has discretionary authority or responsibility in plan administration."
Yes. Fiduciaries who do not follow the principles of conduct listed above may be personally liable to restore any losses to the plan, or to restore any profits made through improper use of the plan assets. Also, if there is more than one fiduciary to the same plan, each fiduciary has potential liability for the actions of the other co-fiduciaries.
The good news is, a fiduciary can limit their liability if they understand the responsibilities and take proper action. Understand your organization’s particular plan and the process used by your company to document the responsibilities within it.
If you are still concerned about liability, hiring an outside service provider to handle the fiduciary responsibilities is always an option. This is a separate agreement whereby the service provider assumes liability for the fiduciary responsibilities documented in the agreement. After an outside provider is hired, your organization is responsible for monitoring the provider on a periodic basis to ensure they are following the plan and acting in the best interest of the participants. Another option to protect the plan is to ensure every person, including the fiduciary, who handles plan assets is covered by a fidelity bond.
The fiduciary is an important and valuable role in the employee benefit plan and the organization and should not be taken lightly. Knowing your responsibilities is an important step to help ensure you are fulfilling that role appropriately.
Contact Beth Reho at breho@cohenco.com or a member of your service team to discuss this topic further.
Cohen & Co is not rendering legal, accounting or other professional advice. Information contained in this post is considered accurate as of the date of publishing. Any action taken based on information in this blog should be taken only after a detailed review of the specific facts, circumstances and current law.