Employers who cease contributing to an ERISA multiemployer pension plan are liable for their allocable share of any underfunding, or “withdrawal liability.”
For a variety of reasons, withdrawal liability has become both prevalent and significant. Indeed, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (the federal agency tasked with the enforcement and regulation of the withdrawal liability rules) has estimated that approximately 10 percent of the 1,400 multiemployer pension plans face insolvency in the next 10 years to 15 years. Legislation to address this looming multiemployer pension plan crisis includes the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (“PPA”). To read my full article, click here.