[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 29, Volume 9]
[Revised as of July 1, 2005]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 29CFR4011.10]

[Page 781-782]
 
                             TITLE 29--LABOR
 
            CHAPTER XL--PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION
 
PART 4011_DISCLOSURE TO PARTICIPANTS--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 4011.10  Form of notice.

    (a) General. The Participant Notice (and any additional information 
under paragraph (d) of this section) shall be readable and written in a 
manner calculated to be understood by the average plan participant and 
not to mislead recipients. The Model Participant Notice in appendix A to 
this part (when properly completed) is an example of a Participant 
Notice meeting the requirements of this section.
    (b) Content. The Participant Notice for a plan year shall include--
    (1) Identifying information (the name of the plan and the 
contributing sponsor, the employer identification number of the 
contributing sponsor, the plan number, the date (at least the month and 
year) on which the Participant Notice is issued, and the name, title, 
address and telephone number of the person(s) who can provide 
information about the plan's funding);
    (2) A statement to the effect that the Participant Notice is 
required by law;
    (3) The Notice Funding Percentage for the plan year, determined in 
accordance with paragraph (c) of this section, and the date as of which 
the Notice Funding Percentage is determined;
    (4) A statement to the effect that--
    (i) To pay pension benefits, the employer is required to contribute 
money to the plan over a period of years;

[[Page 782]]

    (ii) A plan's funding percentage does not take into consideration 
the financial strength of the employer; and
    (iii) The employer, by law, must pay for all pension benefits, but 
benefits may be at risk if the employer faces a severe financial crisis 
or is in bankruptcy;
    (5) If, for any of the five plan years immediately preceding the 
plan year, the plan has been granted a minimum funding waiver under 
section 303 of ERISA that has not (as of the end of the prior plan year) 
been fully repaid, a statement identifying each such plan year and an 
explanation of a minimum funding waiver;
    (6) For any payment subject to the requirements of this paragraph, a 
statement identifying the due date for the payment and noting that the 
payment has or has not been made and (if made) the date of the payment. 
Once participants have been notified (under this part or title I of 
ERISA) of a missed contribution that is subject to the requirements of 
this paragraph, the delinquency need not be reported in a Participant 
Notice for a subsequent plan year if the missed contribution has been 
paid in full by the time the subsequent Participant Notice is issued. 
The payments subject to the requirements of this paragraph are--
    (i) Any minimum funding payment necessary to satisfy the minimum 
funding standard under section 302(a) of ERISA for any plan year 
beginning on or after January 1, 1994, if not paid by the earlier of the 
due date for that payment (the latest date allowed under section 
302(c)(10)) or the date of issuance of the Participant Notice; and
    (ii) An installment or other payment required by section 302 of 
ERISA for a plan year beginning on or after January 1, 1995, that was 
not paid by the 60th day after the due date for that payment;
    (7) A statement to the effect that if a plan terminates before all 
pension benefits are fully funded, the PBGC pays most persons all 
pension benefits, but some persons may lose certain benefits that are 
not guaranteed;
    (8) A summary of plan benefits guaranteed by the PBGC, with an 
explanation of the limitations on such guarantee; and
    (9) A statement that further information about the PBGC's guarantee 
may be obtained by requesting a free copy of the booklet ``Your 
Guaranteed Pension'' from Consumer Information Center, Dept. YGP, 
Pueblo, Colorado 81009. The Participant Notice may include a statement 
that the booklet may be obtained through electronic access via the World 
Wide Web from the PBGC Homepage at http://www.pbgc.gov.
    (c) Notice Funding Percentage--(1) General rule. The Notice Funding 
Percentage that must be included in the Participant Notice for a plan 
year is the ``funded current liability percentage'' (as that term is 
defined in section 302(d)(9)(C) of ERISA) for that plan year or the 
prior plan year.
    (2) Small plans. A plan that is exempt from the requirements of 
section 302(d) of ERISA for a plan year by reason of section 
302(d)(6)(A) may determine its funded current liability percentage for 
that plan year using the Small Plan DRC Exception Test rules in Sec. 
4011.4(b).
    (d) Additional information. The plan administrator may include with 
the Participant Notice any information not described in paragraph (b) of 
this section only if it is in a separate document.
    (e) Foreign languages. In the case of a plan that (as of the date 
selected under Sec. 4011.7) covers the numbers or percentages specified 
in Sec. 2520.104b-10(e) of this title of participants literate only in 
the same non-English language, the plan administrator shall provide 
those participants either--
    (1) An English-language Participant Notice that prominently displays 
a legend, in their common non-English language, offering them assistance 
in that language, and clearly setting forth any procedures participants 
must follow to obtain such assistance, or
    (2) A Participant Notice in that language.

[61 FR 34026, July 1, 1996, as amended at 65 FR 75165, Dec. 1, 2000]