HEALTH, WELFARE AND RETIREMENT FUNDS

M.G.L. pt. Part I, tit. Title XXI, ch. c. 151D

in effect

M.G.L. c. 151D, § 1 Definitions

c. 151D, § 1. Definitions Section 1. The following words and phrases as used in this chapter shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly requires otherwise: ''Accrued portion of normal retirement benefit'', that amount of benefit which, irrespective of whether the right to such benefit is nonforfeitable, is equal to (a) in the case of a profit-sharing retirement plan or money purchase plan, the total amount, including all interest held in the plan, credited to the account of a participant; (b) in the case of pension plan, the benefit units credited to a participant; or (c) in the case of other types of pension plans, that portion of the prospective normal retirement benefit of a participant which constitutes the participant's accrued portion of the normal retirement benefit under the terms of the appropriate plan. ''Beneficiaries'', those persons whether ascertained or unascertained, having any interest present or future, vested or contingent. ''Board'', the health, welfare and retirement trust fund board. ''Combination plan'' or ''split-funded plan'', a pension or profit-sharing retirement plan which is funded in part by a life insurance contract or a group annuity contract and in part by an auxiliary fund, according to the applicable requirements and restrictions for a qualified plan as set forth by the Internal Revenue Service, provided that the contributions which constitute the auxiliary fund are invested in corporations or institutions which are subject to specific banking, fiduciary or investment company regulation by state or federal law. ''Covered service'', that period of service performed by a participant for an employer or as a member of an employee organization which is recognized under the terms of the plan or the collective bargaining agreement for purposes of determining a participant's eligibility to receive pension benefits or for determining the amount of such benefits. Covered service commences on either (a) January first, nineteen hundred and seventy-four; (b) the effective date of the plan; or (c) the service requirement established in section thirteen; whichever occurs later. ''Director'', the director of the health, welfare and retirement trust fund board. The director shall act as the executive officer for the board, acting in the board's behalf as the board may direct. ''Economic hardship'', includes but is not limited to, a showing that; a substantial risk to the capability of voluntarily continuing the plan exists, the plan will be unable to discharge its existing contractual obligations for benefits, a substantial curtailment of pension or other benefit levels of the levels of employees' compensation would result, or there will be an adverse effect on the levels of employment with respect to the work force employed by the employer or employers contributing to the plan. ''Experience deficiency'', with reference to a pension plan, an actuarial deficit with respect only to that portion of the trust resulting from contributions made in connection with funding statutory vested benefits, which deficit is attributable to factors other than the failure of an employer to make the aforementioned contributions required by section thirteen. ''Fund'', a fund of insurance, annuity or deposit administration contracts, or any combination of the foregoing, maintained pursuant to or in connection with a pension or profit-sharing retirement plan. ''Funding'', payment or transfer of assets into a trust or payment to an insurance carrier to secure a contractual right pursuant to an agreement with such carrier. ''Employee or labor organization'', any labor union or any organization of any kind, or any agency or employee representative committee, association, group, or program, in which employees participate and which exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with employers concerning a pension, health and welfare, or profit-sharing retirement plan, or other matters incidental to employment relationships; or any employees' beneficiary association organized for the purpose, in whole or in part, or establishing or maintaining such a plan. ''Normal retirement age'', normal retirement age specified in the plan but in the absence of plan provision specifying normal retirement age, age sixty-five. ''Normal retirement benefit'', that benefit payable under a pension or profit-sharing retirement plan in the event of retirement at the normal retirement age. ''Pension Plan'', any plan, fund or program other than a profit-sharing retirement plan which is established or maintained for the purpose of providing for its participants, or their beneficiaries, by the purchase of insurance or annuity contracts, deposit administration contracts or otherwise retirement benefits. Unless the context indicates otherwise, the term ''pension plan'' shall be deemed to include a money purchase plan. ''Plan administrator'', the person designated or to be designated by the terms of the pension or profit-sharing retirement plan, collective bargaining agreement, trust agreement, contract or other instrument under which the plan is established or operated, with responsibility for the ultimate control, disposition or management of the fund. The plan administrator in the case of plans funded solely by the direct purchase of insurance contracts by an employer or labor organization shall be responsible for compliance with the provisions of this chapter. ''Profit-sharing retirement plan'', a plan established or maintained by an employer to provide for the participation by the employees in the current or accumulated profits or both the current and accumulated profits of the employer in accordance with a definite predetermined formula allocating the contributions made to the plan among the participants and for distributing the funds accumulated under the plan upon retirement or death. Such plan may include provisions permitting the withdrawal or distribution of the funds accumulated upon contingencies other than, and in addition to, retirement and death. ''Special payment'', a payment made to a pension plan for the purpose of liquidating an experience deficiency. ''Statutory vested benefit'', a legal claim obtained by a participant of his beneficiary to that part of an immediate or deferred pension benefit or profit-sharing retirement plan benefit which arises from the participant's covered service under the plan and is no longer contingent on the participant remaining covered by the plan. ''Trust'', funds derived in whole or in part from contributions from employers or employees or both, and designed for the purpose of paying or providing for medical or hospital care, pensions, annuities, benefits on retirement or death or unemployment of beneficiaries, compensation for injuries or illness. ''Trustee'', a person, board, or committee charged with the overall management and administration of the plans under which funds of a trust, pension plan or profit-sharing retirement plan are derived or for which such funds are provided, by whatever title described in any document creating or providing for the management of such plans. If such funds are operated as a corporation, the officers, and directors thereof shall be trustees, and shall be under the same responsibility and obligations as the trustees of any such fund not operated as a corporation, except that the account required under section three may be filed in the name of the corporation.

M.G.L. c. 151D, § 2 Registration of trusts, funds or plans; form, etc.; approval; filing; time; proceedings; venue; violations; penalties

c. 151D, § 2. Registration of trusts, funds or plans; form, etc.; approval; filing; time; proceedings; venue; violations; penalties Section 2. The trustees or plan administrators of all trusts, funds, pension plans, combination plans or profit-sharing retirement plans, which provide benefits for participants within the commonwealth, shall register such trusts, funds or plans with the board in accordance with the provisions of this section within ninety days after such trust or plan becomes subject to the provisions of this chapter. The registration shall be in the form prescribed by the board and shall include certified copies of the trust indentures, contracts, corporate by-laws and any and all other documents creating or relating to the organization and operation of such trust or funds. If such documents in their entirety, in the opinion of the board, make adequate provision for the investment and operation of the trusts, the interests of the beneficiaries thereof, for the accounting for such trusts, or where applicable the protection of the contractual rights of the parties to the insurance contracts which constitute the fund, it shall approve them, except that trustees or plan administrator or such other officers as it shall deem necessary shall file bonds or deposit security for the faithful performance of their duties, in such manner and in such amounts as it shall determine. If the board shall not issue notice of disapproval within sixty days of filing the plan shall be deemed approved. If it shall disapprove any such documents in whole or in part the trustees or plan administrator of such fund shall have thirty days to file amendments. If after such opportunity for amendment, the board shall still not approve, the trustees or plan administrators may file a petition in equity in the probate court for the county in which the trust or fund has its principal place of business in the commonwealth, or if it has no principal place of business in the commonwealth, then in the probate court for Suffolk County, against the board. Either party shall have the same rights of appeal as other parties in equity in the probate court. Any trustee or plan administrator neglecting to file its registration in the form and within the time specified may be required to forfeit five dollars for each day during which such neglect continues. The time for filing any registration may be extended by the board, upon application in writing to the board. Any person violating the board approval provision of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars for each day of such violation, or by confinement in a jail or house of correction for not more than two years, or both.

M.G.L. c. 151D, § 3 Annual report or other reports by trustees or plan administrators; exemptions; information required; form; filing; time; powers of board; conflicts of interest; restrictions; violations; penalties; proceedings; service of process on nonresidents

c. 151D, § 3. Annual report or other reports by trustees or plan administrators; exemptions; information required; form; filing; time; powers of board; conflicts of interest; restrictions; violations; penalties; proceedings; service of process on nonresidents Section 3. (a) The trustees or plan administrator required to register under section two shall file an annual report with the board within five months after the end of the calendar year, or if the records of the trust or fund are kept on a policy or fiscal year basis then within five months after the end of such policy or fiscal year. Said report shall be in writing upon a form prescribed by the board. It shall be signed and certified under oath as prescribed by the board. It shall contain the following information for the preceding calendar, policy or fiscal year: the value of the trust or fund as of the end of the fiscal year; the amount contributed by the employer or employers, the amount contributed by the employees; the amount of benefits paid for each class of benefits; the number of employees covered; the salaries and fees paid by or charged to the trust or fund, to whom paid, in what amount, and for what purposes. If some or all of the benefits under the trust or fund are provided by an insurance carrier or by a hospital, surgical or medical service or any other similar type of plan, such report shall also include for each such year, with respect to such and for each class of benefits, the following information: the premium rate or subscription charge and the total premium or subscription charges paid to each such insurance carrier or service plan; the number of persons covered by each class of benefits; the total claims incurred and the total claims paid by such insurance carrier or service plan; dividend, commissions and administrative, services or other fees paid by such insurance carrier or service plan; retentions by such insurance carrier or service plan; the names and addresses of the brokers, agents or other persons to whom commissions or fees were paid, the amounts paid to each, and the services rendered for said commissions or fees. Such insurance carrier or service plan shall certify to the trustees or plan administrators of such trust or fund within four months after the end of each policy year, the information necessary to enable such trustees or plan administrators to comply with the requirements of this paragraph. Any insurance carrier or service plan failing to furnish such information within the time specified shall be penalized five dollars for each day during which such failure continues. The board may also request in writing such supplemental information as is necessary to clarify and explain any such annual reports. Any trustee or plan administrator neglecting to file its annual report in the form and within the time specified may be required to forfeit five dollars for each day during which such neglect continues. The time for filing any such report may be extended by the board. Within one year after the date the plan is established and annually thereafter, as part of the annual report, the trustee or plan administrator shall submit a report by a qualified actuary stating, but not limited to: 1. The estimated cost of statutory vested benefits in respect of service for which such plan is required to register and the formula for computing such cost in subsequent years up to date for the following report. 2. The contributions made to fund the statutory vested benefit for the period covered since the last report. 3. A report of the review required by section three. In lieu of the above reporting provisions, plans with fewer than twenty-six participants shall submit such other reports as the board may require. Pension plans or profit-sharing retirement plans funded solely by the direct purchase of an insurance contract or group annuity contract or that portion of combination plans funded by the direct purchase of an insurance contract or group annuity contract shall not be required to file the annual report as herein required by this subsection. In lieu thereof, upon receiving notice from the plan trustee, plan administrator or employer of the termination of a plan herein exempted, the insurance carrier shall notify the board sixty days prior to final termination of said plan for any reason as defined by the rules and regulations of the internal revenue service. (b) The board may examine the books and records and investigate the administration of any trust, pension plan or profit-sharing retirement plan, and the board may require the attendance and testimony of witnesses. Such witnesses shall be duly sworn and shall give their testimony under the penalties of perjury. The board may conduct examinations at such places and take deposition within or without the commonwealth. (c) No trustee or plan administrator or employer, or labor organization representing any employees eligible for benefits under a trust or fund required to register under this chapter, and no officer, agent or employee of any such trustee or plan administrator, employer or labor organization shall receive directly or indirectly any payment, commission, loan, service, or any other thing of value from any insurance company, insurance agent, insurance broker or any hospital, surgical or medical service plan, in connection with the solicitation, sale, service or administration of a contract providing benefits for such trust or fund, or receive any payment, commission, loan or any other thing of value from such trust or fund, or which is charged against such trust or fund would otherwise be payable to such trust or fund either directly or indirectly, except that any such person may receive any benefits under a trust or fund to which he is otherwise entitled, and any trustee or plan administrator, employer or labor organization, or his or its officer, agent or employee, may receive from such trust or fund reasonable compensation for necessary services and expenses rendered or incurred by him or in connection with the official duties of such trust or fund; provided, however, that nothing in this paragraph shall affect the payment of any dividend or rate credit or any other adjustment due under the terms of any insurance or annuity contract to the policy holder or contract holder. Nothing contained in this subsection shall be construed as prohibiting the purchase by the trustees at fair market value of any securities which are proper investments for trustees, nor the sale of such securities at such value. No insurance company, insurance agent or insurance broker and no hospital, surgical or medical service plan, shall either directly or indirectly, pay any commission, make any loan or give any other payment or thing of value to any employee welfare fund or to any employer or labor organization representing any employees eligible for employee benefits thereunder or to any trustee or other officer or employee of any such fund, employer or labor organization, in connection with the solicitation, sale, service or administration of a contract providing employee benefits for such fund. (d) Any trustee or plan administration subject to the provisions of this chapter, who has a principal place of business located outside the commonwealth shall appoint an agent in the commonwealth for the service of process upon such trustee or plan administrator in his capacity as trustee or plan administrator and register the name and address of such agent with the board. Any such trustee or plan administrator who fails to appoint an agent in the commonwealth shall be deemed and held, in relation to any cause of action or proceeding against him as trustee or plan administrator to have appointed the commissioner of corporations and his successor in office to be his true and lawful attorney and any process in any such action or proceeding against such trustee or plan administrator served upon the commissioner or his successor in office shall be of the same legal force and validity as if served on such trustee or plan administrator personally. When legal process against such trustee or plan administrator is served upon the commissioner, he shall immediately give notice to the trustee or plan administrator of such service by registered mail, postage prepaid, return receipt requested, directed to the trustee or plan administrator and shall, within two days after such service forward in the same manner, a copy of the process served upon him to such trustee or plan administrator. A fee to be determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provision of section three B of chapter seven shall be paid by the plaintiff to the commissioner at the time of the service and shall be taxed in his costs if he prevails in the suit. The commissioner shall keep a record of all such processes, which shall show the day and hour of service. In the case of service of process on a trustee or plan administrator who has not appointed an agent for the service of process, the notice herein provided for shall be mailed by the commissioner to the proper address of the trustee or plan administrator which shall be furnished to him by the plaintiff or his attorney. (e) If, after notice and a hearing, the board finds that any trust or fund has been depleted by reason of any wrongful or negligent act or omission of a trustee, plan administrator or of any other person, or that any trustee, plan administrator or other person unreasonably fails or refuses to pay or award any benefit to which an employee or beneficiary is entitled, it may bring an action or intervene in an action brought by or on the behalf of an employee, beneficiary or an employer against such trustee, plan administrator or other person who fails or refuses to pay said benefits, or whose act of omission has caused such depletion, for the recovery of such monies, securities, property or thing of value for the benefit of the beneficiaries. (f) A summary of the report in such form as shall be approved by the board setting forth the information required to be filed under subsection (a) shall be filed annually with the board at the same time as the filing of said report. It shall be kept available for public inspection at the office of the board. The board may, if it deems it necessary for the accomplishment of the purposes of this act in the case of any particular trust, direct the trustees to distribute or appropriately publish copies of such summary to all employees and labor organizations participating in the trust or fund. Except as provided in this subsection, all reports and other information in the possession of the board shall be confidential communications, shall not be subject to subpoena and shall not be made public unless the ends of justice and the public advantage will be subserved by the publication thereof in the case of any particular trust or fund; in which event the board shall publish a copy of such report or other information or any part thereof in such manner as the board may deem proper. Any amendments, modifications or alterations of any kind to plans registered with the board shall be reported on forms acceptable to said board and certified copies of the same shall be filed with said board within thirty days after their effective date. The employer shall furnish within sixty days after the registration of the plan to each participant in the plan and to each employee upon his enrollment in the plan and within sixty days after each major amendment to the plan a summary of the plan's important provisions or requirements of the amendment, whichever is applicable, written in the manner calculated to be understood by the average employee of such employer. The summary shall include a description of the benefits available to the participant under the plan and circumstances which may result in disqualification or ineligibility, the employer shall furnish to every employee the plan's vesting provisions, the procedure for claiming benefits, the procedure for appealing denial of benefits, and what effect, if any, a company merger or termination of the plan will have on those participants, as well as disability and survivorship benefits, and the procedure for claiming them. The employer shall furnish to every employee every three years a revised up-to-date summary if a plan has been amended within three years of the furnishing of the last revised summary of such plan. The employer shall furnish to each plan beneficiary so requesting in writing a completed and up-dated copy of the plan, or a complete copy of the latest annual report, or both.

M.G.L. c. 151D, § 3A Periodic review of registered pension plans; exceptions; report

c. 151D, § 3A. Periodic review of registered pension plans; exceptions; report Section 3A. The plan administrator or trustee of a registered pension plan except plans with less than twenty-six participants or pension plans or profit-sharing retirement plans funded solely by the direct purchase of an insurance contract or group annuity contract, or that portion of combination plans funded solely by the direct purchase of an insurance contract or group annuity contract, shall cause the plan to be reviewed not less than once every five years by a qualified certified public accountant or public accountant or actuary and shall submit a report of such review to the board stating: (a) the estimated cost of statutory vested benefits in respect to service in the next succeeding five-year period and the formula for computing such cost for such subsequent five-year period. (b) the contributions made by the employer for the preceding five-year period to fund the statutory vested benefit. (c) the surplus or the experience deficiency for statutory vested benefits in the pension plan after making allowances for the present value of all special payments required to be made in the future by the employer as determined by previous reports. (d) the special payments which will liquidate any such experience deficiency over a term not exceeding five years; and the actuarial assumptions and methods used in the determination.

M.G.L. c. 151D, § 4 Reimbursement for visual services

c. 151D, § 4. Reimbursement for visual services Section 4. Notwithstanding any provision of any contract or agreement entered into by the trustee or plan administrator of any fund authorized under this chapter, whenever such contract or agreement provides for reimbursement for any visual services which are within the lawful scope of the practice of a duly registered optometrist, reimbursement thereunder shall be made to either the registered optometrist or the registered physician of the insured's selection. Visual services, as such term appears in the preceding sentence shall mean the optometric services provided by registered optometrists and physicians as set forth in chapter one hundred and twelve.

M.G.L. c. 151D, § 5 Fees; registration of trust or fund; filing annual reports

c. 151D, § 5. Fees; registration of trust or fund; filing annual reports Section 5. The fee for registering a trust or fund under the provisions of section two and the fee for filing annual reports with the board shall be determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provision of section three B of chapter seven.

M.G.L. c. 151D, § 6 Embezzlement or misappropriation of trust funds; fraud; penalties

c. 151D, § 6. Embezzlement or misappropriation of trust funds; fraud; penalties Section 6. Any trustee, plan administrator, official, employee or other person who is convicted of embezzling or misappropriating trust funds or funds, securities or other property entrusted to his care or custody, or of falsification of records or destruction of records with intent to defraud, or of willfully and knowingly filing false statements or of violating the provision of subsection (c) of section three, shall be punished by a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars or by imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for not more than five years, or both.

M.G.L. c. 151D, § 7 Application of chapter; exceptions

c. 151D, § 7. Application of chapter; exceptions Section 7. The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to workers' compensation or plans established or maintained for the benefit of self-employed individuals or owner-employees as defined by the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended or to any retirement fund, plan or program or any health and welfare fund, plan or program established by the commonwealth or by any political subdivision thereof or by any educational, charitable or religious organization, nor to any employees' retirement association established by general or special law which is subject by law to an audit or examination by either the commissioner of banks or the commissioner of insurance.

M.G.L. c. 151D, § 8 Waiver of compliance with requirements of this chapter; application; form; revocation; judicial review

c. 151D, § 8. Waiver of compliance with requirements of this chapter; application; form; revocation; judicial review Section 8. Where a trust or fund, or its trustees or plan administrator are subject to and comply with the requirements of the law of any other state or the United States, which substantially meets the requirements of this chapter with respect to the registration, filing, examination, statements or reports, the requirements of this chapter of any of them to the extent that they are included in such other laws may be waived by the board with respect to any such trust or fund or trustee or plan administrators. Where such a waiver has been granted, the board shall require the filing with it of copies of documents filed by the trustees with such other state or with the United States. Application for such a waiver shall be made in writing to the board on such forms as it may require and any waiver issued by it hereunder shall be in writing and a copy thereof shall be filed in its office. The board may, at any time, revoke any such waiver if, in its opinion, such other laws fail to accomplish adequately the purposes of this chapter. Any action of the board pursuant to this section shall be subject to judicial review.

M.G.L. c. 151D, § 9 Waiver of requirement for statutory vested benefits; procedures

c. 151D, § 9. Waiver of requirement for statutory vested benefits; procedures Section 9. In addition to the waiver provisions authorized by section eight, the board, upon the advice and recommendation of the advisory committee, created by section seventeen, may grant a waiver of the requirements of section thirteen under terms and conditions set by the board upon a showing that a pension plan or profit-sharing retirement plan would suffer undue economic hardship that would be detrimental to the interests of its participants. No waiver herein provided shall extend longer than thirty-six months after it has been granted. Upon expiration of said waiver, a proposal for the gradual incorporation of the requirements of section thirteen shall be submitted for the approval of the board. In no instance shall such a proposal for gradual incorporation require more than ten years. Any request for waiver shall be in writing in a form prescribed by the board. The advisory committee shall receive copies of all waiver requests. Any waiver issued by the board shall be in writing with a notice of its date of issuance. Rules and regulations issued by the board, pursuant to this section, shall be promulgated in accordance with the provisions of chapter thirty A.

M.G.L. c. 151D, § 10 Compliance with other applicable laws by trustees or plan administrators

c. 151D, § 10. Compliance with other applicable laws by trustees or plan administrators Section 10. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to relieve the trustee or plan administrator of any trust or fund from compliance with any provisions of any other applicable laws of the commonwealth.

M.G.L. c. 151D, § 11 Additional penalties for failure to pay contributions or benefits; venue for complaints

c. 151D, § 11. Additional penalties for failure to pay contributions or benefits; venue for complaints Section 11. In addition to any other penalty of punishment otherwise prescribed by law any person or employee, and the president, secretary, and treasurer, or officers exercising corresponding functions, of a corporation which is an employer, who is party to an agreement to pay or provide the contributions or benefits covered by this chapter or who is so required to pay these contributions or benefits under the terms of sections twenty-six and twenty-seven of chapter one hundred and forty-nine, and who refuses or fails or neglects to pay such contributions or payments within thirty days after such payments are required to be made shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for not more than one year, or both. A complaint under this section may be brought in the municipal court of the city of Boston, or in a district court within the territorial jurisdiction of which the employer has his principal place of business, or within which the contributions are to be paid, or, if said complaint is brought against an officer of a corporation, within which said officer lives.

M.G.L. c. 151D, § 12 Bond of trustee or plan administrator; waiver; failure to file certification thereof; penalty

c. 151D, § 12. Bond of trustee or plan administrator; waiver; failure to file certification thereof; penalty Section 12. (a) Every trustee or plan administrator subject to the provisions of this chapter, who is responsible for or who is delegated to be responsible for the funds of a trust or fund shall be bonded as herein provided; the amount of such bond shall be fixed at the beginning of each calendar, policy or other fiscal year, as the case may be, and certificates indicating compliance shall be filed with the board, together with those reports filed with the board, in compliance with subsection (a) of section three. The amount of the bond shall be not less than ten per cent of the amount of funds handled by said trustee or plan administrator, determined as herein provided, except that any such bond shall be in a minimum amount of one thousand dollars and a maximum amount of one hundred thousand dollars. For purposes of fixing the amount of such bond, the amount of funds handled shall be determined by the funds handled by the trustee or plan administrator or by their predecessors, if any, during the preceding reporting year, or if the plan has no preceding reporting year, the amount of funds to be handled during the current reporting year by such trustee or plan administrator as estimated by such trustees and plan administrator and approved by the board. Such bond shall provide protection to such funds or trust funds against loss by reason of acts of fraud or dishonesty on the part of such trustee or plan administrator, either directly or through connivance with others. Any bond required hereunder shall have as surety thereon a corporate surety company which is acceptable to the board in a form or type approved by the board, including individual bonds or schedule or blanket forms of bonds which cover a group or class. (b) Nothing in this section shall require any trustee or plan administrator to be bonded if said trustee or plan administrator is required to be bonded by any law of any other state or of the United States under substantially the same requirement, and said bonding may be waived by board. (c) Any trustee or plan administrator neglecting to file said certification as required hereunder shall be subject to the penalty prescribed in subsection (a) of section three for failure to file annual reports.

M.G.L. c. 151D, § 13 Statutory vested benefits; requirement; standards

c. 151D, § 13. Statutory vested benefits; requirement; standards Section 13. All plans filed for registration under this chapter with twenty-five or more participants shall provide a statutory vested benefit. Any trust or fund which subsequent to registration has fewer than twenty-five participants shall continue to comply with the provisions of this section. Notwithstanding any provision in any pension plan or profit sharing retirement plan which provides or will provide an annual benefit upon termination of service prior to normal or early retirement date or an interest in the profit sharing retirement plan which is greater than the following, an employee who has been in covered service for a period of ten years, will be entitled, upon termination of service prior to attaining normal or early retirement date (a) in the case of a pension plan, to a deferred pension benefit commencing at his normal retirement date; or (b) in the case of a profit sharing retirement plan, to nonforfeitable right to his interest in such plan, in an amount equal to the lesser of (1) fifty per cent of the accrued portion of the normal retirement benefit as provided by the plan in respect of such service, or of such interest, respectively; such amount to be increased by ten per cent for each year thereafter of covered service until the completion of fifteen years of covered service after which such participant shall be entitled upon termination of service prior to normal or early retirement date equal to one hundred per cent of the accrued portion of the normal retirement benefit as provided by the plan with respect to such service, or to the full amount of such interest in the profit sharing retirement plan, or (2) in the case of a pension plan, a pension equal to fifty per cent of an amount equal to three-fourths of one per cent of annual salary subject to social security tax for each year of covered service, increased by ten per cent for each year thereafter of covered service until the completion of fifteen years of covered service, after which such participant shall be entitled to a deferred pension benefit commencing at his normal retirement date equal to one hundred per cent of such three-fourths per cent of annual salary subject to social security tax for each year of covered service, or in the case of a profit-sharing retirement plan, a pension equal to fifty per cent of an amount equal to three and three-fourths per cent of annual salary subject to social security tax for each year of covered service, increased by ten per cent for each year thereafter of covered service until the completion of fifteen years of covered service, after which such participant shall be entitled to a deferred pension benefit commencing at his normal retirement date equal to one hundred per cent of such three and three-fourths per cent of annual salary subject to social security tax for each year of covered service. Service by an employee prior to the age of thirty with less than five years' service may be ignored in determining covered service under this section unless such participant has contributed to the plan with respect to such service. In no case shall an employee with more than five years' service regardless of age, or upon an employee's thirtieth birthday be excluded from covered service. The board shall prescribe standards consistent with the purposes of this chapter governing the maximum number of working hours, days, weeks, months, which shall constitute a year of covered service for purposes of this chapter. Every pension plan, subject to the provisions of this section, shall provide that contributions will be made to the trust or fund each year commencing January first, nineteen hundred and eighty, or the effective date of the plan in an amount equal to ten per cent of the estimated liability for statutory vested benefits which will accrue during each year of each succeeding ten year period, such ten year period beginning the later of the first year of required contributions or the most recent year in which required annual contributions were made, so that during each succeeding ten year period, contributions will be made to the trust or fund in amounts equal to the liability for statutory vested benefits as such benefits will accrue. All pension plans subject to the provisions of this section shall provide that special payments shall be made if the pension plan has an experience deficiency with reference to contributions made with respect to statutory vested benefits. Such special payments shall consist of no less than equal annual amounts sufficient to remove such experience deficiency as determined except where the experience deficiency cannot be removed over a five year period without the amounts required to remove such deficiency exceeding the allowable limits for a tax deduction under the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, for any particular year for which such payments must be made, the board shall, consistent with the purposes of this section, prescribe such additional time as may be necessary to remove such deficiency within allowable tax deductions.

M.G.L. c. 151D, § 14 Termination of pension plan or profit-sharing retirement plan; allocation of benefits and vesting of interests; insurance; notices

c. 151D, § 14. Termination of pension plan or profit-sharing retirement plan; allocation of benefits and vesting of interests; insurance; notices Section 14. In the absence of an acceptable method of termination of a pension plan benefits will be allocated to participants and their beneficiaries in the following order:— First, to provide for a refund to each participant of his contribution, if any, plus credited interest in excess of any benefits paid or to be paid to him or his beneficiary. Second, to provide to all retired participants and their beneficiaries the plan benefits. Third, to provide to all participants and their beneficiaries the statutory vested benefits. Fourth, to provide to participants eligible to retire on normal retirement and their beneficiaries, for the payment of their plan benefits in excess of clause Third. Fifth, to provide to all participants eligible for early retirement, and their beneficiaries, for the payment of their plan benefits in excess of clause Third above. Sixth, to provide to all participants eligible for vested benefits under the plan for the payment of their plan benefits in excess of clause Third above. Seventh, to provide to all participants under the plan for the payment of accrued benefits in excess of the above. Notwithstanding the above, upon termination of a profit-sharing retirement plan or a money purchase retirement plan, the interests of all participants in their participant accounts shall fully vest. Any assets insufficient to provide the full benefits with respect to any class will be prorated among the members of that class in proportion to their liability for their benefits. The board may require as a condition of approval of any plan that such trustee or plan administrator, employer or labor union insure that plan with a private carrier against loss of employee contributions and statutory vested benefits estimated to exist at the termination of the plan if such insurance is available. Any assessments and premiums required under this chapter shall be deducted from the administrative costs of the fund. Subsequent to termination of any plan the trustees or plan administrators shall make notification to board of termination of the plan within fifteen days. Within thirty days all employees shall be notified of their rights to any pension benefit and the procedures for claiming those benefits.

M.G.L. c. 151D, § 15 Violations by trustee or plan administrator; injunctive relief

c. 151D, § 15. Violations by trustee or plan administrator; injunctive relief Section 15. The attorney general may at the request of the board, maintain and prosecute an action against a trustee or plan administrator subject to this chapter for the purpose of obtaining an injunction restraining such persons from doing any act in violation of this chapter. If the court finds that a defendant is threatening or is likely to do any act in violation of this chapter, and that such violation will cause irreparable injury to the interests of the citizens of the commonwealth or the beneficiaries of the trust or fund involved or any employer contributing to such fund, the court may grant an injunction restraining such violation. The court may, on motion and affidavits, grant a preliminary injunction and in interlocutory injunction, upon such terms as may be just, but the citizens of the commonwealth shall not be required to give security before the issuance of any such injunction.

M.G.L. c. 151D, § 16 Investments and management

c. 151D, § 16. Investments and management Section 16. Trustees shall invest the funds of their pension plans and profit-sharing retirement plans and manage said affairs in accordance with the provisions contained in the instruments under which they are acting, or, in the absence of any such provisions shall invest the funds and manage fund affairs with the care under the circumstances then prevailing that a prudent man acting in a like capacity and familiar with such matters would use in the conduct of an enterprise of a like character and with like aims.

M.G.L. c. 151D, § 18 Severability

c. 151D, § 18. Severability Section 18. If any provision of this chapter as the application of such provision of any person or circumstance is held invalid or is pre-empted by federal law, the remainder of this chapter and the application of such provision to other person or circumstances shall not be affected.

Source: Massachusetts General Court (malegislature.gov)URL: https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXXI/Chapter151DFetched: 10/20/2026