What are our responsibilities with respect to Summary Plan Descriptions?

The  U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) enforces the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), which requires plan administrators to provide plan participants with summary plan descriptions (SPDs). All qualified plans covered under ERISA must provide participants with SPDs. The SPD must include "the most important facts they need to know about their retirement and health benefit plans including plan rules, financial information and documents on the operation and management of the plan." An SPD must include specific information such as eligibility to participate in the plan, how a participant may access services, how benefits are calculated or provided, and how to file a claim for benefits. It must also include plan administrator contact information as well as guidance on how to request more information. SPDs must be provided in writing in plain language and must be free of charge.

In addition, "[i]f a plan is changed, participants must be informed, either through a revised summary plan description, or in a separate document, called a summary of material modifications, which also must be given to participants free of charge." If there have been no material modifications to the plan, then the SPD must be updated at least every 10 years—five years for plans that had material modifications. See Health Plans & Benefits: Plan Information.

Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), notice of material modifications to a plan must be provided to participants at least 60 days in advance of the effective date of change. 

SPDs can be distributed electronically as indicated in CFR § 2520.104b-1 Section (c) Disclosure through electronic media, under certain specific circumstances. It is recommended that when distributing SPDs electronically, a plan administrator has a mechanism that ensures the SPD is actually received by the participant. The administrator should also use the same document, not documents that vary based on the recipient's computer system, and ultimately make paper SPDs available to participants who need or want them.

Employers often outsource responsibility for the SPD to a third party plan administrator, but where the employer is the plan administrator, great care should be devoted to the development of the SPD. Benefit consultants and/or attorneys can help with this task.