1 See Institute Memorandum to Pension Committee No. 5-99 and Pension Operations Advisory Committee No. 7-99, dated
February 1, 1999.
2 See Institute Memorandum to Pension Committee No. 13-97, dated May 22, 1997.
[10837]
March 26, 1999
TO: PENSION COMMITTEE No. 22-99
PENSION OPERATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE No. 21-99
FEBRUARY 18 CONFERENCE CALL ATTENDEES
RE: INSTITUTE SUBMITS COMMENTS ON DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
TECHNOLOGY PROPOSALS
______________________________________________________________________________
The Institute has submitted comments on the Department of Labor’s proposed regulations and
request for information regarding “paperless technologies.” The proposed regulations and request for
information were published in January.1 These comments were developed with the assistance of
participating Institute members.
In the letter, the Institute states its support of the Department’s proposal to permit the use of
“paperless” technologies to deliver various required plan disclosures. The proposed regulations
generally adopt the approach taken in interim regulations governing health plans, as the Institute had
suggested in an earlier comment letter in May 1997.2 The Institute generally urges the prompt adoption
of final regulations and recommends one change.
The proposed regulations would require that participants must be able to readily convert their
documents from electronic form to paper form at their worksite and that participants may request these
documents in paper form from the plan administrator. The Institute’s comment letter recommends that
the Department allow employers to choose either to allow participants to convert documents
electronically or to allow participants to request documents in paper form.
In its request for information, the Department asked for comment as to whether electronic
disclosure of other documents should be permitted and whether electronic delivery should be permitted
to participants and beneficiaries who do not frequent the worksite. The Institute’s comment letter urges
the Department to expand the scope of the proposed rules to cover a broad range of disclosures,
including individual benefit statements. In addition, the letter states that the Department should
specifically permit employers to offer “offsite” participants and beneficiaries the option of receiving plan
disclosures electronically.
A copy of the comment letter is attached.
Russell G. Galer
Senior Counsel
Attachment