Employer Document Retention Policies: Relevant ERISA Requirements

Many employers maintain policies for compliance with the various laws governing document retention. In developing such a policy, it is important for employers to consider the rules applicable to documents related to plans subject to ERISA:

• Section 107 of ERISA mandates a six-year document retention period for purposes of its reporting and disclosure requirements (e.g., documents supporting the content of a Form 5500 must be retained for six years after the filing date).
• Section 209 of ERISA requires an employer to retain benefits records for each employee sufficient to determine the benefits which are or may become due to that employee.
  • No end date is specified, but a proposed DOL regulation specifies that pension records must be retained for ?Ç£as long as any possibility exists that they might be relevant to a determination of benefit entitlements.?Ç¥

Employers should ensure that their document retention policies have been reviewed for consistency with ERISA?ÇÖs requirements and use caution before destroying employee benefit plan records or archiving them in a manner that makes them difficult to locate.