ERISA Improvements Act of 1979

ERISA Improvements Act of 1979 - Title I: Amendments to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to declare an additional policy of ERISA to foster the establishment and maintenance of employee benefit plans sponsored by employers and/or employee organizations.

Revises the definition of the term "party in interest." Redefines "multiemployer plan" to mean a plan which is maintained pursuant to one or more collective bargaining agreements between an employee organization and more than one employer and to which ten or more employers contribute, or to which more than one and fewer than ten employers contribute if the Secretary of Labor finds that treating such a plan as a multiemployer plan is appropriate.

Requires a plan administrator to disclose accrued benefits to a plan participant, following termination of service or a one-year break in service, if such participant is entitled to a deferred vested benefit.

Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to exempt any employee benefit plan from any of the reporting and disclosure requirements, or to modify such requirement, upon a determination that such change is: (1) in the public interest; and (2) consistent with the purposes of title I of ERISA.

Eliminates the requirement that a plan administrator furnish to a participant or beneficiary a copy of certain finance statements within 210 days of the close of the plan's fiscal year. Sets a $10 limit on the amount an administrator can charge for a copy of the full annual report.

Requires, rather than allows, accountants to rely on the correctness of any actuarial matter certified by an enrolled actuary.

Provides for the transfer of contributions from one collectively bargained pension or welfare plan to a similar plan in which an employee had become a participant, upon written agreement of the administrators of both plan.

Allows a benefit plan to determine eligibility on a plan year basis, in addition to a participant's employment commencement date, as long as rights and benefits are based upon all of such employee's service.

Amends provisions with respect to the accrual of benefits in a multiemployer plan and multiemployer suspension of benefits because of reemployment.

Prohibits the reduction of: (1) disability benefits paid under a welfare plan because of an increase in the social security benefit level or wage base; and (2) benefits paid to a vested participant who has separated from service because of any employer payment as a result of a worker's compensation award.

Requires a plan which gives an annuity as the normal form of benefit to provide for a participant's spouse a survivor's annuity, if such participant has at least ten years service for vesting purposes. Requires a plan which does not give an annuity as the normal form of benefit to provide such a participant's spouse with a lump sum or installment payment. Entitles participants to elect not to take, or to revoke, such joint and survivor annuities, under specified circumstances.

Allows the funding method of a plan to take account of all plan provisions, including future benefit reductions. Redefines the contents of a general asset account in the case of plans which have guaranteed benefit policies with an insurer.

Permits a collectively bargained multiemployer plan to return an employer contribution within six months after the plan administrator knows that the contribution was made as a result of a mistake of fact or in violation of the Labor-Management Relations Act.

Defines "knowledge" of a fiduciary who is not an individual, for purposes of the liability for a co-fiduciary's breach of duty, as knowledge actually communicated, or knowledge which should have been communicated in the normal course of business.

Requires that one member of the Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans be a representative of employers maintaining small plans.

Directs the Secretary of Labor to study the feasibility of requiring pension plans to provide cost-of-living adjustments to benefits payable under such plans.

Requires a court to allow reasonable attorney fees and costs, where a judgment has been awarded in an action to collect contributions owed to an employee benefit plan.

Provides that no person or employee benefit plan shall be subject to civil or criminal liability as the result of an action explicitly or implicitly alleging that the interest of an employee in a benefit plan is a security under Federal or State securities laws. States that Federal courts shall not have jurisdiction of such causes of action.

Provides that an interest in a bank's single or collective trust or an insurer's separate account and issued exclusively to a benefit plan is not a security for the purposes of the registration requirements of Federal or State securities laws. Directs the Secretary of Labor to promulgate regulations with respect to such pooled investment funds.

Prohibits any person from knowingly misrepresenting the terms and conditions of a benefit plan or the status of any participant or beneficiary under such plan. Stipulates that the benefit plan shall not be liable for damages resulting from such misrepresentation.

Specifies two areas in which ERISA shall not preempt State laws relating to employee benefit plans: (1) health care, including (A) laws requiring a contract or policy of insurance issued to a plan to permit participants to convert or continue protection after it ceases to be provided by the plan, and (B) the Hawaii Prepaid Health Care Law, and other State laws which are substantially identical to such Hawaii law; and (2) domestic relations, including any judgment, decree, or order issued under State common or community property laws, under specified circumstances. Provides that ERISA shall preempt a State insurance law which requires that a specific benefit be made available by a contract or insurance policy issued to an employee benefit plan.

Title II: Amendments to the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to treat all defined benefit and contribution plans under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, and all pension, profit-sharing, and stock bonus plans as a single plan for purposes of determining the amount of lump sum distribution to which a beneficiary of such plans becomes entitled upon the death, retirement, or disability of the covered employee. Provides that a multiemployer plan may treat an employee who has not worked in service covered under such plan for a period of six months as having separated from service for purposes of the lump sum distribution.

Allows an income tax deduction for contributions made by employees to qualified employee retirement savings plans. Limits the amount of the allowable deduction to the lesser of ten percent of employee compensation or $1,000. Disallows the deduction for plans which discriminate in favor of highly compensated employees.

Allows an income tax credit to small business employers who maintain or make contributions to a qualified employer retirement plan. Limits the amount of such credit to a specified percentage of the amount allowed as an income tax deduction for employer contributions to an employee trust or annuity plan under the Internal Revenue Code.

Title III: Special Master and Prototype Plans - Amends ERISA to create a new type of master or prototype employee pension benefit plan which has been approved by the Secretary of Labor, and the assets of which are controlled by one or more master sponsors, who may be registered investment advisors, banks, or insurance companies. Relieves an employer who establishes such a plan of many of the administrative requirements of ERISA.

Title IV: Employee Benefits Commission - Establishes a five-member, full-time Employee Benefits Commission as an independent agency within the executive branch. Creates two new positions, entitled "special liaison officer to the Employee Benefits Commission," one within the Department of Labor and one within the Department of the Treasury, to serve as the chairman and vice chairman of the Commission.

Directs the Commission to: (1) formulate policy with respect to Federal laws relating to employee benefit plans; (2) administer and enforce titles I and IV of ERISA; and (3) administer and obtain compliance with specified provisions of the Internal Revenue Code relating to the qualification of employee benefit plans.

Transfers to the Commission the authority of the Secretary of Labor and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation granted under ERISA, and functions of the Secretary of the Treasury relating to employee benefit plans. Grants to the Commission additional powers, including: (1) requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of documentary evidence, (2) initiating civil actions for enforcement purposes; and (3) certifying to the Secretary of the Treasury that an employee benefit plan does or does not satisfy the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code for qualified plans.