§1399 Notice, collection, etc., of withdrawal liability

Summary

Employers must give plan sponsors any information the sponsor reasonably needs within 30 days after a written request. After an employer fully or partly withdraws from a multiemployer plan, the plan sponsor must tell the employer how much it owes and the payment schedule, and must demand payment. The employer has 90 days after that notice to ask the sponsor to review specific parts of the liability, point out errors, or give more information. After a reasonable review, the sponsor must tell the employer its decision, the reasons, and why any amount or schedule changed. The amount owed is the figure found under section 1391, adjusted if needed under sections 1389 and 1386, and spread into level yearly payments based on the plan’s actuarial assumptions. If the amortization would be more than 20 years, payments are limited to the first 20 years unless the whole plan ends or almost all employers leave. Each yearly payment is normally calculated from the plan’s average contribution units and the highest contribution rate in the look‑back years. Payments must start no later than 60 days after the demand even if a review is requested. Yearly amounts are paid in four equal quarterly installments or as the plan allows. Late payments accrue interest from the due date. Employers may prepay without penalty. On default, the sponsor can demand the full unpaid balance plus interest; “default” means missing a payment not fixed within 60 days after written notice or other plan events showing likely inability to pay. Interest rates and other rules follow regulations. If a terminated plan’s assets (not including withdrawal claims) are enough to meet obligations as the corporation decides, employer payments stop at the end of that plan year. Actions under these rules are not blocked by the ban in section 1106(a).