Littler Fiduciary Toolkit

Employers sponsoring health and welfare plans and retirement plans must carry out their fiduciary responsibilities carefully or risk being targeted by plan participant class action lawsuits or by the government as Department of Labor audits proliferate. Also, outside auditors often request proof of strict fiduciary compliance with plan rules. This focus on plan fiduciaries, whether by litigants, auditors, or the government, zeroes in on governance issues and the extent to which fiduciaries have demonstrated engagement with issues that are their responsibilities.

Littler has developed the tools to help employers meet these challenges facing plan fiduciaries. The Littler Fiduciary Toolkit provides corporate officers and plan committees with the critical elements needed to institute sound fiduciary governance practices for both retirement plans and health and welfare plans.

The Littler Fiduciary Toolkit is a fixed-fee suite of documents and services designed to assist plan fiduciaries to:

• Form and train an effective and appropriate fiduciary committee
• Conduct committee meetings in a manner to best protect the interests of plan fiduciaries
• Search for and hire vendors and service providers and evaluate the fees they charge
• Adopt the right process to select and monitor retirement plan investments
• Develop an Investment Policy Statement
• Prepare meeting minutes which demonstrate a high level of fiduciary engagement
• Comply with ERISA’s evolving duty to disclose
• Review and decide claims and appeals
• Review contracts with current providers
• Develop a fiduciary committee charter to meet the needs of the committee

The Fiduciary Toolkit is a fixed fee suite of services that includes:

• A fiduciary training session conducted by a Littler shareholder
• Various sample documents and forms, which may include (according to plan being reviewed):
  • Sample meeting minutes
  • Sample committee charter and delegations of authority
  • Sample completed Form 5500
• Fiduciary-centered review of third-party contracts with investment advisors, investment managers and plan record keepers
• A one-hour consult with a Littler shareholder

To learn more about Littler’s Fiduciary Toolkit, email us at innovation@littler.com.