Summary Annual Report
The Summary Annual Report (SAR) is a summary of the information submitted on the Form 5500 and notifies participants (employees) of their right to receive a copy of the full annual report.
General Requirements
Deadline: The SAR is required to be provided to participants by the last day of the 2nd month after the Form 5500 deadline.
The SAR is due to plan participants for calendar year ERISA plans that were required to file a Form 5500, unless an application for an extension was timely filed.
Large insured plans are subject to the SAR requirement because no exemption exists under the SAR regulation for such plans.
SAR Extension
Deadline: For plans on extension, the SAR is due 2.5 months after the Form 5500 is due (or filed, if earlier).
The SAR must be furnished within 2 months after Form 5500 is filed.
SPD or “Wrap” Document to Participants
Purpose: a WRAP Document is customized to wrap around current plan documents and SPD's, as well as, insurance certificates and benefit plan booklets to comply with ERISA.
Deadline: For new "wrap" SPDs (Summary Plan Description), send within 120 days after the start of the new ERISA plan.
Ongoing Distribution: the "wrap" SPD should be sent within 90 days of an employee's plan enrollment, and furnished to all participants every 10 years unless there are changes, then it must be sent every 5 years.
Summary of Material Modification (SMM)
Purpose: under ERISA, an SMM must be provided when there is a material change in the terms of the plan or any change in the information required to be in the SPD.
Deadline: as a general rule, the plan sponsor must provide the SMM within 210 days after the close of the plan year in which the change was adopted.
The deadline is shortened to within 60 days of deciding to move forward with a change that is a material reduction in benefits. For example, if the employer decides on Sept 30 to adopt a material reduction for the upcoming January 1, they must provide an SMM within 60 days of Sept 30, which is by Nov 30.
Changes reflected in the SBC do not need a separate SMM.
When not dealing with material reductions, changes reflected in an amended and restated SPD satisfy the SMM requirement