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Word
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Definition
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Participant
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Participant: The term "participant" means any employee or former employee of an employer, or any member or former member of an employee organization, who is or may become eligible to receive a benefit of any type from an employee benefit plan which covers employees of such employer or members of such organization, or whose beneficiaries may be eligible to receive any such benefit. See, U.S.C. 1002 (7). Also, see standing issue discussed here.
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Plan Administrator
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Plan Administrator: The term can mean (i) the person specifically so designated by the terms of the instrument under which the plan is operated; (ii) if an administrator is not so designated, the plan sponsor; or (iii) in the case of a plan for which an administrator is not designated and a plan sponsor cannot be identified, such other person as the Secretary may by regulation prescribe.
Rule # 1: The administrator is the person or entity identified in the plan documents. [29 U.S.C. 1002 Section 16(A)_(i)]
Many documents will identify the plan administrator and the query may end there. On the other hand, if none is so identified, two default rules are supplied in cascading fashion, as follows:
Rule #2: If Rule #1 does not apply, the "plan sponsor" is the "administrator" for purposes of the statute. [29 U.S.C. 1002 Section 1(A)(ii)]
Once again, ERISA defines the term. The statute defines "plan sponsor" as:
(i) the employer in the case of an employee benefit plan established or maintained by a single employer,
(ii) the employee organization in the case of a plan established or maintained by an employee organization, or (iii) in the case of a plan established or maintained by two or more employers or jointly by one or more employers and one or more employee organizations, the association, committee, joint board of trustees, or other similar group of representatives of the parties who establish or maintain the plan.29 U.S.C. 1002 Section 16(B)
Rule #3: If neither Rule #1 nor Rule #2 apply, the administrator is "such other person as the Secretary may by regulation prescribe." [U.S.C. 1002 Section 16(A)(ii)].
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Preemption
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Preemption: Section 514(a) of ERISA preempts all state laws insofar as they relate to employee benefit plans covered by Title I of ERISA subject only to certain exceptions expressly provided in section 514(b) of ERISA, was enacted to ensure that ERISA's substantive standards would uniformly apply to all plans to protect plan participants and beneficiaries, to promote the development of employee benefit plans, and to assure uniform regulation of such plans. Congress intended through section 514(a):
to ensure that plans and plan sponsors would be subject to a uniform body of benefits law; the goal was to minimize the administrative and financial burden of complying with conflicting directives among States or between States and the Federal Government . . [and to prevent] the potential for conflict in substantive law . . . requiring the tailoring of plans and employer conduct to the peculiarities of the law of each jurisdiction.
See also, "Complete Preemption" and "Conflict Preemption", supra.
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