Taft-Hartley

NWPS currently serves 48 Taft-Hartley plans with 94,000 participants and just over $4 billion in plan assets. Through this work, we have a deep understanding of the complex challenges for these plans including the role of the Board of Trustees, the plan administrator and the recordkeeper. While similar in structure to corporate 401(k) plans, the operating and governance models are quite different.

These plans cover members of union organizations. High-quality member services including web/mobile access, live call support, transaction processing, communication, education, and other support services is critical.  NWPS knows how to deliver high-touch, responsive member service.

These plans are sponsored by a joint labor-management Board of Trustees rather than by the plan participants’ employers. The union and the employers and their representatives appoint the trustees who are responsible for the plan oversight, governance, investments, and operations. With Taft-Hartley plans the Board of Trustees is truly working for the participants.

The Board of Trustees is responsible for hiring and oversight of the plan administrator, ERISA attorney, recordkeeper, investment advisor, auditor and other plan professionals. While the roles sound the same as in corporate plans, how it works is quite different. The plan administrator is responsible for member eligibility, payroll collection and submission, and maintenance of member employment and eligibility data. In addition to the annual plan audit, the auditor conducts ongoing payroll audits of participating employers.  The recordkeeper receives data and payroll contributions from the plan administrator.  The ERISA attorney and investment advisor provide the committee with guidance and advice in their respective areas of expertise.

NWPS coordinates closely with the plan professionals to ensure that we have unambiguous and comprehensive delineation of all recordkeeping and administration responsibilities. Once we have these requirements, we work with the plan professionals to develop efficient and effective processes for compliance, payroll contribution and investment, data integrity and reporting.