Yellow’s Failed PBGC Fight Alters Pension Withdrawal Calculus

Employers must prepare for the risk of high costs if they drop out of multiemployer pension plans buoyed by federal bailout money, benefits attorneys warned after Yellow Corp. lost its challenge against rules for calculating withdrawal liability.

A bankruptcy judge late last week upheld Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation regulations that fundamentally changed the way that liability is measured, according to benefits lawyers. The rules initially exclude the amount of special financial assistance (SFA) that plans receive under the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act when determining the unfunded vested benefits (UVB) that employers owe when they pull out of a plan. ...