8 AAC 30.025 - Fringe benefit contributions

(a) Employers must remit contributions to union trusts, approved private pension plans, or other approved fringe benefit plans by the 15th of the month following the accrual of the contribution. If the plan itself has a more stringent remittance deadline, the plan deadline shall prevail. A copy of the actual deposit or other satisfactory proof shall be provided the department upon request.

(b) A private pension plan or other fringe benefit plan as referenced in (a) of this section must meet the following conditions in order to be approved as an offset against the prevailing wage rate requirement for fringe benefits:

(1) plan contributions must be

(A) irrevocable;

(B) deposited on a regular basis, not less than monthly, to a trustee or third-party administrator;

(C) free of administrative expense charges to employees, except reasonable and customary administrative fees charged to the plan as a whole, subject to approval of the plan trustee;

(D) non-discretionary;

(E) factored across all work performed by an employee in public construction and non-public construction with the exception of an automatic vesting 401(k) plan;

(2) plan contributions may not be made on behalf of employees who are not eligible to participate in the plan;

(3) except for an automatic vesting 401(k) plan, plan contributions must not be funded solely through hours worked on public construction projects.

(c) Except for an automatic vesting 401(k) plan which allows the actual hourly amount contributed to the plan during the public construction project to be directly credited against fringe benefit payment requirements, to establish an hourly rate for credit against prevailing wage requirements, the amount paid by the employer for the benefit shall be divided by the hours worked by the employee under the plan during the interval under which payments are due to the plan administrator. To allow for seasonal variations, the plan costs may be calculated on an annual basis.

(d) If the hourly rate established under (c) of this section does not meet the prevailing fringe benefit rate, the remainder must be paid to the employee.

(e) If a pension plan meets the requirements under 29 U.S.C. 1001- 1461 (Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974) and includes a minimum vesting requirement, any forfeited amounts must remain in the trust, subject to the authority of the trustee and may not revert to the employer.

(f) The department may disallow an employer from taking credit for fringe benefit contributions as an offset to prevailing wage requirements if the provisions of this section are not met. Upon request, the employer shall provide the following to the department:

(1) a copy of the plan;

(2) a copy of the plan adoption agreement;

(3) the name, address, and telephone number of the plan broker;

(4) the name, address, and telephone number of the plan administrator;

(5) the United States Internal Revenue Service approval letter;

(6) the calculations of the hourly cost equivalent for the plan.

(g) An apprentice shall receive 100 percent of the prevailing fringe benefit rate established in the applicable Laborers' and Mechanics' Minimum Rates of Pay, unless a bona fide fringe benefit plan is specified in the applicable Standards of Apprenticeship approved by the United States Department of Labor. Office of Apprenticeship.

(h) In this section, "automatic vesting 401 (k) plan," means a 401 (k) plan maintained in compliance with 29 U.S.C. 1001- 1461 (Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974) that allows for immediate vesting in the plan to ensure that the employee will not be subject to any forfeiture of amounts contributed to the plan since it has no vesting requirements.

Notes

8 AAC 30.025

Eff. 1/2/91, Register 116; am 3/2/2008, Register 1858/12/2018,Register 227, October 2018

Authority: AS 23.05.060

AS 36.05.030

AS 36.05.070