On September 16, 2014, the United States Senate unanimously
approved Senate Bill 2511, which would amend Section 4062(e) of the
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended
(ERISA), to clarify the definition of substantial cessation of
operations. ERISA Section 4062(e) enables the Pension Benefit
Guaranty Corporation to require that employers financially
guarantee pension obligations based on a plan's underfunded
termination liability when an employer that maintains a pension
plan shuts down operations at a facility, and as a result, more
than 20 percent of the employer's employees who are plan
participants incur a separation from employment.
The bill revises ERISA Section 4062(e) to clarify that a
"substantial cessation of operations" occurs when an
employer permanently ceases operations at a facility and, as a
result, there is a "workforce reduction" of more than 15
percent of all eligible employees at all facilities in the
contributing employer's
