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August 6, 2014 By admin Leave a Comment

Wage & Hour Division: Frequently Asked Questions

  • Misc_QuestionMarkSignAdditional Information/Complaints
    • Who do I contact if I need additional information or I want to file a complaint?

    Airline Flight Crew Employees

    • Does an employer have to return an airline flight crew employee to work after a period of FMLA leave?
    • How would an employer calculate FMLA leave for an airline flight crew employee who takes less than a day of FMLA leave?
    • How much FMLA leave may an airline flight crew employee take?
    • How do collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) affect airline flight crew employees under the FMLA?
    • Does an airline flight crew employee’s military service count towards his or her FMLA eligibility?
    • How is the number of hours paid determined for an airline flight crew employee?
    • What are an airline flight crew employee’s duty hours?
    • How is the number of hours worked determined for an airline flight crew employee?
    • What is the applicable monthly guarantee?
    • How do you determine the worksite for an airline flight crew employee for FMLA eligibility?
    • How do airline flight crew employees qualify to take leave under the FMLA?
    • Who is an airline flight crew employee?

    Birth and Bonding

    • When can a parent take leave for a newborn?
    • Are there any restrictions on when an employee can take leave for the birth or adoption of a child?

    Caregiver Leave

    • Can I take qualifying exigency leave when my military member returns from deployment?
    • How much leave can I take if I need leave for both a serious health condition and a qualifying exigency?
    • How much FMLA leave may I take for qualifying exigencies?
    • Are the certification procedures (timing, authentication, clarification, second and third opinions, recertification) the same for qualifying exigency leave and leave due to a serious health condition?
    • What type of notice must I provide to my employer when taking FMLA leave because of a qualifying exigency?
    • (Q) What if my covered service member receives a catastrophic injury and the military issues me travel orders to immediately fly to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center to be at his bedside. Do I have to provide a completed certification before flying?
    • How is leave designated if it qualifies as both military caregiver leave and leave to care for a family member with a serious health condition?
    • Can I care for two seriously injured or ill service members at the same time?
    • Can I take military caregiver leave for more than one seriously injured or ill service member, or more than once for the same service member if he or she has a subsequent serious injury or illness?
    • Who is a service member’s next of kin for purposes of military caregiver leave?
    • Can I carry-over unused weeks of military caregiver leave from one 12-month period to another?
    • May I take FMLA leave to both care for a covered service member and for another FMLA qualifying reason during this “single 12-month period?”
    • How much leave may I take to care to for a covered service member?
    • Can I take military caregiver leave if I am the stepson or stepdaughter of the covered service member or if I am the stepparent of a covered service member?
    • Are families of service members in the Regular Armed Forces eligible for military caregiver leave?

    Certification

    • What happens if I do not submit a requested medical or fitness-for-duty certification?
    • Can employers require employees to submit a fitness-for-duty certification before returning to work after being absent due to a serious health condition?
    • How often may my employer ask for medical certifications for an on-going serious health condition?
    • Do I have to give my employer my medical records for leave due to a serious health condition?
    • Must I sign a medical release as part of a medical certification?
    • May my employer contact my health care provider about my serious health condition?
    • How soon after I request leave does my employer have to request a medical certification of a serious health condition?
    • Can my employer make me get a second opinion?
    • What happens if my employer says my medical certification is incomplete?
    • Am I required to prove that I have a serious health condition?

    Coverage

    • What types of businesses/employers does the FMLA apply to?

    Eligibility

    • Who can take FMLA leave?

    Employee Notice

    • Is an employee required to follow an employer’s normal call-in procedures when taking FMLA leave?
    • What and when do I need to tell my employer if I plan to take FMLA leave?

    Employer Notice

    • How soon after an employee provides notice of the need for leave must an employer notify an employee that the leave will be designated and counted as FMLA leave?
    • Does an employer have to provide employees with information regarding their specific rights and responsibilities under the FMLA?
    • How soon after an employee provides notice of the need for leave must an employer determine whether someone is eligible for FMLA leave?
    • Are employers required to tell their employers of the existence of FMLA and the employee’s right to take FMLA leave?

    General

    • What does the Family and Medical leave act provide?

    Hours of Service Requirement

    • Does the time I take off for vacation, sick leave or PTO count toward the 1,250 hours?

    Intermittent/Reduced Leave Schedule

    • Can an employer change an employee’s job when the employee takes intermittent or reduced schedule leave?
    • Does an employee have to take leave all at once or can it be taken periodically or to reduce the employee’s schedule?

    Job Restoration

    • Can my employer move me to a different job when I return from FMLA leave?

    Military Provisions

    • What is the definition of deployment of a member with the Armed Forces to a foreign country?
    • What is covered active duty?

    Miscellaneous Questions

    • How do collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) affect the FMLA Regulations?
    • Can I use my paid leave as FMLA leave?
    • My medical condition limits me to a 40 hour workweek but my employer has assigned me to work eight hours of overtime in a week. Can I take FMLA leave for the overtime?
    • Can my FMLA leave be counted against me for my bonus?

    Prohibited Acts

    • What happens if I am mistreated for taking FMLA leave or if I am denied FMLA leave?

    Qualifying Conditions

    • When can an eligible employee use FMLA leave?

    Serious Health Condition

    • Can I take FMLA leave for reasons related to domestic violence issues?
    • Can I continue to use FMLA for leave due to my chronic serious health condition?
    • What is a serious health condition?

    USSERA-FMLA Questions

    • Where can I get more information about USERRA and the FMLA?
    • How should the 1,250 hours-of-service requirement be calculated for returning service members?
    • How should the 12-month FMLA requirement be calculated for returning service members?
    • What effect does USERRA have on FMLA-eligibility requirements?
    • What is the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)?

    Unpaid Leave

    • Is my employer required to pay me when I take FMLA leave?

Source: United States Department of Labor, “Wage and Hour Division: Frequently Asked Questions” https://www.dol.gov website. Accessed November 28, 2015. http://kb.dol.gov/DOLFAQLandingPage?agency=WHD

© Copyright 2016. All rights reserved. This content is strictly for informational purposes and although experts have prepared it, the reader should not substitute this information for professional insurance advice. If you have any questions, please consult your insurance professional before acting on any information presented. Read more.

Filed Under: Business, Employee Benefits, Health & Benefits, Miscellaneous, Personal, Theme 122

July 14, 2014 By admin Leave a Comment

May Is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month

Misc_WindingCountryRoadShare The Road

All motorists are reminded to safely “share the road” with motorcycles and to be extra alert to help keep motorcyclists safe. Motorcyclists are reminded to make themselves visible to other motorists.

Ride Sober

Statistics show that the percentage of intoxicated motorcycle riders in fatal crashes is greater than the percentage of intoxicated drivers on our roads. This is why NHTSA urges all motorcycle riders to always ride smart and sober.

Latest News

  • Prioritized Recommendations of the National Agenda for Motorcycle Safety
  • Model National Standards For Entry-Level Motorcycle Rider Training

Did you know?

  • Motorcycle helmet use increased from 48% in 2005 to 67% in 2009.
  • Motorcycle helmets saved 1,829 motorcyclists’ lives in 2008.
  • Motorcycle helmets do not interfere with the rider’s vision or hearing.

Motorcycle Safety Campaigns

  • Share the Road with Motorcycles 
    Motorcycles are vehicles with the same rights and privileges as any motor vehicle on the roadway.All motorists are reminded to safely “share the road” with motorcycles and to be extra alert to help keep motorcyclists safe. Motorcyclists are reminded to make themselves visible to other motorists.
  • Drunk Riding Prevention 
    Alcohol affects those skills essential to riding a motorcycle – balance and coordination. So it plays a particularly big role in motorcycle fatalities.Statistics show that the percentage of intoxicated motorcycle riders in fatal crashes is greater than the percentage of intoxicated drivers on our roads. This is why NHTSA urges all motorcycle riders to always ride smart and sober.

Source: NHTSA. “May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month.” http://www.safercar.govwebsite. Accessed November 30, 2015. http://www.nhtsa.gov/Safety/Motorcycles

© Copyright 2016. All rights reserved. This content is strictly for informational purposes and although experts have prepared it, the reader should not substitute this information for professional insurance advice. If you have any questions, please consult your insurance professional before acting on any information presented. Read more.

Filed Under: events, Miscellaneous, Personal, Theme 46

July 4, 2014 By Julian Aston Leave a Comment

IN: What You Should Know About Your Retirement Plan

Dear Valued Customer,

In this issue of “——————–“ we focus on retirement plans.

A number of issues must be taken into consideration when you think about retiring, not the least of which is financial; and there are many different available options that you can tailor to your lifestyle. Read on to find out what you should know about your retirement plan, why your employer’s pension plan may not be enough, what happens when you and your spouse quit working on different timetables, and much more.

We appreciate your continued business and look forward to serving you.

Kind regards,

Filed Under: Employee Benefits, Miscellaneous, Personal, Theme 53

July 4, 2014 By admin Leave a Comment

What You Should Know About Your Retirement Plan

Money_RetirementEggIntroduction

Your employer’s retirement savings plan is an essential part of your future financial security. It is important to understand how your plan works and what benefits you will receive. Just as you would keep track of money that you put in a bank or other financial institution, it is in your best interest to keep track of your retirement benefits.

Those responsible for the management and oversight of your retirement plan must follow certain rules for operating the plan, handling the plan’s money, and overseeing the firms that manage the money. You should also understand and monitor your retirement plan and your benefits. You will find Action Items in each chapter to assist you in doing this.

This booklet helps you understand your plan and explains what information you should review periodically and where to go for help with questions. It includes information on:

  • Different types of retirement plans;
  • What information you can get about your plan;
  • When and how you can receive retirement benefits;
  • What to do if you have a question or find a mistake;
  • The responsibilities of those who manage the plan and its investments;
  • Your responsibilities to understand and monitor your plan; and
  • Specific circumstances such as how a divorce or change of employer ownership may affect your retirement benefit.

Retirement Plans Covered in this Booklet

This booklet covers private retirement plans that are governed by Federal laws and guidelines in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code. ERISA is a Federal statute that sets standards for most employer and union sponsored retirement plans in private industry and imposes responsibilities on those running the plan. Participants in these plans have certain rights as well as responsibilities.

The rules discussed in this booklet do not apply to all retirement plans. For example, the information does not apply to:

  • State and local government plans, including plans covering public school teachers and school administrators;
  • Most church plans; and
  • Plans for Federal government employees.

Also, if you are in a collectively bargained plan, the rules that apply under ERISA may be different in some cases.

The information contained in the following pages answers the most common questions about retirement plans. Keep in mind, however, that this booklet is a simplified summary of participant rights and responsibilities, not a legal interpretation of ERISA.

Chapter 1: Types of Retirement Plans

The first step to understanding your retirement benefits is to find out what kind of retirement plan your employer has. There are two major types of plans, defined benefit and defined contribution, which are described here and outlined in Table 1. Keep in mind that your employer may have more than one type of plan, and may have different participation requirements for each.

A defined benefit plan, funded by the employer, promises you a specific monthly benefit at retirement. The plan may state this promised benefit as an exact dollar amount, such as $100 per month at retirement. Or, more often, it may calculate your benefit through a formula that includes factors such as your salary, your age, and the number of years you worked at the company. For example, your pension benefit might be equal to 1 percent of your average salary for the last 5 years of employment times your total years of service.

A defined contribution plan, on the other hand, does not promise you a specific benefit amount at retirement. Instead, you and/or your employer contribute money to your individual account in the plan. In many cases, you are responsible for choosing how these contributions are invested, and deciding how much to contribute from your paycheck through pretax deductions. Your employer may add to your account, in some cases by matching a certain percentage of your contributions. The value of your account depends on how much is contributed and how well the investments perform. At retirement, you receive the balance in your account, reflecting the contributions, investment gains or losses, and any fees charged against your account. The 401(k) plan is a popular type of defined contribution plan. There are four types of 401(k) plans: traditional 401(k), safe harbor 401(k), SIMPLE 401(k), and automatic enrollment 401(k) plans. The SIMPLE IRA plan, SEP,employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), and profit sharing plan are other examples of defined contribution plans. (See explanations of the various types of plans in the Glossary at the end.)

Note

  1. Employers can choose whether to offer a retirement plan to employees; Federal law does not require employers to offer or to continue to offer a plan.
  2. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) guarantees payment of certain retirement benefits for participants in most private defined benefit plans if the plan is terminated without enough money to pay all of the promised benefits. The government does not guarantee benefit payments for defined contribution plans. For more information, see the PBGC’s Website.
  3. Some hybrid plans – such as cash balance plans – contain features of both types of plans described above. See the Glossary for information on this type of plan.

Action Item

Ask your plan administrator, human resources office or employer for information on what type of plan or plans you have at work. You can ask for a copy of the Summary Plan Description (the retirement plan booklet that you should receive when you enroll in the plan) and review the information about the plan.

Table 1
Characteristics Of Defined Benefit And Defined Contribution Plans

Defined Benefit Plan Defined Contribution Plan

Employer Contributions and/or Matching Contributions

Employer funded. Federal rules set amounts that employers must contribute to plans in an effort to ensure that plans have enough money to pay benefits when due. There are penalties for failing to meet these requirements.

There is no requirement that the employer contribute, except in SIMPLE and safe harbor 401(k)s, money purchase plans, SIMPLE IRAs, and SEPs.
The employer may have to contribute in certain automatic enrollment 401(k) plans.
The employer may choose to match a portion of the employee’s contributions or to contribute without employee contributions. In some plans, employer contributions may be in the form of employer stock.

Employee Contributions

Generally, employees do not contribute to these plans.

Many plans require the employee to contribute in order for an account to be established.

Managing the Investment

Plan officials manage the investment and the employer is responsible for ensuring that the amount it has put in the plan plus investment earnings will be enough to pay the promised benefit.

The employee often is responsible for managing the investment of his or her account, choosing from investment options offered by the plan. In some plans, plan officials are responsible for investing all the plan’s assets.

Amount of Benefits Paid Upon Retirement

A promised benefit is based on a formula in the plan, often using a combination of the employee’s age, years worked for the employer, and/or salary.

The benefit depends on contributions made by the employee and/or the employer, performance of the account’s investments, and fees charged to the account.

Type of Retirement Benefit Payments

Traditionally, these plans pay the retiree monthly annuity payments that continue for life. Plans may offer other payment options.

The retiree may transfer the account balance into an individual retirement account (IRA) from which the retiree withdraws money, or may receive it as a lump sum payment. Some plans also offer monthly payments through an annuity.

Guarantee of Benefits

The Federal Government, through the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), guarantees some amount of benefits.

No Federal guarantee of benefits.

Leaving the Company Before Retirement Age

If an employee leaves after vesting in a benefit but before the plan’s retirement age, the benefit generally stays with the plan until the employee files a claim for it at retirement. Some defined benefit plans offer early retirement options.

The employee may transfer the account balance to an individual retirement account (IRA) or, in some cases, another employer plan, where it can continue to grow based on investment earnings. The employee also may take the balance out of the plan, but will owe taxes and possibly penalties, thus reducing retirement income. Plans may cash out small accounts.

Chapter 2: Earning Retirement Benefits

Once you have learned what type of retirement plan your employer offers, you need to find out when you can participate in the plan and begin to earn benefits. Plan rules can vary as long as they meet the requirements under Federal law. You need to check with your plan or review the plan booklet (called the Summary Plan Description) to learn your plan’s rules and requirements. Your plan may require you to work for the company for a period of time before you may participate in the plan. In addition, there typically is a time frame for when you begin to accumulate benefits and earn the right to them (sometimes referred to as “vesting”).

Who can participate in your employer’s retirement plan?

Find out if you are within the group of employees covered by your employer’s retirement plan. Federal law allows employers to include certain groups of employees and exclude others from a retirement plan. For example, your employer may sponsor one plan for salaried employees and another for union employees. Part-time employees may be eligible if they work at least 1,000 hours per year, which is about 20 hours per week. So if you work part-time, find out if you are covered.

When can your participation begin?

Once you know you are covered, you need to find out when you can begin to participate in the plan. You can find this information in your plan’s Summary Plan Description. Federal law sets minimum requirements, but a plan may be more generous. Generally, a plan may require an employee to be at least 21 years old and to have a year of service with the company before the employee can participate in a plan. However, plans may allow employees to begin participation before reaching age 21 or completing one year of service. For administrative reasons, your participation may be delayed up to 6 months after you meet these age and service criteria, or until the start of the next plan year, whichever is sooner. The plan year is the calendar year, or an alternative 12-month period, that a retirement plan uses for plan administration. Because the rules can vary, it is important that you learn the rules for your plan.

Employers have some flexibility to require additional years of service in some circumstances. For example, if your plan allows you to vest (discussed in detail later in this chapter) immediately upon participating in the plan, it may require that you work for the company for two years before you may participate in the plan.

Federal law also imposes other participation rules for certain circumstances. For example, if you were an older worker when you were hired, you cannot be excluded from participating in the plan just because you are close to retirement age.

Some 401(k) plans and SIMPLE IRA plans enroll employees automatically. This means that you will automatically become a participant in the plan unless you choose to opt out. The plan will deduct a set contribution level from your paycheck and put it into a predetermined investment. If your employer has an automatic enrollment plan, you should receive a notice describing the automatic contribution process, when your participation begins, your opportunity to opt out of the plan or change your contribution level and where your automatic contributions are invested. If you are in a 401(k), the notice will also describe your right to change investments, or if you are in a SIMPLE IRA plan, your right to change the financial institution where your contributions are invested.

When do you begin to accumulate benefits?

Once you begin to participate in a retirement plan, you need to understand how you accrue or earn benefits. Your accrued benefit is the amount of retirement benefits that you have accumulated or that have been allocated to you under the plan at any particular point in time.

Defined benefit plans often count your years of service in order to determine whether you have earned a benefit and also to calculate how much you will receive in benefits at retirement. Employees in the plan who work part-time, but who work 1,000 hours or more each year, must be credited with a portion of the benefit in proportion to what they would have earned if they were employed full time. In a defined contribution plan, your benefit accrual is the amount of contributions and earnings that have accumulated in your 401(k) or other retirement plan account, minus any fees charged to your account by your plan.

Special rules for when you begin to accumulate benefits may apply to certain types of retirement plans. For example, in a Simplified Employee Pension Plan (SEP), all participants who earn at least $550 a year from their employers are entitled to receive a contribution.

Can a plan reduce promised benefits?

Defined benefit plans may change the rate at which you earn future benefits but cannot reduce the amount of benefits you have already accumulated. For example, a plan that accrues benefits at the rate of $5 a month for years of service through 2013 may be amended to provide that for years of service beginning in 2014 benefits will be credited at the rate of $4 per month. Plans that make a significant reduction in the rate at which benefits accumulate must provide you with written notice generally at least 45 days before the change goes into effect.

Also, in most situations, if a company terminates a defined benefit plan that does not have enough funding to pay all of the promised benefits, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) will pay plan participants and beneficiaries some retirement benefits, but possibly less than the level of benefits promised. (For more information, see the PBGC’s Website.)

In a defined contribution plan, the employer may change the amount of employer contributions in the future. Depending on the plan terms, the employer may also be able to stop making contributions for a few years or indefinitely.

An employer may terminate a defined benefit or a defined contribution plan, but may not reduce the benefit you have already accrued in the plan.

How soon do you have a right to your accumulated benefits?

You immediately vest in your own contributions and the earnings on them. This means you have earned the right to these amounts without the risk of forfeiting them. But note – there are restrictions on actually taking them out of the plan. See the discussion on the rules for distributions later in this guide.

However, you do not necessarily have an immediate right to any contributions made by your employer. Federal law provides a maximum number of years a company may require employees to work to earn the vested right to all or some of these benefits. (See tables below showing the vesting rules.)

In a defined benefit plan, an employer can require that employees have 5 years of service in order to become 100 percent vested in the employer funded benefits (called cliff vesting). Employers also can choose a graduated vesting schedule, which requires an employee to work 7 years in order to be 100 percent vested, but provides at least 20 percent vesting after 3 years, 40 percent after 4 years, 60 percent after 5 years, and 80 percent after 6 years of service. The permitted vesting schedules for current defined benefit plans are shown in Table 3 below. Plans may provide a different schedule as long as it is more generous than these vesting schedules. (Unlike most defined benefit plans, in a cash balance plan, employees vest in employer contributions after 3 years.)

In a defined contribution plan such as a 401(k) plan, you are always 100 percent vested in your own contributions to a plan, and in any subsequent earnings from your contributions. However, in most defined contribution plans you may have to work several years before you are vested in the employer’s matching contributions. (There are exceptions, such as the SIMPLE 401(k) and safe harbor 401(k), in which you are immediately vested in all required employer contributions. You also vest immediately in the SIMPLE IRA and the SEP.)

Currently, employers have a choice of two different vesting schedules for employer matching 401(k) contributions, which are shown in Table 2. Your employer may use a schedule in which employees are 100 percent vested in employer contributions after 3 years of service (cliff vesting). Under graduated vesting, an employee must be at least 20 percent vested after 2 years, 40 percent after 3 years, 60 percent after 4 years, 80 percent after 5 years, and 100 percent after 6 years. If your automatic enrollment 401(k) plan requires employer contributions, you vest in those contributions after 2 years. Automatic enrollment 401(k) plans with optional matching contributions follow one of the vesting schedules noted above.

Employers making other contributions to defined contribution plans, such as a 401(k) plan, also can choose between two vesting schedules. For those contributions made since 2007, they can choose between the graduated and cliff vesting schedules in Table 2. For contributions made prior to 2007, they can choose between the schedules provided in Table 3.

You may lose some of the employer-provided benefits you have earned if you leave your job before you have worked long enough to be vested. However, once vested, you have the right to receive the vested portion of your benefits even if you leave your job before retirement. But even though you have the right to certain benefits, your defined contribution plan account value could decrease after you leave your job as a result of investment performance.

Note

If you leave your company and return, you may be able to count your earlier period of employment towards the years of service needed for vesting in the employer-provided benefits. Unless your break in service with the company was 5 years or a time equal to the length of your pre-break employment, whichever is greater, you likely can count that time prior to your break. Because these rules are very specific, you should read your plan document carefully if you are contemplating a short-term break from your employer, and then discuss it with your plan administrator. If you left employment prior to January 1, 1985, different rules apply. For more information, contact the Department of Labor electronically at askebsa.dol.gov or by calling toll free at 1-866-444-3272.

For Reserve and National Guard units called to active duty, the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) requires that the period of military duty be counted as covered service with the employer for eligibility, vesting, and benefit accrual purposes. Returning service members are treated as if they had been continuously employed regardless of the type of retirement plan the employer has adopted. However, a person who is reemployed is entitled to accrued benefits resulting from employee contributions only to the extent that he or she actually makes the contributions to the plan.

Vesting Rules

Generally, an employer must count your years of service for vesting credit starting with your date of employment. Two exceptions provide that your employer may start counting your years of service with the first plan year following (1) your 18thbirthday if you were under 18 years of age when you started working there, and (2) the date you start contributing to a 401(k) plan if you elected not to contribute when you first were eligible.Plans can allow employees the right to employer-provided benefits sooner than indicated in the following tables.

Minimum Vesting Requirements Under ERISA
Employer Contributions
(Use Table in Effect on Date You Left Employer)

Table 2 below shows the current vesting schedules, as of 2002, for employer matching 401(k) plan contributions, and for other employer contributions to a defined contribution plan as of 2007.

Table 2
Effective Date 1/01/02 – Present – for 401(k) Matching Contributions
Effective Date 1/01/07 – Present – for Other Defined Contribution Employer Contributions

Graduated Vesting

Years of Service

Non-forfeitable Percentage

2

20%

3

40%

4

60%

5

80%

6

100%

Cliff Vesting
Less than 3 years of service – 0% Vested
At least 3 years of service – 100% Vested

Table 3 is for employees in a defined benefit plan. It is also for employees receiving other employer contributions to a defined contribution plan before 2007*, employer matching 401(k) contributions prior to 2002, and employees in a defined contribution plan who left an employer after December 31, 1988.

*If your plan is top heavy, Table 2 applies.

Table 3
Effective Date 1/01/89 – Present*– for Defined Benefit Employer Contributions
Effective Date 1/01/89 – 2007 – for Other Defined Contribution Employer Contributions
Effective Date 1/01/89 – 2002 – 401(k) Matching Employer Contributions

Graduated Vesting

Years of Service

Non-forfeitable Percentage

3

20%

4

40%

5

60%

6

80%

7

100%

Cliff Vesting
Less than 5 years of service – 0% Vested
At least 5 years of service – 100% Vested

Table 4 is for employees who left before 1989.

Table 4
Effective Date 1974 – 12/31/88** – for all Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution Employer Contributions

Graduated Vesting

Years of Service

Non-forfeitable Percentage

5

25%

6

30%

7

35%

8

40%

9

45%

10

50%

11

60%

12

70%

13

80%

14

90%

15

100%

Cliff Vesting
Less than 10 years of service – 0% Vested
At least 10 years of service – 100% Vested

Rule of 45– If employee’s age and years of service total 45, and the employee has at least 5 years of service, then 50% of the benefits must be vested, with at least 10% vesting for each year thereafter.

Note

For plans subject to collective bargaining agreements, the effective date is the earlier of the date on which the last of the collective bargaining agreements under which the plan is maintained terminates or —

* 01/01/99
** 01/01/89

Action Items

  • Find out if you are covered by an employer plan.
  • Find out how soon you can start participating in and/or contributing to your retirement plan after you start working for a company.
  • Get a Summary Plan Description.
  • Review your plan document or Summary Plan Description to understand how you earn benefits in your plan.
  • Find your plan’s vesting schedule to check when you are fully vested. If you are thinking of changing jobs, check your plan to see if working longer will allow you to vest more fully in your employer’s contributions.

Chapter 3: Plan Information to Review

If you have a question about your retirement plan, you can start by looking for an answer in the information that the plan provides. You can request this information from your plan administrator, the person who is in charge of running the plan. Your employer can tell you how to contact your plan administrator.

Information Provided by the Retirement Plan

Each retirement plan is required to have a formal, written plan document that details how it operates and its requirements. As noted previously, there is also a booklet that describes the key plan rules, called the Summary Plan Description (SPD), which should be much easier to read and understand. The SPD also should include a summary of any material changes to the plan or to the information required to be in the SPD. In many cases, you can start with the SPD and then look at the plan document if you still have questions.

In addition, plans must provide you with a number of notices. Some of the key notices are described in Table 5.

For example, defined contribution plans, such as 401(k) plans, generally are required to provide advance notice to employees when a “blackout period” occurs. A blackout period is when a participant’s right to direct investments, take loans, or obtain distributions is suspended for a period of at least three consecutive business days. Blackout periods can often occur when plans change recordkeepers or investment options.

Some plan information, such as the Summary Plan Description, must be provided to you automatically and without charge at the time periods indicated below. You may request a Summary Plan Description at other times, but your employer might charge you a copying fee. You must ask the plan if you want other information, such as a copy of the written plan document or the plan’s Form 5500 annual financial report, and you may have to pay a copying fee. See Tables 5 and 6. Many employers provide benefit information on a Website.

In some cases, plans provide information more frequently than required by Federal law. For instance, some plans allow participants to check their statements online or by telephone.

The plan’s annual financial report (Form 5500) is also available. You can find the report online at dol.gov/ebsa or by contacting the U.S. Department of Labor, EBSA Public Disclosure Facility, Room N-1513, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20210, telephone: 202-693-8673. There is a copying fee if the report is over 100 pages. In addition, if your plan administrator does not provide you, as a participant covered under the plan, with a copy of the Summary Plan Description automatically or after you request it, you may contact the Department of Labor electronically at askebsa.dol.gov or by calling toll free at 1-866-444-3272 for help.

Table 5
Key Information Your Plan Administrator Must Provide Automatically

What

Description

When

Summary Plan Description (SPD)

A summary version of the plan document and other important plan information, in easier-to-understand language.

Within 90 days of becoming a participant in the plan; and
An updated copy every 10 years (5 years if the plan has been amended).

Automatic Enrollment Notice

For plans with automatic enrollment, a description of the automatic enrollment process, the percentage of salary being deferred, the default investment used for automatic contributions, your right to opt out of the plan, your right to change deferral percentage and investments, and how to find information about the plan’s other investments.

Generally, at least 30 days before you are eligible to participate; and
At least 30 days before the beginning of each subsequent plan year.

Individual Benefit Statement

Statement providing information about your account balance and vested benefits. Depending on the type of plan you have, the statement may also include the value of the investments in the account and information describing your right to direct investments.

At least quarterly for participant-directed defined contribution plans;
At least annually for non-participant-directed defined contribution plans; or
At least every 3 years for defined benefit plans.

Annual Funding Notice

Basic information about the funding status and financial condition of the defined benefit pension plan, including the plan’s funding percentage; assets and liabilities; and a description of the benefits guaranteed by the PBGC.

Within 120 days of the end of the plan year.

Plan and Investment Information for Participant-Directed Plans

Plan and investment related information, including information about fees and expenses, so participants can make informed decisions to manage their individual accounts. The investment related information must be provided in a format, such as a chart, that allows for comparison among the plan’s investment options.

Before a participant can direct investments for the first time;
At least annually thereafter; and
At least quarterly for fees and expenses actually paid.

Summary of Material Modifications

A summary of significant plan changes or changes in the information required to be in the SPD.

Within 7 months of the end of the plan year in which the changes were made.

Summary Annual Report

A summary of financial information filed by the plan on its Form 5500 Annual Return/Report. If your plan is required to provide an annual funding notice, your plan is not required to provide this report.

Within 9 months after the end of the plan year or 2 months after the annual report filing deadline.

Notice of Significant Reduction in Future Benefit Accruals

Notice of any significant reduction in the rate of future benefit accruals, or the elimination of or significant reduction in an early retirement benefit or retirement-type subsidy. Applies to defined benefit plans and certain defined contribution plans.

At least 45 days before the effective date of the plan amendment.

Blackout notice

Notice of a period of more than 3 consecutive business days when there is a temporary suspension, limitation, or restriction on directing or diversifying plan assets, obtaining loans, or obtaining distributions. Applies to most 401(k) or other individual account plans.

Generally, at least 30 days before the blackout date.

Notice to Participants of Underfunded Plan

For defined benefit plans that are less than 80% funded, the notice of the funding level of the plan and information on PBGC guarantees.

Within 2 months after the due date for filing the annual report.

Table 6
Key Information Your Plan Administrator Must Provide Upon Written Request

What

Description

Cost

Plan Documents

Documents that provide the terms of the plan, including collective bargaining agreements and trust agreements.

Reasonable copying charge

Annual Report (Form 5500) – most recent report

Financial information about the plan that most plans are required to file with the government within 7 months of the end of the plan year.

Reasonable copying charge

What plan information should you review regularly?

If you are in a defined benefit plan, you will receive an individual benefit statement once every 3 years. Review its description of the total benefits you have earned and whether you are vested in those benefits. Also check to make sure your date of birth, date of hire, and the other information included is correct. You will also receive an annual notice of the plan’s funding status.

Defined contribution plans, including 401(k) plans, also must send participants individual benefit statements either quarterly, if participants direct the investments of their accounts, or annually, if they do not. When you receive a statement, check it to make sure all of the information is accurate. This information may include:

  • Salary level
  • Amounts that you and your employer have contributed
  • Years of service with the employer
  • Home address
  • Social Security number
  • Beneficiary designation
  • Marital status
  • The performance of your investments (defined contribution plan participants)
  • Fees paid by the plan and/or charged to participants. (For more information, contact us electronically at askebsa.dol.gov or call our toll free number at 1-866-444-3272 to ask for the booklet A Look at 401(k) Plan Fees.) Check with your plan to see if this information is included in materials on your investment options, the benefit statement, the Summary Plan Description or the plan’s Annual Report (Form 5500). See Chapter 7 for more information on the fees that your employer can charge to your account.

Action Items

  • Make sure you have received the plan’s Summary Plan Description and read it for information on how your plan works.
  • Read other documents you receive from your plan to make sure that you keep up with any plan changes, and check that the information on your benefit statement is accurate.
  • If you are in a defined contribution plan, ask for information on the investment choices available in the plan, and find out when and how you can change your plan account investments.
  • If you suspect errors in your plan information, contact your plan administrator or the human resources department.
  • If there have been changes in your personal information, such as marriage, divorce or change of address, contact your plan administrator or the human resources department.
  • Keep your plan documents in a safe place in case questions arise in the future.

Chapter 4: Payment of Benefits

Once you understand what type of plan you have, how you earn benefits, and how much your benefits will be, it is important to learn when and how you can receive them.

When can you begin to receive retirement benefits?

There are several points to keep in mind in determining when you can receive benefits:

  1. Federal law provides guidelines, shown in Table 7 below, for when plans must start paying retirement benefits.
  2. Plans can choose to start paying benefits sooner. The plan documents will state when you may begin receiving payments from your plan.
  3. You must file a claim for benefits for your payments to begin. This takes some time for administrative reasons. (See Chapter 6.)

Table 7
Requirements Under Federal Law For Payment Of Retirement Benefits

Under Federal law, your plan must allow you to begin receiving benefits*

The later of —
Reaching age 65 or the age your plan considers to be normal retirement age (if earlier)

Or –
10 years of service

Or –
Terminating your service with the employer

*For administrative reasons, benefits do not begin immediately after meeting these conditions. At a minimum, your plan must provide that you will start receiving benefits within 60 days after the end of the plan year in which you satisfy the conditions. Also, you need to file a claim under your plan’s procedures. (See Chapter 6.)

Under certain circumstances, your benefit payments may be suspended if you continue to work beyond normal retirement age. The plan must notify you of the suspension during the first calendar month or payroll period in which payments are withheld. This information should also be included in the Summary Plan Description. A plan also must advise you of its procedures for requesting an advance determination of whether a particular type of reemployment would result in a suspension of benefit payments. If you are a retiree and are considering taking a job, you may wish to write your plan administrator and ask if your benefits would be suspended.

Table 7 shows the general requirements for when payments begin. Listed below are some permitted variations:

  • Although defined benefit plans and money purchase plans generally allow you to receive benefits only when you reach the plan’s retirement age, some have provisions for early retirement.
  • 401(k) plans often allow you to receive your account balance when you leave your job.
  • 401(k) plans may allow for distributions while still employed if you have reached age 59½ or if you suffer a hardship.
  • Profit sharing plans may permit you to receive your vested benefit after a specific number of years or whenever you leave your job.
  • A phased retirement option allows employees at or near retirement age to reduce their work hours to part time, receive benefits, and continue to earn additional funds.
  • ESOPs do not have to pay out any benefits until 1 year after the plan year in which you retire, or as many as 6 years if you leave for reasons other than retirement, death, or disability.

Warning

  1. You may owe current income taxes – and possibly tax penalties — on your distribution if you take money out before age 59½, unless you transfer it to an IRA or another tax-qualified retirement plan.
  2. Taking all or a portion of your funds out of your account before retirement age will mean you have less in retirement benefits.

When is the latest you may begin to take payment of your benefits?

Federal law sets a mandatory date by which you must start receiving your retirement benefits, even if you would like to wait longer. This mandatory start date generally is set to begin on April 1 following the calendar year in which you turn 70½ or, if later, when you retire. However, your plan may require you to begin receiving distributions even if you have not retired by age 70½.

In what form will your benefits be paid?

If you are in a defined benefit or money purchase plan, the plan must offer you a benefit in the form of a life annuity, which means that you will receive equal, periodic payments, often as a monthly benefit, which will continue for the rest of your life. Defined benefit and money purchase plans may also offer other payment options, so check with the plan. If you are in a defined contribution plan (other than a money purchase plan), the plan may pay your benefits in a single lump sum payment as well as offer other options, including payments over a set period of time (such as 5 or 10 years) or an annuity with monthly lifetime payments.

If you are leaving your employer before retirement age, see the next chapter.

Can a benefit continue for your spouse should you die first?

In a defined benefit or money purchase plan, unless you and your spouse choose otherwise, the form of payment will include a survivor’s benefit. This survivor’s benefit, called a qualified joint and survivor annuity (QJSA), will provide payments over your lifetime and your spouse’s lifetime. The benefit payment that your surviving spouse receives must be at least half of the benefit payment you received during your joint lives. While the survivor’s benefit is typically 50 percent, some plans provide for other options, such as 75 percent. Note that your monthly benefit payments will be reduced because the benefit payments will continue for your spouse’s lifetime should you die first.

If you choose not to receive the survivor’s benefit, you will receive benefits for your lifetime only. You must follow specific rules to waive the survivor benefit. You and your spouse must receive a written explanation of the QJSA and, within certain time limits, you must make a written waiver and your spouse must sign a written consent to the alternative payment form without a survivor’s benefit, stating that you both understand that benefit payments will end when you die. Your spouse’s signature must be witnessed by a notary or plan representative.

In most 401(k) plans and other defined contribution plans, the plan is written so different protections apply for surviving spouses. In general, in most defined contribution plans, if you should die before you receive your benefits, your surviving spouse will automatically receive them. If you wish to select a different beneficiary, your spouse must consent by signing a waiver, witnessed by a notary or plan representative.

If you were single when you enrolled in the plan and subsequently married, it is important that you notify your employer and/or plan administrator and change your status under the plan. If you do not have a spouse, it is important to name a beneficiary.

If you or your spouse left employment prior to January 1, 1985, different rules apply. For more information on these rules, contact the Department of Labor electronically at askebsa.dol.gov or by calling toll free at 1-866-444-3272.

Can you borrow from your 401(k) plan account?

401(k) plans are permitted to – but not required to – offer loans to participants. The loans must charge a reasonable rate of interest and be adequately secured. The plan must include a procedure for applying for the loans and the plan’s policy for granting them. Loan amounts are limited to the lesser of 50 percent of your account balance or $50,000 and must be repaid within 5 years (unless the loan is used to purchase a principal residence).

Can you get a distribution from your plan if you are not yet 65 or your plan’s normal retirement age but are facing a significant financial hardship?

Again, defined contribution plans are permitted to – but not required to – provide distributions in case of hardship. Check your plan booklet to see if it does permit them and what circumstances are included as hardships.

Action Items

  • Find out when and in what form you can receive your benefits at retirement.
  • Fill out the necessary forms to update information with your retirement plan.
  • Notify the retirement plan of any change of address or marital status.
  • Keep all documents for your records, including Summary Plan Descriptions, company memos, and individual benefit statements.
  • For tax information, look at Internal Revenue Service Publication 575 (Pension and Annuity Income).

Chapter 5: Taking Your Retirement Benefit with You

If you leave an employer before you reach retirement age, whether or not you can take your benefits out and/or roll them into another tax-qualified plan or account will depend on what type of plan you are in.

If you leave before retirement, can you take your retirement benefit with you?

If you are in a defined benefit plan (other than a cash balance plan ), you most likely will be required to leave the benefits with the retirement plan until you become eligible to receive them. As a result, it is very important that you update your personal information with the plan administrator regularly and keep current on any changes in your former employer’s ownership or address.

If you are in a cash balance plan, you probably will have the option of transferring at least a portion of your account balance to an individual retirement account or to a new employer’s plan.

If you leave your employer before retirement age and you are in a defined contribution plan (such as a 401(k) plan ), in most cases you will be able to transfer your account balance out of your employer’s plan.

What choices do you have for taking your defined contribution benefits?

  • A lump sum – you can choose to receive your benefits as a single payment from your plan, effectively cashing out your account. You may need to pay income taxes on the amount you receive, and possibly a penalty.
  • A rollover to another retirement plan – you can ask your employer to transfer your account balance directly to your new employer’s plan if it accepts such transfers.
  • A rollover to an IRA – you can ask your employer to transfer your account balance directly to an individual retirement account (IRA).
  • If your account balance is less than $5,000 when you leave the employer, the plan can make an immediate distribution without your consent. If this distribution is more than $1,000, the plan must automatically roll the funds into an IRA it selects, unless you elect to receive a lump sum payment or to roll it over into an IRA you choose. The plan must first send you a notice allowing you to make other arrangements, and it must follow rules regarding what type of IRA can be used (i.e., it cannot combine the distribution with savings you have deposited directly in an IRA). Rollovers must be made to an entity that is qualified to offer individual retirement plans. Also, the rollover IRA must have investments designed to preserve principal. The IRA provider may not charge more in fees and expenses for such plans than it would to its other individual retirement plan customers.

Please note: If you elect a lump sum payment and do not transfer the money to another retirement account (employer plan or IRA other than a Roth IRA), you will owe a tax penalty if you are under age 59½ and do not meet certain exceptions. In addition, you may have less to live on during your retirement. Transferring your retirement plan account balance to another plan or an IRA when you leave your job will protect the tax advantages of your account and preserve the benefits for retirement.

What happens if you leave a job and later return?

If you leave an employer for whom you have worked for several years and later return, you may be able to count those earlier years toward vesting. Generally, a plan must preserve the service credit you have accumulated if you leave your employer and then return within five years. Service credit refers to the years of service that count towards vesting. Because these rules are very specific, you should read your plan document carefully if you are contemplating a short-term break from your employer, and then discuss it with your plan administrator. If you left employment prior to January 1, 1985, different rules apply.

If you retire and later go back to work for a former employer, you must be allowed to continue to accrue additional benefits, subject to a plan limit on the total years of service credited under the plan.

Action Items

  • If you are leaving an employer before retirement, find out whether you can roll your benefits into a new plan or into an IRA.
  • If you are leaving your benefits in your former employer’s plan, be sure to keep your contact information up to date with the former employer, and keep track of the employer’s contact information.
  • If you are considering taking your benefits out as a lump sum, find out what taxes and penalties you will owe, and make a plan on how you will replace that income in retirement.

Chapter 6: Filing a Claim for Benefits

Federal retirement law requires all plans to have a reasonable written procedure for processing your benefits claim and appeal if your claim is denied. The Summary Plan Description (SPD) should include your plan’s claims procedures. Usually, you fill out the required paperwork and submit it to the plan administrator, who then can tell you what your benefits will be and when they will start.

Filing A Claim And Filing An Appeal

If there is a problem or a dispute about whether you qualify for benefits or what amount you should receive, check your plan’s claims procedure. Federal law outlines the following claims procedures requirements:

  • Once your claim is filed, the plan can take up to 90 days to reach a decision, or 180 days if it notifies you that it needs an extension.
  • If your claim is denied, you must receive a written notice, including specific information about why your claim was denied and how to file an appeal.
  • You have 60 days to request a full and fair review of your denied claim, using your plan’s appeals procedure.
  • The plan can take up to 60 days to review your appeal, as well as an additional 60 days if it notifies you of the need for an extension. The plan must then send a written notice telling you whether the appeal was granted or denied.
  • If the appeal is denied, the written notice must tell you the reason, describe any additional appeal levels, and give you a statement regarding your rights to seek judicial review of the plan’s decision.

If you believe the plan failed to follow ERISA’s requirements, you may decide to seek legal advice if the plan denies your appeal. You also can contact the Department of Labor concerning your rights under ERISA electronically at askebsa.dol.gov or by calling toll free 1-866-444-3272.

For more information on claims procedures, see the Department of Labor publication Filing a Claim for Your Retirement Benefits. To obtain a copy, contact the Department of Labor electronically at askebsa.dol.gov or call toll free 1-866-444-3272.

Action Items

  • Contact your plan administrator to get the paperwork that you need to file a claim to start receiving retirement benefits.
  • Contact the Department of Labor (EBSA) electronically at askebsa.dol.gov or by calling toll free 1-866-444-3272 if you have questions about your plan or your rights under ERISA.

Chapter 7: Responsibilities of Plan Fiduciaries

In every retirement plan, there are individuals or groups of people who use their own judgment or discretion in administering and managing the plan or who have the power to or actually control the plan’s assets. These individuals or groups are called plan fiduciaries. Fiduciary status is based on the functions that the person performs for the plan, not just the person’s title.

Does your plan have to identify those responsible for operating the plan?

A plan must name at least one fiduciary in the written plan document, or through a process described in the plan, as having control over the plan’s operations. This fiduciary can be identified by office or by name. For some plans, it may be an administrative committee or the company’s board of directors. Usually, a plan’s fiduciaries will include the trustee, investment managers, and the plan administrator. The plan administrator is usually the best starting point for questions you might have about the plan.

What are the responsibilities of plan fiduciaries?

Fiduciaries have important responsibilities and are subject to certain standards of conduct because they act on behalf of the participants in the plan. These responsibilities include:

  • Acting solely in the interest of plan participants and their beneficiaries, with the exclusive purpose of providing benefits to them;
  • Carrying out their duties with skill, prudence, and diligence;
  • Following the plan documents (unless inconsistent with ERISA);
  • Diversifying plan investments;
  • Paying only reasonable expenses of administering the plan and investing its assets; and
  • Avoiding conflicts of interest.

The fiduciary also is responsible for selecting the investment providers and the investment options, and for monitoring their performance. Some plans, such as most 401(k) or profit sharing plans, can be set up to permit participants to choose the investments in their accounts (within certain investment options provided by the plan). If the plan is properly set up to give participants control over their investments, then the fiduciary is not liable for losses resulting from the participant’s investment decisions. Department of Labor rules provide guidance designed to make sure participants have sufficient information on the specifics of their investment options so they can make informed decisions. This information includes:

  • A description of each investment option, including the investment goals, risk, and return characteristics;
  • Information about any designated investment managers;
  • An explanation of when and how to request changes in investments, plus any restrictions on when you can change investments;
  • A statement of the fees that may be charged to your account when you change investment options or buy and sell investments; and
  • The name, address, and telephone number of the plan fiduciary or other person designated to provide certain additional information on request.

A statement that the plan is intended to follow the Department of Labor rules and that the fiduciaries may be relieved of liability for losses that are the direct and necessary result of a participant’s investment instructions also must be included.

For an automatic enrollment plan, such as an automatic enrollment 401(k) plan, the plan fiduciary selects the investments for employees’ automatic contributions if the employees do not provide direction. If the plan is properly set up, using certain default investments that generally minimize the risk of large losses and provide long-term growth, and providing notice of the plan’s automatic enrollment process, then the fiduciary may be relieved of liability for losses resulting from investing in these default alternatives for participants. The plan also must provide a broad range of investments for participants to choose from and information on the plan’s investments so participants can make informed decisions. Department of Labor rules provide guidance on the default investment alternatives that can be used and the notice and information to be provided to participants.

What if a plan fiduciary fails to carry out its responsibilities?

Fiduciaries that do not follow the required standards of conduct may be personally liable. If the plan lost money because of a breach of their duties, fiduciaries would have to restore those losses, or any profits received through their improper actions. For example, if an employer did not forward participants’ 401(k) contributions to the plan, they would have to pay back the contributions to the plan as well as any lost earnings, and return any profits they improperly received. Fiduciaries also can be removed from their positions as fiduciaries if they fail to follow the standards of conduct.

When does the employer need to deposit employee contributions in the plan?

If you contribute to your retirement plan through deductions from your paycheck, then the employer must follow certain rules to make sure that it deposits the contributions in a timely manner. The law says that the employer must deposit participant contributions as soon as it is reasonably possible to separate them from the company’s assets, but no later than the 15th business day of the month following the payday. For small plans (those with fewer than 100 participants), salary reduction contributions deposited with the plan no later than the 7th business day following withholding by the employer will be considered contributed in compliance with the law. In the Annual Report (Form 5500), the plan administrator is required to include information on whether deposits of contributions were made on a timely basis. For more information, see the Department of Labor’s Ten Warnings Signs That Your 401(k) Contributions Are Being Misused for indicators of possible delays in depositing contributions.

What are the plan fiduciaries’ obligations regarding the fees and expenses paid by the plan? Can the plan charge my defined contribution plan account for fees?

Plan fiduciaries have a specific obligation to consider the fees and expenses paid by your plan for its operations. ERISA’s fiduciary standards, discussed above, mean that fiduciaries must establish a prudent process for selecting investment alternatives and service providers to the plan; ensure that fees paid to service providers and other expenses of the plan are reasonable in light of the level and quality of services provided; select investment alternatives that are prudent and adequately diversified; and monitor investment alternatives and service providers once selected to see that they continue to be appropriate choices.

The plan may deduct fees from your defined contribution plan account. Plan administration fees and investment fees can be deducted from your account either as a direct charge or indirectly as a reduction of your account’s investment returns. Fees for individual services, such as for processing a loan from the plan or a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (see Chapter 9), also may be charged to your account.

If you direct the investments in your account, your plan will provide information about your rights and responsibilities under the plan related to directing your investments. This includes plan and investment related information, including information about fees and expenses, that you need to make informed decisions about the management of your account. The investment related information is provided in a format, such as a chart, that allows for a comparison among the plan’s investment options. The plan should provide this information before you can direct investments for the first time and annually thereafter with information on the fees and expenses actually paid provided at least quarterly.

For more information, see the Department of Labor brochure A Look at 401(k) Plan Fees. To obtain a copy, contact the Department of Labor electronically at askebsa.dol.gov or call toll free at 1-866-444-3272.

Action Item

  • If you have any questions about the management of the plan and its assets, contact your plan administrator.

Chapter 8: Your Benefit During a Plan Termination or Company Merger

As noted at the beginning of this booklet, employers are not required to offer a retirement plan and plans can be modified and/or terminated.

What happens when a plan is terminated?

Federal law provides some measures to protect employees who participated in plans that are terminated, both defined benefit and defined contribution. When a plan is terminated, the current employees must become 100 percent vested in their accrued benefits. This means you have a right to all the benefits that you have earned at the time of the plan termination, even benefits in which you were not vested and would have lost if you had left the employer. If there is a partial termination of a plan, (for example, if your employer closes a particular plant or division that results in the end of employment of a substantial percentage of plan participants) the affected employees must be immediately 100 percent vested to the extent the plan is funded.

What if your terminated defined benefit plan does not have enough money to pay the benefits?

The Federal Government, through the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), insures most private defined benefit plans. For terminated defined benefit plans with insufficient money to pay all of the benefits, the PBGC will guarantee the payment of your vested pension benefits up to the limits set by law. For further information on plan termination guarantees, contact the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation toll free at 1-800-400-7242, or visit the Website.

What happens if a defined contribution plan is terminated?

The PBGC does not guarantee benefits for defined contribution plans. If you are in a defined contribution plan that is in the process of terminating, the plan fiduciaries and trustees should take actions to maintain the plan until they terminate it and pay out the assets.

Is your accrued benefit protected if your plan merges with another plan?

Your plan rules and investment choices are likely to change if your company merges with another. Your employer may choose to merge your plan with another plan. If your plan is terminated as a result of the merger, the benefits that you have accrued cannot be reduced. You must receive a benefit that is at least equal to the benefit you were entitled to before the merger. In a defined contribution plan, the value of your account may still fluctuate after the merger based on the performance of the investments.

Special rules apply to mergers of multiemployer defined benefit plans, which generally are under the jurisdiction of the PBGC. Contact the PBGC for further information.

What if your employer goes bankrupt?

Generally, your retirement assets should not be at risk if your employer declares bankruptcy. Federal law requires that retirement plans fund promised benefits adequately and keep plan assets separate from the employer’s business assets. The funds must be held in trust or invested in an insurance contract. The employers’ creditors cannot make a claim on retirement plan funds. However, it is a good idea to confirm that any contributions your employer deducts from your paycheck are forwarded to the plan’s trust or insurance contract in a timely manner.

Significant business events such as bankruptcies, mergers, and acquisitions can result in employers abandoning their individual account plans (e.g., 401(k) plans), leaving no plan fiduciary to manage it. In this situation, participants often have great difficulty in accessing the benefits they have earned and have no one to contact with questions. Custodians such as banks, insurers, and mutual fund companies are left holding the assets of these plans but do not have the authority to terminate the plans and distribute the assets. In response, the Department of Labor issued rules to create a voluntary process for the custodian to wind up the plan’s business so that benefit distributions can be made and the plan terminated. Information about this program can be found on the Department of Labor’s Website.

Action Items

  • If your former employer has gone out of business, arrangements should have been made so a plan official remains responsible for the payment of benefits and other plan business. If you are entitled to benefits and are unable to contact the plan administrator, contact EBSA electronically at askebsa.dol.gov or by calling toll free at 1-866-444-3272.
  • Keep a file with information on your plan and company. If the company no longer exists under its former name, you might find some information on the Internet by entering the former name in a search engine. If your plan is abandoned, use the search function on the EBSA Website at dol.gov/ebsa, to find out if the plan’s custodian is terminating the plan and the custodian’s contact information.
  • If your plan merges, make sure you read the communications about changes in your plan, including changes in benefits and investment choices.
  • If your retirement benefit remains with a former employer, keep current on any changes your former employer makes, including changes of address, mergers, or employer name.
  • If you move, give the plan your new contact information.

Chapter 9: Potential Claims against Your Benefit (Divorce)

In general, your retirement plan is safe from claims by other people. Creditors to whom you owe money cannot make a claim against funds that you have in a retirement plan. For example, if you leave your employer and transfer your 401(k) account into an individual retirement account (IRA), creditors generally cannot get access to those IRA funds even if you declare bankruptcy.

Federal law does make an exception for family support and the division of property at divorce. For many workers, retirement savings is one of their most significant assets. For this reason, whether and how to divide a participant’s interest in a retirement plan are often important considerations in separation, divorce, and other domestic relations proceedings. While the division of marital property generally is governed by state domestic relations law, any assignments of retirement benefits also must comply with Federal law (ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code).

A state court can award part or all of a participant’s retirement benefit to the spouse, former spouse, child, or other dependent. The recipient named in the order is called the alternate payee. The court issues a specific court order, called a domestic relations order, which can be in the form of a state court judgment, decree or order, or court approval of a property settlement agreement. The order must relate to child support, alimony, or marital property rights, and must be made under state domestic relations law.

The plan administrator determines if the order is a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO) under the plan’s procedures and then notifies the participant and the alternate payee.

To be a QDRO, the order must contain the following information:

  • The participant’s name and last known mailing address;
  • The name and last known mailing address of each alternate payee;
  • The name of the plan;
  • The amount, percentage, or method of determining the amount or percentage of the benefit to be paid to the alternate payee; and
  • The number of payments or time period to which the order applies.

The specific content of the rest of the order will depend on the type of retirement plan, the nature of the participant’s benefits, the purpose for issuing the order, and the intent of the parties drafting the order. A QDRO must provide for a type or form of benefit that the plan already allows. A QDRO cannot require the plan to provide increased benefits. In general, a QDRO may assign survivor benefits to a former spouse. Participants and alternate payees drafting a QDRO should read the plan’s summary plan description and other plan documents to understand the survivor benefits available under the plan. A QDRO cannot require a plan to pay benefits to an alternate payee that, under a QDRO previously recognized by the plan, are required to be paid to another alternate payee.

If the participant is still employed, a QDRO can require payment to the alternate payee to begin on or after the participant’s earliest possible retirement age available under the plan.

These rules apply to both defined benefit and defined contribution plans. For additional information, see EBSA’s publication, QDROs – The Division of Retirement Benefits Through Qualified Domestic Relations Orders. To order a copy, contact EBSA electronically at askebsa.dol.gov or call toll free 1-866-444-3272.

Action Items

  • If you are involved in a divorce, you should discuss these issues with your plan administrator and your attorney.

Chapter 10: What to Do if You Have a Problem

Sometimes, retirement plan administrators, managers, and others involved with the plan make mistakes. Some examples include:

  • Your 401(k) or individual account statement is consistently late or comes at irregular intervals;
  • Your account balance does not appear to be accurate;
  • Your employer fails to transmit your contribution to the plan on a timely basis;
  • Your plan administrator does not give or send you a copy of the Summary Plan Description; or
  • Your benefit is calculated incorrectly.

It is important for you to know that you can follow up on any possible mistakes without fear of retribution. Employers are prohibited by law from firing or disciplining employees to avoid paying a benefit, as a reprisal for exercising any of the rights provided under a plan or Federal retirement law (ERISA), or for giving information or testimony in any inquiry or proceeding related to ERISA.

Start with your employer and/or plan administrator

If you find an error or have a question, in most cases, you can start by looking for information in your Summary Plan Description. In addition, you can contact your employer and/or the plan administrator and ask them to explain what has happened and/or make a correction.

Is it possible to sue under ERISA?

Yes, you have a right to sue your plan and its fiduciaries to enforce or clarify your rights under ERISA and your plan in the following situations:

  • To appeal a denied claim for benefits after exhausting your plan’s claims review process;
  • To recover benefits due you;
  • To clarify your right to future benefits;
  • To obtain plan documents that you previously requested in writing but did not receive;
  • To address a breach of a plan fiduciary’s duties; or
  • To stop the plan from continuing any act or practice that violates the terms of the plan or ERISA.

What is the role of the Labor Department?

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) is the agency responsible for enforcing the provisions of ERISA that govern the conduct of plan fiduciaries, the investment and protection of plan assets, the reporting and disclosure of plan information, and participants’ benefit rights and responsibilities.

However, not all retirement plans are covered by ERISA. For example, Federal, state, or local government plans and some church plans are not covered.

The Department of Labor enforces the law by informally resolving benefit disputes, conducting investigations, and seeking correction of violations of the law, including bringing lawsuits when necessary.

The Department has benefits advisors committed to providing individual assistance to participants and beneficiaries. Participants will receive information on their rights and responsibilities under the law and help in obtaining benefits to which they are entitled.

Contact a benefits advisor electronically at askebsa.dol.gov or by calling toll free 1-866-444-3272.

Action Items

Contact the Department of Labor’s EBSA for questions about ERISA, help in obtaining a benefit, or:

  • If you believe your claim to benefits has been unjustly denied or that your benefit was calculated incorrectly;
  • If you have information that plan assets are being mismanaged or misused;
  • If you think the plan fiduciaries are acting improperly; or
  • If you think your employer has been late in depositing your contributions (see Chapter 7).

What other Federal agencies can assist participants and beneficiaries?

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is a federally created corporation that guarantees payment of certain pension benefits under most private defined benefit plans when they are terminated with insufficient money to pay benefits.

You may contact the PBGC at:

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
1200 K Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005-4026
Tel: (202) 326-4000
Toll free: 1-800-400-7242

The Treasury Department’s Internal Revenue Service is responsible for the rules that allow tax benefits for both employees and employers related to retirement plans, including vesting and distribution requirements. The IRS maintains a taxpayer assistance line for retirement plans at: 1-877-829-5500 (toll-free number). The call center is open Monday through Friday.

Glossary

401(k) Plan – In this type of defined contribution plan, the employee can make contributions from his or her paycheck before taxes are taken out. The contributions go into a 401(k) account, with the employee often choosing the investments based on options provided under the plan. In some plans, the employer also makes contributions, matching the employee’s contributions up to a certain percentage. SIMPLE and safe harbor 401(k) plans have additional employer contribution and vesting requirements.

Automatic Enrollment – Employers can automatically enroll employees in a plan, such as a 401(k) or SIMPLE IRA plan, and place contributions deducted from employees’ paychecks into certain predetermined investments, unless the employees decide otherwise. Participants have the opportunity to opt out of participation and periodic opportunities to change their investments (or in a SIMPLE IRA, the financial institution where the contributions are invested).

Benefit Accrual – The amount of benefits accumulated under the plan.

Cash Balance Plan – A type of defined benefit plan that includes some elements that are similar to a defined contribution plan because the benefit amount is computed based on a formula using contribution and earning credits, and each participant has a hypothetical account. Cash balance plans are more likely than traditional defined benefit plans to make lump sum distributions. (For more information, see Frequently Asked Questions about Cash Balance Pension Plans.)

Defined Benefit Plan – This type of plan, also known as the traditional pension plan, promises the participant a specified monthly benefit at retirement. Often, the benefit is based on factors such as your salary, your age, and the number of years you worked for the employer.

Defined Contribution Plan – In a defined contribution plan, the employee and/or the employer contribute to the employee’s individual account under the plan. The employee often decides how his or her account is invested. The amount in the account at distribution includes the contributions and investment gains or losses, minus any investment and administrative fees. The contributions and earnings are not taxed until distribution. The value of the account will change based on the value and performance of the investments.

Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) – A Federal law that sets standards of protection for individuals in most voluntarily established, private-sector retirement plans. ERISA requires plans to provide participants with plan information, including important facts about plan features and funding; sets minimum standards for participation, vesting, benefit accrual, and funding; provides fiduciary responsibilities for those who manage and control plan assets; requires plans to establish a claims and appeals process for participants to get benefits from their plans; gives participants the right to sue for benefits and breaches of fiduciary duty; and, if a defined benefit plan is terminated, guarantees payment of certain benefits through a Federally chartered corporation, known as the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC).

Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) – A type of defined contribution plan that is invested primarily in employer stock.

Individual Benefit Statement – An individual benefit statement provides information about a participant’s retirement benefits, such as the total plan benefits earned and vested benefits, on a periodic basis. Additional information may be included depending upon the type of plan, such as how a participant’s 401(k) plan account is invested and the value of those investments.

Individual Retirement Account (IRA) – An individual account set up with a financial institution, such as a bank or a mutual fund company. Under Federal law, individuals may set aside personal savings up to a certain amount, and the investments grow, tax deferred. In addition, defined contribution plan participants can transfer money from an employer retirement plan to an IRA when leaving an employer. IRAs also can be part of an employer plan.

Money Purchase Plan – A money purchase plan requires set annual contributions from the employer to individual accounts and is subject to other rules.

Multiemployer Plan – A retirement plan sponsored by several employers under collective bargaining agreements that meets certain other requirements. A participant who changes jobs from one sponsoring employer to another stays within the same plan.

Plan Administrator – The person who is identified in the plan document as having responsibility for running the plan. It could be the employer, a committee of employees, a company executive, or someone hired for that purpose.

Plan Document – A written instrument under which the plan is established and operated.

Plan Fiduciary – Anyone who exercises discretionary authority or discretionary control over management or administration of the plan, exercises any authority or control over management or disposition of plan assets, or gives investment advice for a fee or other compensation with respect to assets of the plan.

Plan Trustee – Someone who has the exclusive authority and discretion to manage and control the assets of the plan. The trustee can be subject to the direction of a named fiduciary and the named fiduciary can appoint one or more investment managers for the plan’s assets.

Plan Year – A 12-month period designated by a retirement plan for calculating vesting and distribution, among other things. The plan year can be the calendar year or an alternative period, e.g., July 1 to June 30.

Profit Sharing Plan – A profit sharing plan allows the employer each year to determine how much to contribute to the plan (out of profits or otherwise) in cash or employer stock. The plan contains a formula for allocating the annual contribution among the participants.

Rollover – A rollover occurs when a participant leaves an employer and directs the defined contribution plan to transfer the money in his or her account to a new plan or individual retirement account. This preserves the benefits and does not trigger any tax consequences if done in a timely manner.

Safe Harbor 401(k) – A safe harbor 401(k) is similar to a traditional 401(k) plan, but the employer is required to make contributions for each employee. The employer contributions in safe harbor 401(k) plans are immediately 100 percent vested. The safe harbor 401(k) eases administrative burdens on employers by eliminating some of the complex tax rules ordinarily applied to traditional 401(k) plans.

Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees of Small Employers (SIMPLE) – A plan in which a small business with 100 or fewer employees can offer retirement benefits through employee salary reductions and matching contributions (similar to those found in a 401(k) plan). It can be either a SIMPLE IRA or a SIMPLE 401(k). SIMPLE IRA plans impose few administrative burdens on employers because IRAs are owned by the employees and the bank or financial institution receiving the funds does most of the paperwork. While each has some different features, including contribution limits and the availability of loans, required employer contributions are immediately 100 percent vested in both.

Simplified Employee Pension Plan (SEP) – A plan in which the employer makes contributions on a tax-favored basis to individual retirement accounts (IRAs) owned by the employees. If certain conditions are met, the employer is not subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements of most retirement plans. Under a SEP, an IRA is set up by or for an employee to accept the employer’s contributions.

Summary Plan Description – A document provided by the plan administrator that includes a plain language description of important features of the plan, e.g., when employees begin to participate in the plan, how service and benefits are calculated, when benefits become vested, when payment is received and in what form, and how to file a claim for benefits. Participants must be informed of material changes either through a revised Summary Plan Description or in a separate document called a Summary of Material Modifications.

Vested Benefits – Those benefits that the individual has earned a right to receive and that cannot be forfeited.

Years of Service – The time an individual has worked in a job covered by the plan. It is used to determine when an individual can participate and vest and how they can accrue benefits in the plan.

This publication has been developed by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA). To view this and other publications, visit the agency’s Website at dol.gov/ebsa. To order publications or to speak with a benefits advisor, contact EBSA electronically at askebsa.dol.gov. Or call toll free 1-866-444-3272. This material will be made available in alternative format to persons with disabilities upon request: Voice phone: 202-693-8664 TTY: 202-501-3911. This publication constitutes a small entity compliance guide for purposes of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996.

 

Source: United States Department of Labor, “What You Should Know About Your Retirement Plan.” http://www.dol.gov website. Accessed December 2, 2015. http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/publications/wyskapr.html

© Copyright 2016. All rights reserved. This content is strictly for informational purposes and although experts have prepared it, the reader should not substitute this information for professional insurance advice. If you have any questions, please consult your insurance professional before acting on any information presented. Read more.

Filed Under: Employee Benefits, Miscellaneous, Personal, Theme 53

July 4, 2014 By admin Leave a Comment

Retirement Plans, Benefits & Savings

  • Misc_Money_AnalyzingGraphPension plans
    • A pension plan is an employee benefit plan established or maintained by an employer or by an employee organization (such as a union), or both, that provides retirement income or defers income until termination of covered employment or beyond. There are a number of types of retirement plans, including the 401(k) plan and the traditional pension plan, known as a defined benefit plan.
  • The Employee Benefits Security Administration
    • The Employee Benefits Security Administration of the Department of Labor is responsible for administering and enforcing the provisions of Employee Retirement Income Security Act. ERISA covers most private sector pension plans. One of EBSA’s responsibilities is to provide consumer information on pension plans, and compliance assistance for employers, plan service providers, and others to help them comply with ERISA.
  • ERISA
    • ERISA’s functions include providing protections for participants and beneficiaries in employee benefit plans, including providing access to plan information. Also, those individuals who manage plans (and other fiduciaries) must meet certain standards of conduct under the fiduciary responsibilities specified in the law.
  • Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
    • The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation can answer your questions about so-called defined benefit plans. These traditional plans promise workers a specific monthly benefit at retirement. The PBGC also provides a Pension Search Directory to help reunite people with their missing pensions.
  • Tax Questions
    • For questions about the tax provisions in the Internal Revenue Code relating to pension plans, please contact the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Sub-topics:

  • Compliance Assistance
  • Consumer Information on Pension Plans
  • Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)
  • Fiduciary Responsibilities
  • Participant Rights
  • Plan Information
  • Retirement Savings
  • Small Business Pension Plan Options
  • Types of Retirement Plans

Source: United States Department of Labor, “Retirement Plans, Benefits & Savings http://www.dol.gov website. Accessed December 2, 2015. http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/retirement/

© Copyright 2016. All rights reserved. This content is strictly for informational purposes and although experts have prepared it, the reader should not substitute this information for professional insurance advice. If you have any questions, please consult your insurance professional before acting on any information presented. Read more.

Filed Under: Employee Benefits, Miscellaneous, Personal, Theme 53

July 4, 2014 By admin Leave a Comment

Types Of Retirement Plans

Workers_Hands-RevingAndPlanningIndividual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs)
Roth IRAs

401(k) Plans
403(b) Plans

SIMPLE IRA Plans (Savings Incentive Match Plans for Employees)
SEP Plans (Simplified Employee Pension)
SARSEP Plans (Salary Reduction Simplified Employee Pension)
Payroll Deduction IRAs

Profit-Sharing Plans
Defined Benefit Plans
Money Purchase Plans
Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs)

Governmental Plans

457 Plans
409A Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plans

Help with Choosing a Retirement Plan

 

Source: IRS, “Types of Retirement Plans.” http://www.irs.gov website. Accessed December 2, 2015. http://www.irs.gov/Retirement-Plans/Plan-Sponsor/Types-of-Retirement-Plans-1

© Copyright 2016. All rights reserved. This content is strictly for informational purposes and although experts have prepared it, the reader should not substitute this information for professional insurance advice. If you have any questions, please consult your insurance professional before acting on any information presented. Read more.

Filed Under: Employee Benefits, Miscellaneous, Personal, Theme 53

July 2, 2014 By admin Leave a Comment

Make A Plan

Misc_PlanningProcessChartYour family may not be together when a disaster strikes so it is important to plan in advance: how you will get to a safe place; how you will contact one another; how you will get back together; and what you will do in different situations. Read more about Family Communication during an emergency.

Ready.gov has made it simple for you to make a family emergency plan. Download the Family Communication Plan for Parents and Kids (PDF) and fill out the sections before printing it or emailing it to your family and friends.

You should also inquire about emergency plans at places where your family spends time: work, daycare and school, faith organizations, sports events and commuting. If no plans exist, consider volunteering to help create one. Talk to community leaders, your colleagues, neighbors and members of faith or civic organizations about how you can work together in the event of an emergency. You will be better prepared to safely reunite your family and loved ones during an emergency if you think ahead and communicate with others in advance. Read more about school and workplace plans.

Have a plan for traveling between work and home, and other commonly visited locations, in case of an emergency. Download the Commuter Emergency Plan (PDF).

Source: FEMA, “Make a Plan” http://www.ready.gov website. Accessed December 2, 2015. http://www.ready.gov/make-a-plan

© Copyright 2016. All rights reserved. This content is strictly for informational purposes and although experts have prepared it, the reader should not substitute this information for professional insurance advice. If you have any questions, please consult your insurance professional before acting on any information presented. Read more.

Filed Under: Business, Disaster, Miscellaneous, Personal, Theme 47, Theme 86, Weekly Safety Meetings

July 2, 2014 By admin Leave a Comment

Dog Bite Liability

Animals_DogBite

Sixty-eight percent of U.S. households, or 83.3 million homes, own a pet, according to a 2013/2014 survey from by the American Pet Products Association.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 4.5 million people are bitten by dogs each year and about 885,000 require medical attention for these injuries; about half of these are children.

Some insurance companies will not insure homeowners who own certain breeds of dogs categorized as dangerous, such as pit bulls. Others decide on a case-by-case basis, depending on whether an individual dog, regardless of its breed has been deemed vicious.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

  • Claims: Dog bites accounted for more than one-third of all homeowners insurance liability claim dollars paid out in 2013, costing more than $483 million, according to the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) and State Farm®. An analysis of homeowners insurance data by the I.I.I. found that the number of dog bite claims nationwide increased 5.5 percent in 2013, while the average cost per claim for the year dropped 6.4 percent. The average cost paid out for dog bite claims nationwide was $27,862 in 2013 compared with $29,752 in 2012. The average cost per claim nationally has risen more than 45 percent in the last decade (2003-2013), which can be attributed to increased medical costs as well as the size of settlements, judgments and jury awards given to plaintiffs, which are still on the upswing. California had the largest number of claims, at 1,919, with an average cost per claim of $33,709. New York had the highest average cost per claim, at $43,122.

ESTIMATED NUMBER AND COST OF DOG BITE CLAIMS NATIONWIDE, 2003-2013

Year Value of claims
($ millions)
Number of claims Average cost
per claim
2003 $324.2 16,919 $19,162
2004 318.9 15,630 20,406
2005 321.1 14,295 22,464
2006 322.4 14,661 21,987
2007 356.2 14,531 24,511
2008 387.0 15,823 24,461
2009 412.0 16,586 24,840
2010 412.6 15,770 26,166
2011 490.8 16,695 29,396
2012 489.7 16,459 29,752
2013 483.7 17,359 27,862
Percent change, 2012-2013 -1.2% 5.5% -6.4%
Percent change, 2003-2013 49.2 2.6 45.4

Source: Insurance Information Institute, State Farm®.

View Archived Tables

TOP 10 STATES WITH ESTIMATED NUMBER AND COST OF DOG BITE CLAIMS, 2013

State Number of claims Average cost
per claim
Value of claims
($ millions)
CA 1,919 $33,709 $64.7
NY 965 43,122 41.6
OH 948 18,853 17.9
IL 914 28,941 26.5
PA 909 29,078 26.4
MI 866 24,700 21.4
TX 775 19,339 15.0
IN 503 25,502 12.8
AZ 488 27,556 13.4
WI 449 31,629 14.2

Source: Insurance Information Institute, State Farm®.

NUMBER OF U.S. HOUSEHOLDS THAT OWN A PET, BY TYPE OF ANIMAL

(millions)

Pet Number
Bird 6.9
Cat 45.3
Dog 56.7
Horse 2.8
Freshwater fish 14.3
Saltwater fish 1.8
Reptile 5.6
Small animal 6.9

Source: American Pet Products Association’s 2013-2014 National Pet Owners Survey.

View Archived Tables

TOTAL NUMBER OF PETS OWNED IN THE U.S., BY TYPE OF ANIMAL

(millions)

Pet Number
Bird 20.6
Cat 95.6
Dog 83.3
Horse 8.3
Freshwater fish 145.0
Saltwater fish 13.6
Reptile 11.5
Small animal 18.1

Source: American Pet Products Association’s 2013-2014 National Pet Owners Survey.

View Archived Tables

BACKGROUND

State and Local Legislation: Dog owners are liable for injuries their pets cause if the owner knew the dog had a tendency to bite. In some states, statutes make the owners liable whether or not they knew the dog had a tendency to bite; in others, owners can be held responsible only if they knew or should have known their dogs had a propensity to bite. Some states and municipalities have “breed specific” statutes that identify breeds such as pit bulls as dangerous; in others individual dogs can be designated as vicious.

At least two states, Pennsylvania and Michigan, have laws that prohibit insurers from canceling or denying coverage to the owners of particular dog breeds. In Ohio, for example, owners of dogs that have been classified as vicious are required to purchase at least $100,000 of liability insurance.

The American Kennel Club reports that while many municipalities have enacted bans on specific breeds, several states have laws barring municipalities and counties from targeting individual breeds.

Dog Owners’ Liability: There are three kinds of law that impose liability on owners:

1) A dog-bite statute: where the dog owner is automatically liable for any injury or property damage the dog causes without provocation.

2) The one-bite rule: where the dog owner is responsible for an injury caused by a dog if the owner knew the dog was likely to cause that type of injury—in this case, the victim must prove the owner knew the dog was dangerous.

3) Negligence laws: where the dog owner is liable if the injury occurred because the dog owner was unreasonably careless (negligent) in controlling the dog.

Criminal Penalties: On January 26, 2001, two Presa Canario dogs attacked and killed Diane Whipple in the doorway of her San Francisco, California, apartment. Marjorie Knoller, the owner of the dogs, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for keeping a mischievous dog that killed a person. She was sentenced to four years in prison for involuntary manslaughter and was ordered to pay $6,800 in restitution. Her husband, Robert Noel, was convicted on lesser charges but also received a four-year prison sentence. Knoller became the first Californian convicted of murder for a dog’s actions. This was only the third time such charges have been upheld in the United States, the first coming in Kansas in 1997.

Insurers are Limiting their Exposure: Homeowners and renters insurance policies typically cover dog bite liability legal expenses, up to the liability limits (typically $100,000 to $300,000). If the claim exceeds the limit, the dog owner is responsible for all damages above that amount. Some insurers do not ask the breed of a dog owned when writing or renewing homeowners insurance and do not track the breed of dogs involved in dog bite incidents. However, once a dog has bitten someone, it poses an increased risk. In that instance, the insurance company may charge a higher premium, nonrenew the homeowner’s insurance policy or exclude the dog from coverage.

Some insurers are taking steps to limit their exposure to such losses. Some companies require dog owners to sign liability waivers for dog bites, while others charge more for owners of breeds such as pit bulls and Rottweilers and others are not offering insurance to dog owners at all. Some will cover a pet if the owner takes the dog to classes aimed at modifying its behavior or if the dog is restrained with a muzzle, chain or cage.

Source: Insurance Information Institute, “Dog Bite Liability”
http://www.iii.org website. Accessed November 30, 2015. http://www.iii.org/issue-update/dog-bite-liability

© Copyright 2016. All rights reserved. This content is strictly for informational purposes and although experts have prepared it, the reader should not substitute this information for professional insurance advice. If you have any questions, please consult your insurance professional before acting on any information presented. Read more.

Filed Under: Miscellaneous, Personal, Specialty, Theme 25

July 2, 2014 By admin Leave a Comment

Controlling Fleas & Ticks On Your Pet

Cleaning the Dog of Dogue De Bordeax Breed in bath.Flea and tick products are available in many forms, including:

  • shampoos
  • collars
  • dust
  • sprays
  • spot-on products

Spot-on flea and tick products are liquid pesticides applied to a “spot” on the pet’s skin, usually around the back of the neck or shoulder area.

Taking care of your pets responsibly includes protecting them from fleas and ticks. Remember these important safety tips.

How to Protect Against Fleas and Ticks

Related Information

National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC):

1-800-858-7378

  • Consult your veterinarian about the best way to protect your pets from fleas and ticks and whether pesticides are even needed.
  • Use a flea comb to suppress adult fleas. It will allow hair to pass through the comb’s teeth but not the fleas, removing fleas and “flea dirt.”
    • Focus on combing those parts of the pet where most fleas gather, often the neck or tail area.
    • Put any fleas in soapy water to kill them.

​Using Flea and Tick Products Safely

  • If you use a flea and tick control product on your pet, carefully read and follow the product label.
  • Use flea and tick control products only on the animal specified by the product label —  dog products for dogs only and cat products for cats only. Some pesticides are toxic to cats but not to dogs, for example.
  • Follow any label prohibitions against use on weak, aged, medicated, sick, pregnant, or nursing pets, or on pets that have previously shown sensitivity to pesticide products.
    • Apply only the amount indicated for the size of the animal being treated.
    • Older or sick animals could react differently to a product.
    • Products are designed for specific size animals (generally by weight), and using more product or a product designed for a larger animal than yours may overexpose your pet to the pesticide.
  • Do not apply to kittens or puppies unless the product label specifically allows this treatment. The label will tell you the minimum age or size for use. Test results may show different effects on younger animals, leading to limits on use.
  • Monitor your pet for side effects or signs of sensitivity after applying the product, particularly when using the product on your pet for the first time. Do not apply spot-ons to pets known to be sensitive to pesticide products.
  • Keep the package with the product container (such as individual applicator tubes) in case adverse effects occur after treatment. You will want to have the instructions at hand, as well as contact information for the manufacturer.

If Your Pet Has an Adverse Reaction

  • If your pet experiences an adverse reaction, immediately bathe the pet with mild soap and rinse with large amounts of water.
  • Contact your veterinarian or the National Pesticide Information Center  right away for information on whether additional measures are needed to help your pet recover.

Report any adverse reactions.

Source: United States Environmental Protection Agency, “Controlling Fleas and Ticks on Your Pet” http://www2.epa.gov website. Accessed November 30, 2015. http://www2.epa.gov/pets/controlling-fleas-and-ticks-your-pet

© Copyright 2016. All rights reserved. This content is strictly for informational purposes and although experts have prepared it, the reader should not substitute this information for professional insurance advice. If you have any questions, please consult your insurance professional before acting on any information presented. Read more.

Filed Under: Miscellaneous, Personal, Specialty, Theme 25

July 2, 2014 By admin Leave a Comment

Dog Training

Animals_DogTrainingDog training is the application of behavior analysis which uses the environmental events of antecedents and consequences to modify the behavior of a dog, either for it to assist in specific activities or undertake particular tasks, or for it to participate effectively in contemporary domestic life. While training dogs for specific roles dates back to Roman times at least, the training of dogs to be compatible household pets developed with suburbanization in the 1950s.

A dog learns from every interaction it has with its environment.[1] This can be through classical conditioning, where it forms an association between two stimuli; non-associative learning, where its behavior is modified through habituation or sensitisation; and operant conditioning, where it forms an association between an antecedent and its consequence.[2]

There are a variety of established methods of animals training, each with its adherents and critics. Some of the better known dog training procedures include the Koehler method, clicker training, dominance-based training, negative reinforcement and relationship-based training. The common characteristics of successful methods are knowing the animal’s attributes and personality, accurate timing of reinforcement and/or punishment and consistent communication.

Contents

  • 1 Definition
  • 2 History
    • 2.1 Before 1900
    • 2.2 War years
    • 2.3 Post WWII
    • 2.4 21st century
  • 3 How dogs learn
    • 3.1 Operant conditioning
    • 3.2 Classical conditioning
    • 3.3 Non-associative learning
    • 3.4 Social learning
  • 4 Training methods
    • 4.1 Koehler method
    • 4.2 Motivational training
    • 4.3 Clicker training
    • 4.4 Electronic training
    • 4.5 Model-rival training
    • 4.6 Dominance-based training
    • 4.7 Relationship-based training
  • 5 Factors
    • 5.1 Communication
    • 5.2 Understanding
    • 5.3 Innate characteristics
  • 6 Individualized and/or class training
  • 7 Specialized training
  • 8 Tools
  • 9 See also
  • 10 Notes
  • 11 References

Definition

Dog training using positive reinforcement, with the dog exhibiting the “down” position

Dog training is teaching a response to commands, or the performance of actions not necessarily natural to the dog, and also raising a dog accommodated to his environment by modifying natural digging, barking and eliminating behaviors. Dog training is defined as the purposeful changing of a dog’s behavior.[3]

Dog training can be socialisation to the domestic environment, basic obedience training or training for specialized activities including law enforcement, search and rescue, hunting, working with livestock, assistance to people with disabilities, entertainment, dog sports, detection and protecting people or property.

History

Although research into how dogs learn and into cross-species communication has changed the approach to dog training in recent decades, understanding the role of early trainers and scientists contributes to an appreciation of how particular methods and techniques developed.[4]

Before 1900

In around 127-116 B.C. a Roman farmer, Marcus Varro, recorded advice on raising and training puppies for herding livestock. His writings indicate that not only was dog training for specific tasks well established, but that the value of early training was recognised.[5]

In 1848 W. N. Hutchinson published his book Dog Breaking: The Most Expeditious, Certain and Easy Method, Whether Great Excellence or Only Mediocrity Be Required, With Odds and Ends for Those Who Love the Dog and the Gun. Primarily concerned with training hunting dogs such as pointers and setters, the book advocates a form of reward-based training, commenting on men who have “a strong arm and a hard heart to punish, but no temper and no head to instruct” and suggesting “Be to his virtues ever kind. Be to his faults a little blind.”[6] Stephen Hammond, a writer for Forest and Stream magazine, advocated in his 1882 book Practical Training that hunting dogs be praised and rewarded with meat for doing the correct behavior.[7]

War years

Konrad Most began training dogs for police work in Germany, and was appointed principal of the State Breeding and Training Establishment for police dogs in Berlin, where he carried out original research into training dogs for a broad range of service tasks. At the outbreak of war in 1914 he was charged with organising and directing the use of dogs to further the war effort. He headed the Experimental Institute for Armed Forces’ Dogs during the Second World War, and afterwards ran the German Dog Farm, a centre for the training of working dogs, including assistance dogs for the blind. He played a leading role in the formation of the German Canine Research Society and Society for Animal Psychology.[8] His 1910 publication, Training Dogs: A Manual, emphasised using instinctive behavior such as the prey drive to train desired behaviors, advocated the use of compulsion and inducements, differentiated between primary and secondary reinforcers, and described shaping behaviors, chaining components of an activity, and the importance of timing rewards and punishments. The book demonstrated an understanding of the principles of operant conditioning almost thirty years before they were formally outlined by B.F. Skinner in The Behavior of Organisms.[9] While publishers of the 2001 reprint warn that some of the “compulsive inducements” such as the switch, the spiked collar and the forced compliance are unnecessarily harsh for today’s pet dogs,[10] the basic principles of Most’s methods are still used in police and military settings.[11]

Marian Breland Bailey played a major role in developing empirically validated and humane animal training methods and in promoting their widespread implementation.[12] Marian was a graduate student under B.F. Skinner. Her first husband Keller Breland also came to study with Skinner and they collaborated with him, training pigeons to guide bombs. The Brelands saw the commercial possibilities of operant training, founding Animal Behavior Enterprises (ABE). In 1955, they opened the “I.Q. Zoo” as both a training facility and a showcase of trained animals. They were among the first to use trained animals in television commercials, and the first to train dolphins and whales as entertainment, as well as for the navy.[12] Keller died in 1965, and in 1976 Marian married Bob Bailey, who had been director of marine mammal training for the navy. They pioneered the use of the clicker as a conditioned reinforcer for training animals at a distance.[11] ABE went on to train thousands of animals of more than 140 species.[12] Their work had significant public exposure through press coverage of ABE-trained animals, bringing the principles of behavior analysis and operant conditioning to a wide audience.[13]

Konrad Lorenz, an Austrian scientist who is regarded as developing the foundations of ethological research,[14] further popularised animal behaviorism with his books, Man Meets Dog and King Solomon’s Ring.[15] Lorenz stated that there were three essential commands to teach a dog: “lie down” (stay where you are), “basket” (go over there) and “heel” (come with me).[16]

In 1935, the American Kennel Club began obedience trials, and in the following years popular magazines raised public awareness of the benefits of having a trained pet dog, and of the recreational possibilities of dog training as a hobby.[17] After WWII, the increasing complexities of suburban living demanded that for a pet dog’s own protection and its owner’s convenience, the dog should be obedient. William Koehler had served as principal trainer at the War Dog Training Center, in California, and after the war became chief trainer for the Orange Empire Dog Club—at the time, the largest dog club in the United States—instructor for a number of breed clubs, and a dog trainer for the Walt Disney Studios.[18] In 1962 Koehler published The Koehler Method of Dog Training, in which he is highly critical of what he calls “tid-bit training techniques” based in “the prattle of ‘dog psychologists'”.[17] Amongst the training innovations attributed to Koehler is the use of a long line in conjunction with a complete absence of oral communication as a way of instilling attentiveness prior to any leash training. Koehler insisted that participants in his training classes used “emphatic corrections”, including leash jerks, throw chains, alpha rolls, slingshots and electric shocks, explaining that tentative, nagging corrections were cruel in that they caused emotional disturbance to the dog.[19] Vicki Hearne, a disciple of Koehler’s, commented on the widespread criticism of his corrections, with the explanation that it was the emotionally loaded language used in the book that led to a number of court cases, and to the book being banned in Arizona for a time.[20] Despite the controversy, his basic method forms the core of many contemporary training systems.[21]

Post WWII

Rudd Weatherwax trains Lassie.

In the 1950s Blanche Saunders was a staunch advocate of pet-dog training, travelling throughout the U.S. to promote obedience classes.[15] In The Complete Book of Dog Obedience, she said, “Dogs learn by associating their act with a pleasing or displeasing result. They must be disciplined when they do wrong, but they must also be rewarded when they do right.”[22] Negative reinforcement procedures played a key part in Saunders’ method, primarily the jerking of the choke chain. The mantra taught to students was “Command! Jerk! Praise!” She felt that food should not be an on-going reward, but that it was acceptable to use “a tidbit now and then to overcome a problem.” Saunders perhaps began the shift away from military and police training methods, stressing repeatedly the importance of reinforcement for good behaviour in training—a move toward the positive training methods used today.[23]

In 1965, John Paul Scott and John Fuller identified the critical periods for learning and social development in puppies, and published Genetics and the Social Behavior of the Dog, a landmark study of dog behavior.[24]

The 1980 television series Training Dogs the Woodhouse Way made Barbara Woodhouse a household name in the UK, and the first international celebrity dog trainer.[25] Known for her “no bad dogs” philosophy, Woodhouse was highly critical of “bad owners”, particularly those she saw as “overly sentimental”.[26] She described the “psychoanalyzing of dogs” as “a lot of rubbish”.[27] Her no-nonsense style made her a pop-culture icon, with her emphatic “sit” and catch cry of “walkies” becoming part of the popular vernacular.[28]

The Monks of New Skete, who were breeders and trainers of German Shepherds in Cambridge, New York, published How to Be Your Dog’s Best Friend: A Training Manual for Dog Owners in 1978 and it became an immediate best seller. Despite advocating a philosophy that “understanding is the key to communication and compassion with your dog,”[29] they endorsed confrontational punishments which were later shown to elicit dangerously aggressive responses in many dogs.[30]

In the 1980s veterinarian and animal behaviourist Ian Dunbar discovered that despite evidence on the peak learning periods in animals, few dog trainers worked with puppies before they were six months old.[25] Dunbar founded Sirius Dog Training, the first off-leash training program specifically for puppies, which emphasizes the importance of teaching bite inhibition, sociality, and other basic household manners, to dogs under six months of age.[31] Dunbar has written numerous books, and is known for his international seminar presentations and award-winning videos on puppy and dog behavior and training.[32]

Prior to the 1980s, Karen Pryor was a marine-mammal trainer who used Skinner’s operant principles to teach dolphins and develop marine-mammal shows. In 1984, she published her book, Don’t Shoot the Dog: The New Art of Teaching and Training, an explanation of operant-conditioning procedures written for the general public.[23] In the book Pryor explains why punishment as a way to get people to change often fails, and describes specific positive methods for changing the behaviour of husbands, children and pets.[33] Pryor’s dog training materials and seminars showed how operant procedures can be used to provide training based on positive reinforcement of good behavior.[23] Pryor and Gary Wilkes introduced clicker training to dog trainers with a series of seminars in 1992 and 1993. Wilkes used aversives as well as rewards, and the philosophical differences soon ended the partnership.[34]

21st century

The 21st century has seen the proliferation of television programs and accompanying books that feature dog training and rehabilitation,[35] including Joel Silverman‘s Good Dog U, Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan, It’s Me or the Dog featuring Victoria Stillwell, The Underdog Show, Dogs in the City, and SuperFetch. The Association of Pet Dog Trainers advises that television programs are produced primarily for entertainment, and while all programs will have good and not-so-good points, the viewer should critically evaluate the information before deciding which training tips to adopt.[36]

How dogs learn

Operant conditioning

Reinforcement can be a game or toy, such as this tennis ball.

Operant conditioning (or instrumental conditioning) is a form of learning in which an individual’s behavior is modified by its consequences. Two complementary motivations drive instrumental learning: the maximization of positive outcomes and minimization of aversive ones.[37] There are two ways in which behavior is reinforced or strengthened: Positive Reinforcement occurs when a behavior is strengthened by producing some desirable consequence; negative reinforcement occurs when a behavior is strengthened by avoiding some undesirable consequence. There are two ways in which behavior is decreased or weakened: negative punishment occurs when a behavior is weakened by not producing a reinforcing consequence; and positive punishment occurs when a behavior is weakened by producing a consequence that is a disincentive. In combination, these basic reinforcing and punishing contingencies provide four ways for modifying behavior.[38] Reinforcement increases the relative probability or frequency of the behavior it follows, while Punishment decreases the relative probability or frequency of the behaviour it follows.

Typical positive reinforcement events will satisfy some physiological or psychological need, so it can be food, a game, or a demonstration of affection. Different dogs will find different things reinforcing. Negative reinforcement occurs when a dog discovers that a particular response ends the presentation of an aversive stimulus. An aversive is anything that the dog does not like, such as a tight choke chain.[39]

Punishment is operationally defined as an event that lowers the probability of the behavior that it follows. It is not “punishment” in the common sense of the word,[40] and does not mean physical or psychological harm and most certainly does not mean abuse. Punishment simply involves the presentation of an undesired consequence (positive punishment) when the wrong behavior is performed, such as a snap of the leash; or the removal of a desired consequence (negative punishment) when the wrong behavior is performed, such as the owner eating the cheese that would have been the reward.[41] A behavior that has previously been developed will cease if reinforcement stops. This is called extinction. A dog that paws its owner for attention will eventually stop if it no longer receives attention.[42]

Classical conditioning

Classical conditioning (or Pavlovian conditioning) is a form of learning in which one stimulus, the conditioned stimulus, comes to signal the occurrence of a second stimulus, the unconditioned stimulus.[43] Basically, classical conditioning is when a dog learns to associate things in its environment, or discovers some things just go together. A dog may become afraid of rain through an association with thunder and lightning, or it may respond to the owner putting on a particular pair of shoes by fetching its leash.[44] Classical conditioning is used in dog training to help a dog make specific associations with a particular stimulus, particularly in overcoming fear of people and situations.[45]

Non-associative learning

Non-associative learning is a change in a response to a stimulus that does not involve associating the presented stimulus with another stimulus or event such as reward or punishment.[46] Habituation is non-associative learning. An example is where a dog that reacts excitedly to a door bell is subjected to repeated ringing without accompanying visitors, and stops reacting to the meaningless stimuli. It becomes habituated to the noise.[47] On the other side of habituation, is sensitization. Some dogs’ reactions to the stimuli become stronger instead of them habituating to the repeated stimuli or event.[48] Desensitization is the process of pairing positive experiences with an object, person, or situation that causes fear or anxiety.[49] Consistent exposure to the feared object in conjunction with rewards allows the animal to become less stressed, thereby becoming desensitized in the process. This type of training can be effective for dogs who are fearful of fireworks.[50]

Learned irrelevance is where dogs that are over-exposed to a stimulus or cue learn the cue is irrelevant because the exposure has proven to be uneventful. So a dog owner who continually says “Sit, sit” without response or consequence, inadvertently teaches the dog to ignore the cue.[42]

Learned helplessness is where a dog just simply shuts down, in a situation where it has no option to avoid a negative event. For learned helplessness to occur, the event must be both traumatic and outside the dog’s control.[51] Family dogs that are exposed to unpredictable or uncontrolled punishment are at risk of developing disturbances associated with the learned helplessness disorder. Punishment which is poorly coordinated with identifiable avoidance cues or response options, such as when punishment takes place long after the event, meet the criteria of inescapable trauma.[41]

Social learning

Social learning is the learning that occurs through observing the behavior of others. This form of learning does not need reinforcement to occur; instead, a model is required. While the model may not be intentionally trying to instill any particular behavior, many behaviors that are observed are remembered and imitated.[52] The domestic dog is a social species and its social dependency makes it aware of the behavior of others, which contributes to his own behavior and learning abilities. There is, however, ongoing discussion about how much, and how, dogs can learn by interacting with each other and with people.[53]

The term “social learning” encompasses several closely related concepts: allelomimetic behavior or mimicking where, for example, puppies follow or copy others of their kind; social facilitation where the presence of another dog causes an increase in the intensity of a behaviour; and local enhancement which includes pieces of social facilitation, mimicking, and trial-and-error learning, but is different from true observational learning in that the dog actively participates in the behavior in the presence of the other dog and/or other environmental cues.[53] Four necessary conditions for observational learning are: attention, retention, motivation, and production. That is, the dog must pay attention to the dog or person performing the modelled behavior; retain the information gathered about the behavior during the observation; be motivated to reproduce the behavior in a time and place removed from the original; and finally, produce the behavior, or some reasonable facsimile thereof.[53]

A 1997 study conducted by Slabbert and Rasa determined that pups between the ages of 9–12 weeks who were permitted to observe their narcotics-detecting mothers at work generally proved more capable at learning the same skills at six months of age than control puppies the same age who were not previously allowed to watch their mothers working.[54] A 2001 study recorded the behaviour of dogs in detour tests, in which a favourite toy or food was placed behind a V-shaped fence. The demonstration of the detour by humans significantly improved the dogs’ performance in the trials. The experiments showed that dogs are able to rely on information provided by human action when confronted with a new task. Significantly, they did not copy the exact path of the human demonstrator, but adopted the detour behaviour shown by humans to reach their goal.[55] A 1977 experiment by Adler and Adler found that puppies who watched other puppies learn to pull a food cart into their cages by an attached ribbon proved considerably faster at the task when later given the opportunity themselves. At 38 days of age, the demonstrator puppies took an average of 697 seconds to succeed, while the observers succeeded in an average of 9 seconds.[56]

Training methods

Koehler method

Strictly following the model set out in the Koehler Method of Dog Training, some 50 years later, the Koehler method continues to be taught in both class and private training formats. The method is based in the philosophy that a dog acts on its right to choose its actions. Koehler explained that a dog’s learned behavior is an act of choice based on its own learning experience. When those choices are influenced by the expectation of reward, the behavior will most likely be repeated, and when those choices are influenced by the anticipation of punishment, they will most likely cease. Once the dog has learned that its choices result in comfort or discomfort it can be taught to make the correct decisions. Action→Memory→Desire encapsulates the learning pattern used by the method; the dog acts, remembers the consequences, and forms the desire to repeat or avoid those consequences. Adherents believe that once the behavior has been correctly taught, it should be performed, thus making any correction, fair, reasonable, and expected.[57] While the model has been used consistently since 1962, some of the punishment procedures described in the book are now not considered necessary, humane, or appropriate by many trainers.[23]

Motivational training

Purely positive or motivational training employs the use of rewards to reinforce good behavior, and ignores all bad behavior.[58] It is based in Thorndike’s Law of Effect, which says that actions that produce rewards tend to increase in frequency and actions that do not produce rewards decrease in frequency.[59]

Motivational training has its roots in captive animal training, where compulsion and corrections are both difficult and dangerous, and ignoring bad behavior is not problematic as the animal lives under controlled conditions. As a dog training strategy, purely positive training is feasible, but difficult, as it requires time and patience to control the rewards the dog receives for behavior. Some activities such as jumping up or chasing squirrels are intrinsically rewarding, the activity is its own reward, and with some activities the environment may provide reinforcement such as when the response from dog next door encourages barking.[58]

Ruff Love is one program based on the method. Stating that “positive is not permissive” the program controls the dog’s environment using crates, tethers, and head halters to ensure the dog has little opportunity for bad behaviour and to ensure that the owner delivers all reinforcements.[60]

Clicker training

Clicker-training using a metal cricket

Clicker training is a nickname given to a positive reinforcement training system based on operant conditioning. The system uses conditioned reinforcers which are able to be delivered more quickly and more precisely than primary reinforcers such as food. The term ‘clicker’ comes from a small metal cricket adapted from a child’s toy, however some trainers using the method use a whistle, a word, or even a light as the conditioned reinforcer.[61]

The basis of effective clicker training is precise timing to deliver the conditioned reinforcer at the same moment as the desired behaviour is offered. The clicker is used as a ‘bridge’ between the marking of the behaviour and the rewarding with a primary reinforcer such as a treat or a toy.[62] The behaviour can be elicited by ‘luring’ where a hand gesture or a treat is used to coax the dog to sit, for example; or by ‘shaping’ where increasingly closer approximations to the desired behaviour are reinforced; and by ‘capturing’ where the dog’s spontaneous offering of the behaviour is rewarded.[63] Once a behaviour is learnt and is on cue (command), the clicker and the treats are faded out.[64]

Clicker training uses no physical compulsion or corrections and uses almost entirely positive reinforcements. Some clicker trainers use mild corrections such as a “non reward marker”; an “Uhuh” or “Whoops” to let the dog know that the behaviour is not correct, or corrections such as a “Time out” where attention is removed from the dog.[65]

Electronic training

Electronic training involves the use of an electric shock as an aversive. Common forms are collars which can be triggered remotely, or that are triggered by barking, fencing that delivers a shock when a dog wearing a special collar crosses a buried wire, and mats that can be placed on furniture to deliver a shock. Some aids deliver an aversive such as a spray of citronella when triggered.[66] The use of electric shock aversives for training dogs is the subject of considerable controversy. Supporters claim that the use of electronic devices allows training at a distance and the potential to eliminate self-rewarding behaviour, and point out that properly used, they have less risk of stress and injury than mechanical devices, such as choke chains. Opponents cite the severe risks of physical and psychological trauma associated with incorrect or abusive use.[67]

In one study laboratory-bred Beagles were divided into three groups. Group A received an electric shock when the dogs touched the prey (a rabbit dummy fixed to a motion device). Group H received a shock when they did not obey a previously trained recall command during hunting. Dogs in group R received the electric shock arbitrarily, i.e. the shock was administered unpredictably and out of context. Group A did not show a significant rise in salivary cortisol levels, while group R and group H did show a significant rise. This led to the conclusion that animals which were able to clearly associate the electric stimulus with their action, i.e. touching the prey, and consequently were able to predict and control the stressor, did not show considerable or persistent stress indicators, while animals that were not able to control the situation to avoid the shock did show significant stress.[67]

In 2004 a study was published on German Shepherds trained for protection work using shock collars, which showed that although electronically trained dogs can excel as guard dogs, their behavior toward humans and work circumstances changed, often indicating heightened uncertainty and reactivity.[68]

Model-rival training

Based on the principles of social learning, model-rival training uses a model, or a rival for attention, to demonstrate the desired behaviour.[69] The method was used by Irene Pepperberg to train Alex the African Grey Parrot to label a large number of objects. McKinley and Young undertook a pilot study on the applicability of a modified version of the model-rival method to the training of domestic dogs, noting that the dog’s origins as a member of large and complex social groups promote observational learning. The model-rival training involved an interaction between the trainer, the dog, and a person acting as a model-rival, that is, a model for desired behaviour and a rival for the trainer’s attention. In view of the dog, a dialogue concerning a particular toy commenced between the trainer and the model-rival. The trainer praised or scolded the model-rival depending on whether the model-rival had named the toy correctly. It was found that the performance times for completion of the task were similar for dogs trained with either operant conditioning or the model rival method. In addition, the total training time required for task completion was comparable for both methods.[70]

A Hungarian dog training group called Népszigeti Kutyaiskola use a variation of model-rival training which they describe as the Mirror Method. The mirror method philosophy is that dogs instinctively learn by following the example of others in their social sphere. Core to the program is including the dog in all aspects of the owner’s life and positive reinforcement of copying behaviors. Mirror method dog training relies on using a dog’s natural instincts and inclinations rather than working against them.[71]

Dominance-based training

The concepts of “pack” and “dominance” in relation to dog training originated in the 1940s and were popularized by the Monks of New Skete in the 1970s. The model is based on a theory that “dogs are wolves” and since wolves live in hierarchical packs where an alpha male rules over everyone else, then humans must dominate dogs in order to modify their behavior.[72] However, recent studies have shown that wolves in the wild actually live in nuclear families where the father and mother are considered the pack leaders, and their offspring’s status depends on their birth order which does not involve fighting to attain a higher rank, because the young wolves naturally follow their parents’ lead.[73]

Animal behaviorists assert that using dominance to modify a behavior can suppress the behavior without addressing the underlying cause of the problem. It can exacerbate the problem and increase the dog’s fear, anxiety, and aggression. Dogs that are subjected to repeated threats may react with aggression not because they are trying to be dominant, but because they feel threatened and afraid.[74]

Researchers have described several reasons why the dominance model is a poor choice for dog training.[75] First, a relationship based on dominance is established to gain priority access to scarce resources, not to impose particular behaviors on the less dominant animal,[76] so the dominance model is irrelevant for most of the behaviors that people want from their dogs, such as coming when called or walking calmly on a leash.[75] Second dominance-submission relationships, once established, are constantly tested and must be regularly reinforced.[77] Thus people, particularly children and the elderly, may not be able to retain their rank and are at risk of being injured if they attempt to do so.[75] Third, dominant individuals gain priority access to resources, but only while they are present, establishing dominance over a dog does not guarantee its behavior when the dominant individual is distant or absent.[75]

Relationship-based training

Derived from the theories of symbolic interactionism, relationship based training exploits the patterns of communication, interpretation and adjustment between dogs and their trainers. Building on a positive relationship between them, the method sets out to achieve results that benefit both the dog and the trainer, while at the same time enhancing and strengthening their relationship. The basic principles include ensuring that the dog’s basic needs have been met before beginning a training session, finding out what motivates the dog and using it to elicit behaviours, interpreting the dog’s body language to improve communication between dog and trainer, using positive reinforcement to encourage desired behavior, training incompatible behaviors to replace unwanted behaviours, and controlling the dog’s environment to limit the possibility of unwanted behaviours.[78] A relationship-based approach to dog training is not reliant on using particular training aids or treats, the relationship is always there, and the connection between dog and trainer is sufficiently powerful to achieve the training goals.[79]

Factors

Training can take as many forms as there are trainers, however a detailed study of animal trainers found common characteristics of successful methods: thoughtful interpretation of what the animal does prior to training, accurate timing and consistent communication.[80]

Communication

Main article: Dog communication

Dogs have become closely associated with humans through domestication and have also become sensitive to human communicative signals. Generally, they have a lot of exposure to human speech, especially during play, and are believed to have a good ability to recognize human speech. Two studies investigated the ability of a single dog that was believed to be exceptional in its understanding of language. Both studies revealed the potential for at least some dogs to develop an understanding of a large number of simple commands on the basis of just the sounds emitted by their owners. However the studies suggested that visual cues from the owner may be important for the understanding of more complex spoken commands.[81]

Understanding

Main articles: Dog behavior and Dog intelligence

For any of these techniques, consistency of the owner’s training/behavior and level of engagement can influence the affectiveness of any technique applied.[82]

Innate characteristics

In considering the natural behaviours of specific breeds of dogs, it is possible to train them to perform specialised, highly useful, tasks. For example, Labrador retrievers are the favoured breed for the detection of explosives. This is because of a combination of factors including their food drive which enables them to keep focused on a task despite noise and other distractions. Most working breeds of dogs are able to be trained to find people with their sense of smell (as opposed to their sense of sight). Cocker Spaniels are able to be trained as part of a termite detection team. Their relatively small size enables them to fit into small spaces, and their light weight allows them to walk on areas of ceiling which would be dangerous to anything heavier. In fact, although unusual, termite detection dogs are much more reliable at detecting termites than humans who rely on a basic system of tapping and listening. Because of their ability to learn signals by sight and for their energetic and athletic natures, German Shepherds are able to be trained for work alongside search and rescue teams and human apprehension teams.[83]

Individualized and/or class training

Individualised training is used with dogs that have an urgent or unique training problem such as fear, hyperactivity, aggression (and other related problems), separation anxiety, biting, excessive barking, insecurity, destructive behaviors, walking difficulties, and inappropriate elimination.[84][85] This type of training would normally be undertaken where the problem naturally occurs rather than a class situation.

Class training can be effective in encouraging socialization and play with a peer group. Popular advocates of class training include Victoria Stillwell[86] and Ian Dunbar.[87]

Specialized training

Dogs are also trained for specific activities such as Competitive Obedience, CGC Certification, Agility, Herding, Tracking, and Flyball, and to undertake particular roles such as Detection dogs, Assistance dogs, Hunting dogs, Police dogs, Search and rescue dogs or Guard dogs.

Arthur Haggerty, who for forty years was the major supplier of trained dogs for the U.S. entertainment industry, advocated the teaching of tricks to pet dogs, explaining that dogs bred for active duty herding, guarding or hunting were unemployed in modern society. He believed that dogs that are bored or frustrated, and consequently badly behaved, would find a purpose, a stronger relationship with their owners, and a way of filling their idle hours in learning tricks.[88] Haggerty advocated working with the breed or the individual dog’s characteristics to teach tricks based on retrieving, scenting, vocalising and so on, publishing a trick aptitude chart for various dog breeds. He distinguished between tricks based on the dog’s normal behaviours (Kiss, Wag your Tail) and tricks that were taught. While Haggerty was publicly critical of trainers using total positive reinforcement for obedience training,[89] he encouraged food rewards for trick training.[88]

Tools

Training tools
Tool Definition
Training collar Also called the choke collar or check collar, the training collar is a length of metal-link chain with a large circular ring on either end. The chain is slid through one of these rings and it is slid over the dog’s head. When the dog displays an undesirable behavior the collar is snapped then released to get the dogs attention. This is primarily used where dog training includes leash corrections.
Prong collar or pinch collar The prong collar is made of metal links that fit together by connecting through long, blunt, teeth that point inward toward the dog’s neck. A section of this collar is made of a loop of chain links that tighten the collar when pulled, pinching the dog’s neck. Its purpose is to mimic a corrective “bite” that another dog would give. The use of these collars is controversial and is opposed by animal rights groups such as PETA. This collar is mainly used in punishment-based dog training and does yield results. Some dog training organisations will not allow members to use them, and they are prohibited by law in some places.[90]
Radio-controlled collars These consist of a radio receiver attached to the collar and a transmitter that the trainer holds. When triggered, the collar delivers an aversive. The specific aversives vary with different makes of collars. Some emit sounds, some vibrate, some release citronella or other aerosol sprays, some apply electrical stimulation. A few collars incorporate several of these. Of these, electrical stimulation is the most common and the most widely used. Early electrical collars provided only a single, high-level shock and were useful only to punish undesirable behavior.[91] Modern electrical collars are adjustable, allowing the trainer to match the stimulation level to the dog’s sensitivity and temperament. They deliver a measured level of aversive stimulation that produces significant discomfort and startle without risk of producing permanent physical injury when used correctly.[92] Shock collars are prohibited or restricted in some places.[93][94]
Martingale collar The martingale collar is a collar that has only a section on it that will tighten when pulled. It consists of the main collar piece, as well as a smaller chain or fabric loop where the leash attached. While they are now mainly used as a training collar, they were originally called Greyhound collars and used on breeds such as Sighthounds whose necks are as big around as their heads and can easily slip out of a flat buckle collar. The chain loop allows the collar to be loose and comfortable, but tightens if the dog attempts to back out of it.
Head collar The head collar is very similar to a halter on a horse. The theory it is that if you have control of the head, you have control of the body. The head collar generally consists of two loops, one behind the ears and the other over the nose. This tool makes it more difficult for the dog to pull on its leash. This is a management tool only, it does not train the dog not to pull.
No-pull harness The no-pull harness is worn on the body of the animal. The no-pull harness differs significantly from the standard harness since it makes it harder for the dog to pull because it distributes energy over the dog’s back and shoulders. The no-pull harness restricts the movement of the dog’s body when the dog pulls. Like the head collar, the no-pull harness does not teach the dog not to pull. It only makes it harder for the dog to pull. Harnesses are also used to train police dogs and offers resistance for the dog to pull on.
Dog bite tug Dog training bite tug is a tool usually used for prey drive and retrieve developing skills. It is used for police, military and Schutzhund dog training.

See also

  • Alpha roll
  • Bark (dog)
  • Conformation showing
  • Dog agility
  • Dog sports
  • List of dog trainers
  • Obedience training

General:

  • Animal cognition
  • Animal training
  • Ethology
  • Operant conditioning
  • Punishment (psychology)
  • Reinforcement
  • Reward system
  • Dog behaviorist

Notes

  1. Millan 2010, p. 33.
  2. Braslau-Schneck, Stacy (1998). “An Animal Trainer’s Introduction To Operant and Classical Conditioning”. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
  3. Millan 2010, p. 32.
  4. Burch 1999, p. 1.
  5. Millan 2010, p. 82.
  6. Hutchinson 2005, p.11.
  7. Millan 2010, p. 83.
  8. Most 1954, p. 7.
  9. Burch, Mary R; Duane Pickel (1990). “A toast to Most: Konrad Most, a 1910 pioneer in animal training”. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis 23 (2): 263–4. doi:10.1901/jaba.1990.23-263. PMC 1286234. PMID 16795731.
  10. Most 1954, p. 26.
  11. Millan 2010, p. 84.
  12. Bihm, Elson M.; J. Arthur Gillaspy, Jr. (1 June 2012). “Marian Breland Bailey (1920–2001)”. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture. The Central Arkansas Library System. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
  13. Bailey, R. E.; J. A. Gillaspy, Jr. (2005). “Operant Psychology Goes to the Fair: Marian and Keller Breland in the Popular Press, 1947–1966”. The Behavior Analyst 28 (2): 143–159. PMC 2755380. PMID 22478446.
  14. Tinbergen, N (1963). “On aims and methods of ethology”. Zeitschrift fur Tierpsychologie 20 (4): 410–433. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.1963.tb01161.x.
  15. Millan 2010, p. 87.
  16. Lorenz 1953, p. 43.
  17. Koehler 1962, p. 6.
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References

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This section lacks ISBNs for the books listed in it. Please make it easier to conduct research by listing ISBNs. If the {{Cite book}} or {{citation}} templates are in use, you may add ISBNs automatically, or discuss this issue on the talk page. (June 2013)
  • Burch, Mary R.; and Jon S. Bailey (1999). How Dogs Learn, New York: Howell Book House ISBN 0-8760-5371-1
  • Hearne, Vicki (1987). Adam’s Task: Calling Animals by Name, New York: Alfred A. Knopf ISBN 0-394-75530-8
  • Hutchinson, Lieut-Gen WN (1865). Dog Breaking for the Gun: The Most Expeditious, Certain and Easy Method, With Copious Notes on Shooting Sports, New York: Vintage Dog Books, 2005 ISBN 9-781-8466-4035-3
  • Lindsay, Steven R. (2000). Handbook of Applied Dog Behavior and Training, Vol 1, Adaptation and Learning, Iowa State Press
  • Lorenz, Konrad (1953). Man Meets Dog, (Marjorie Kerr Wilson, Trans.) Hagerstown, MA: Kodansha America, 1994
  • Marlo, Shelby (1999). New Art of Dog Training, Chicago: Contemporary Books, ISBN 0-8092-3170-0
  • McGreevy, P., and R. Boakes (2011). Carrots and Sticks: Principles of Animal Training, Sydney: Darlington Press
  • Millan, Cesar; and Melissa Jo Peltier (2010). Cesar’s Rules, New York: Three Rivers Press ISBN 978-0307716873
  • Monks of New Skete (1978). How to be Your Dog’s Best Friend: A Training Manual for Dog Owners, London : Little Brown
  • Most, K. (1954). Training Dogs, (J. Cleugh, Trans.), New York: Dogwise Publishing, 2001. ISBN 1-929242-00-X
  • Pryor, Karen (1984). Don’t Shoot the Dog: The New Art of Teaching and Training, New York: Bantam Books. ISBN 0-553-38039-7
  • Pryor, Karen (1999). Clicker Training for Dogs, London: Ringpress Books. ISBN 1-86054-282-4
  • Reid, Pamela J. (1996). Excel-Erated Learning, Explaining (in Plain English) How Dogs Learn and How Best to Teach Them, James & Kenneth Publishers.
  • Saunders, Blanche (1969). Training You to Train Your Dog, New York: Howell Book House. ISBN 0-876-05457-2
  • Scott, John P.; and John L. Fuller (1965). Genetics and the Social Behavior of the Dog, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  • Woodhouse, Barbara (1982). No Bad Dogs: the Woodhouse Way, New York, Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-54185-4
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