(b)lines Ask the Experts – Covering More Than All Bases for Notices

“Because of this complexity, it would be very burdensome and costly for us to decide which notices (such as universal availability, qualified default investment, summary annual reports, etc.) should go to specific portions of our employee population. Does sending all notices to all employees raise any issues?” 

David N. Levine, Groom Law Group, answers: 

While sending each of every type of notice to employees may be permissible, the experts advise caution in doing so. If you adopt this approach, you would want to carefully review how each notice describes the class of employees covered by the notice to inadvertently create assumptions (or even worse lawsuits from people who rely on a vague notice) in the minds of plan participants that could be cited as a basis for additional benefits or rights at a future date.