If part of your role in HR is administering a pension plan, there are probably hidden dangers of which you are not aware. The nature of pension plans is such that problems tend to remain hidden for years, often decades, before finally surfacing. These lurking dangers are often difficult to remedy after the passage of so much time, and may result in litigation against the plan sponsor (the organization), the administrator, and anyone else involved in the management of the plan.

Essentially, plan administrators can get in trouble in two different ways. For want of better terms, we will call them pratfalls and pitfalls. Pratfalls are the most obvious errors. These are the sins of commission, where the plan administrator, or its delegates, acts in ways contrary to their basic duty. Pitfalls are more common, and more insidious. These are the sins of omission, where to fulfill its duty, the plan administrator needs to act, or have its delegates act, and instead does nothing, or not enough.

For an in-depth look at 4 major pitfalls and 7 common pratfalls of plan administration, download a copy of our paper, “Tiptoeing through the minefield” by Robin Pond, Senior Investment Consultant from Buck Consultants.