U.S. Code » Title 29 » Chapter CHAPTER 18— EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT INCOME SECURITY PROGRAM › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER III— PLAN TERMINATION INSURANCE › Subtitle Subtitle E— Special Provisions for Multiemployer Plans › Part part 1— employer withdrawals

29 U.S.C. § 1388

Reduction of partial withdrawal liability

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(a) Obligation of employer for payments for partial withdrawal for plan years beginning after the second consecutive plan year following the partial withdrawal year; criteria applicable; furnishing of bond in lieu of payment of partial withdrawal liability(1) If, for any 2 consecutive plan years following the plan year in which an employer has partially withdrawn from a plan under section 1385(a)(1) of this title (referred to elsewhere in this section as the “partial withdrawal year”), the number of contribution base units with respect to which the employer has an obligation to contribute under the plan for each such year is not less than 90 percent of the total number of contribution base units with respect to which the employer had an obligation to contribute under the plan for the high base year (within the meaning of section 1385(b)(1)(B)(ii) of this title), then the employer shall have no obligation to make payments with respect to such partial withdrawal (other than delinquent payments) for plan years beginning after the second consecutive plan year following the partial withdrawal year.(2)(A) For any plan year for which the number of contribution base units with respect to which an employer who has partially withdrawn under section 1385(a)(1) of this title has an obligation to contribute under the plan equals or exceeds the number of units for the highest year determined under paragraph (1) without regard to “90 percent of”, the employer may furnish (in lieu of payment of the partial withdrawal liability determined under section 1386 of this title) a bond to the plan in the amount determined by the plan sponsor (not exceeding 50 percent of the annual payment otherwise required).(B) If the plan sponsor determines under paragraph (1) that the employer has no further liability to the plan for the partial withdrawal, then the bond shall be cancelled.(C) If the plan sponsor determines under paragraph (1) that the employer continues to have liability to the plan for the partial withdrawal, then—(i) the bond shall be paid to the plan,(ii) the employer shall immediately be liable for the outstanding amount of liability due with respect to the plan year for which the bond was posted, and(iii) the employer shall continue to make the partial withdrawal liability payments as they are due.(b) Obligation of employer for payments for partial withdrawal for plan years beginning after the second consecutive plan year; other criteria applicableIf—(1) for any 2 consecutive plan years following a partial withdrawal under section 1385(a)(1) of this title, the number of contribution base units with respect to which the employer has an obligation to contribute for each such year exceeds 30 percent of the total number of contribution base units with respect to which the employer had an obligation to contribute for the high base year (within the meaning of section 1385(b)(1)(B)(ii) of this title,11 So in original. Probably should be “title),”. and(2) the total number of contribution base units with respect to which all employers under the plan have obligations to contribute in each of such 2 consecutive years is not less than 90 percent of the total number of contribution base units for which all employers had obligations to contribute in the partial withdrawal plan year;then, the employer shall have no obligation to make payments with respect to such partial withdrawal (other than delinquent payments) for plan years beginning after the second such consecutive plan year.(c) Pro rata reduction of amount of partial withdrawal liability payment of employer for plan year following partial withdrawal year

In any case in which, in any plan year following a partial withdrawal under section 1385(a)(1) of this title, the number of contribution base units with respect to which the employer has an obligation to contribute for such year equals or exceeds 110 percent (or such other percentage as the plan may provide by amendment and which is not prohibited under regulations prescribed by the corporation) of the number of contribution base units with respect to which the employer had an obligation to contribute in the partial withdrawal year, then the amount of the employer’s partial withdrawal liability payment for such year shall be reduced pro rata, in accordance with regulations prescribed by the corporation.

(d) Building and construction industry; entertainment industry(1) An employer to whom section 1383(b) 22 See References in Text note below. of this title (relating to the building and construction industry) applies is liable for a partial withdrawal only if the employer’s obligation to contribute under the plan is continued for no more than an insubstantial portion of its work in the craft and area jurisdiction of the collective bargaining agreement of the type for which contributions are required.(2) An employer to whom section 1383(c) 2 of this title (relating to the entertainment industry) applies shall have no liability for a partial withdrawal except under the conditions and to the extent prescribed by the corporation by regulation.(e) Reduction or elimination of partial withdrawal liability under any conditions; criteria; procedures applicable(1) The corporation may prescribe regulations providing for the reduction or elimination of partial withdrawal liability under any conditions with respect to which the corporation determines that reduction or elimination of partial withdrawal liability is consistent with the purposes of this chapter.(2) Under such regulations, reduction of withdrawal liability shall be provided only with respect to subsequent changes in the employer’s contributions for the same operations, or under the same collective bargaining agreement, that gave rise to the partial withdrawal, and changes in the employer’s contribution base units with respect to other facilities or other collective bargaining agreements shall not be taken into account.(3) The corporation shall prescribe by regulation a procedure by which a plan may by amendment adopt rules for the reduction or elimination of partial withdrawal liability under any other conditions, subject to the approval of the corporation based on its determination that adoption of such rules by the plan is consistent with the purposes of this chapter.(Pub. L. 93–406, title IV, § 4208, as added Pub. L. 96–364, title I, § 104(2), Sept. 26, 1980, 94 Stat. 1224.)Editorial NotesReferences in Text

“Section 1383(b) of this title” and “section 1383(c) of this title”, referred to in subsec. (d), were in the original “section 4202(b)” and “section 4202(c)”, respectively, meaning section 4202(b) and section 4202(c) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and were editorially translated as the probable intent of Congress in view of section 4202 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, which is classified to section 1382 of this title, not having subsection designations and the subject matter of section 4203 of the Act which is classified to section 1383 of this title.

This chapter, referred to in subsec. (e)(1), (3), was in the original “this Act”, meaning Pub. L. 93–406, known as the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. Titles I, III, and IV of such Act are classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 1001 of this title and Tables.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 9 cases (4 in the last 5 years), 1992–2025 · leading case: Sofco Erectors, Inc. v. Trustees of the Ohio Operating Eng'rs Pension Fund
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Sofco Erectors, Inc. v. Trustees of the Ohio Operating Eng'rs Pension Fund (2021) ca6 · cites it 4× “” 29 U.S.C. § 1388 (d)(1). The Fund determined that Sofco had partially withdrawn from the fund in 2011, 2012, and 2013 because Sofco’s contributions had fallen by more than 70% in those years.”
Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Fund v. Robinson Cartage Co. (1994) ilnd · cites it 2× “Robinson objected, arguing that partial withdrawal liability should not have been assessed against it because it was exempt from liability as a construction industry employer under 29 U.S.C. § 1388 (d). 2 To qualify for this exemption, Robinson had to show that “substantially…”
Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Fund v. Robinson Cartage Co. (1995) ca7 · cites it 2× “Robinson contested this assessment, claiming that it was immune from partial withdrawal liability under an exemption for construction industry employers found under 29 U.S.C. § 1388 (d). The ease was submitted to arbitration and the arbitrator ruled that Robinson was exempt from…”
Galgay v. Beaverbrook Coal Co. (1997) ca3 “The issues appellant raises are legal questions over which we exercise plenary review; we will consider each in turn.”
Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. v. Carman (1992) paed · cites it 2× “” Section 4208(a)(1), codified at 29 U.S.C. § 1388 (a)(1). The general provision also permits “the reduction or elimination of partial withdrawal liability under any conditions with respect to which the corporation determines that reduction or elimination of partial withdrawal…”
Trustees of the Teamsters Union No. 142 Pension Fund v. Correct Construction, Inc. (2022) innd “2 The arguments raised for arbitration include whether Correct’s alleged status as a “construction industry employer” forecloses its liability pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 1388 (d), whether the Fund’s claim is “frivolous” and irreparably harmful to Correct, and whether there were…”
Nevada Resort Assocation - International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and Moving Picture Machine Operators of (2024) nvd “See 29 U.S.C. § 1388 (d). But the act doesn’t define this threshold either, and no court has interpreted it to set one.”
Sofco Erectors, Inc. v. Trustees, Ohio Operating Engineers Pension Fund (2020) ohsd “The actuary then stated that under “Section 4208(d)(1) of ERISA [ 29 U.S.C. § 1388 (d)(1)], for construction industry employers in construction industry plans, partial withdrawal liability is assessable when work continued for an insubstantial portion of the employer’s work in…”
Perfection Bakeries Inc v. Retail Wholesale & Dept Store International Union (2025) ca11 “” 29 U.S.C. § 1388 (a)(1). Because the statute expressly contemplates changes to “withdrawal liability” af- ter it is calculated, there is nothing odd about applying the partial withdrawal credit in subsection 1386(b) in the same way.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.