{"id":2960,"date":"2026-01-19T19:46:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T19:46:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fincmo.com\/hbl_staging\/?page_id=2960"},"modified":"2026-01-30T19:45:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T19:45:11","slug":"bargaining-down-pension-withdrawal-liability","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/fincmo.com\/hbl_staging\/case-studies\/bargaining-down-pension-withdrawal-liability\/","title":{"rendered":"Bargaining Down Pension Withdrawal Liability"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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This case study highlights how strategic legal analysis and pension negotiations significantly reduced withdrawal liability exposure for a construction company, delivering substantial cost savings while managing ongoing fiduciary and financial risk.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/article><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Home<\/div><\/a><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Bargaining Down Pension Withdrawal Liability<\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Bargaining Down Pension Withdrawal Liability<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Client: A Construction Company<\/h6>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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A Construction Company, a unionized entity participating in a multi-employer pension plan under collective bargaining agreements, sought to withdraw from the plan despite union agreement to cease contributions. Such withdrawals require payment of “withdrawal liability”\u2014an exit fee calculated by plan actuaries\u2014that can reach multimillions, causing sticker shock. Hall Benefits Law (HBL) partner Jean Yu scrutinized the actuaries’ assumptions, engaged independent experts, and negotiated with the plan, arguing legal points and economic factors for a reduction. This yielded a 25% discount\u2014exceeding the hoped-for 5%\u2014with the matter ongoing as the client pushes for more.<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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THE CHALLENGE<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The plan’s actuarial calculations imposed a multimillion-dollar withdrawal liability, even with union consent to exit. Challenging these fees risked rejection, while payment could strain finances, complicating the company’s transition away from the autonomous trust benefiting employee members.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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THE TURNING POINT\n<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Unwilling to accept the full liability, A Construction Company needed ERISA specialists to validate and negotiate reductions. Initial independent reviews confirmed reasonableness but opened doors for advocacy, prompting HBL’s engagement to leverage legal and market arguments.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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THE SOLUTION<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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HBL partner Jean Yu, supported by Anne Tyler Hall, Tim Kennedy, and Samuel Krause, analyzed the plan’s numbers and assumptions. After independent actuaries affirmed the base fee, Yu negotiated directly, citing legal precedents and current financial conditions to warrant a discount, surprisingly securing 25% off despite low expectations.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tOur Results\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>
25% Liability Discount Secured <\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tSubstantial Reduction\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\t\t\t\t
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Achieved a 25% discount on multimillion-dollar withdrawal liability, surpassing the anticipated 5%.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tLegal Advocacy Success\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\t\t\t\t
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Persuaded the plan through arguments on law and economics, avoiding outright rejection.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tClient Empowerment\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\t\t\t\t
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Positioned the company to pursue further reductions, with ongoing negotiations.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tOperational Freedom\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\t\t\t\t
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Enabled withdrawal without prohibitive costs, supporting union agreements and business flexibility.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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WHY IT MATTERS<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Multi-employer pension withdrawals can burden unionized firms with exorbitant fees, but expert scrutiny and negotiation can yield unexpected concessions. This case highlights the power of challenging actuarial assumptions and leveraging ERISA knowledge to reduce liabilities, aiding companies in restructuring benefits amid labor dynamics.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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ABOUT HBL\n<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Hall Benefits Law (HBL) is a boutique ERISA and employee benefits law firm helping employers design and defend retirement and health plans. With offices nationwide, HBL advises on M&A benefits, ESOPs, executive compensation, and compliance, and drives savings and transparency through TPA and PBM negotiations. Firm clients have realized over $400MM+ in penalty abatements and multimillion-dollar annual plan savings.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This case study highlights how strategic legal analysis and pension negotiations significantly reduced withdrawal liability exposure for a construction company, delivering substantial cost savings while managing ongoing fiduciary and financial risk. Home \/ Bargaining Down Pension Withdrawal Liability Client: A Construction Company A Construction Company, a unionized entity participating in a multi-employer pension plan under […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1951,"parent":1311,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2960","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fincmo.com\/hbl_staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fincmo.com\/hbl_staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fincmo.com\/hbl_staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fincmo.com\/hbl_staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fincmo.com\/hbl_staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2960"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/fincmo.com\/hbl_staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2960\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3228,"href":"https:\/\/fincmo.com\/hbl_staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2960\/revisions\/3228"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fincmo.com\/hbl_staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1311"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fincmo.com\/hbl_staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fincmo.com\/hbl_staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}