State of Maine
Dependent Care Reimbursement Plan
Effective 4/1/1993
UPDATED AND/OR AMENDED FOR THE PLAN YEAR COMMENCING JANUARY 1, 2013
PLAN NO. 500
Federal law requires that a dependent care reimbursement plan be in writing. This document has been prepared as a model only, to assist you in developing and adopting a written plan to meet this requirement. It is not intended to constitute financial, legal or tax advice or to be a substitute for consultation with a lawyer of your choosing. Once you adopt a written plan, the plan provisions will be legally binding on you, and the rights of participants and beneficiaries under the plan will be legally enforceable. Accordingly, H R Support & Consulting Services, Inc. provides this document on the understanding that it will be reviewed, and modified as necessary or desirable, by your own legal counsel.
H R Support & Consulting Services Inc. expressly disclaims all legal liability or responsibility for the applicability and appropriateness of this document for any particular situation. If you adopt this model document, whether or not modified by you or your counsel, your adoption constitutes your representation and warranty that you understand that you are fully responsible for the contents and legal and tax status of any written plan you adopt and that you have been advised by H R Support & Consulting Services, Inc. to obtain qualified legal counsel to review and implement the program described herein.
Table Of Contents Page
ARTICLE I INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE 3
ARTICLE II DEFINITIONS 3
ARTICLE III PARTICIPATION / ELIGIBILITY / WAITING PERIOD 4
3.1 ELIGIBILITY & WAITING PERIOD 4
3.2 TERMINATION OF PARTICIPATION 4
3.3 BENEFIT ELECTIONS 4
3.4 BENEFIT ELECTION CHANGES DURING THE PLAN YEAR 5
ARTICLE IV DEPENDENT CARE ACCOUNTS 5
4.1 ESTABLISHMENT OF DEPENDENT CARE ACCOUNT 5
4.2 REIMBURSEMENT ACCOUNT LIMITS 5
4.3 DEPENDENT CARE BENEFITS 5
4.4 MAXIMUM BENEFITS 5
4.5 ADJUSTMENTS 5
4.6 TERMINATIONS 5
4.7 FORFEITURES 5
ARTICLE V ADMINISTRATION OF THE PLAN 5
5.1 APPOINTMENT OF THE PLAN ADMINISTRATOR 5
5.2 RESIGNATION AND REMOVAL 5
5.3 POWERS AND DUTIES; ACTION CONCLUSIVE 6
5.4 RESTRICTIONS 6
5.5 RECORDS AND REPORTS 6
5.6 DISCLOSURE 6
5.7 UNIFORMITY OF RULES, REGULATIONS AND INTERPRETATIONS 6
5.8 RELIANCE ON REPORTS 6
5.9 SIGNATURES 6
5.10 COMPENSATION AND EXPENSES 6
5.11 COMPLIANCE WITH THE CODE 6
5.12 FIDUCIARY DUTIES 6
ARTICLE VI CLAIMS PROCEDURES 7
6.1 CLAIMS ADMINISTRATION 7
6.2 DEADLINE FOR FILING A CLAIM 7
6.3 PROCEDURES FOR CLAIMS FILED ON OR AFTER JANUARY 1, 2002 7
ARTICLE VII AMENDMENT AND TERMINATION 7
7.1 AMENDMENT OF PLAN 7
7.2 TERMINATION OF PLAN 7
7.3 TIME AND MANNER 7
ARTICLE VIII MISCELLANEOUS 7
8.1 FUNDING 7
8.2 INDEMNIFICATION 7
8.3 EMPLOYMENT 7
8.4 EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT 7
8.5 NONALIENATION 7
8.6 INCOMPETENCY 8
8.7 DESIGNATION OF BENEFICIARY 8
8.8 MISSING PAYEE 8
8.9 NO GUARANTEE OF TAX CONSEQUENCES 8
8.10 TITLES AND HEADINGS; SEVERABILITY 8
8.11 APPLICABLE LAW 8
State of Maine
Dependent Care Reimbursement Plan
ARTICLE I
INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE
State of Maine (“Employer”) has established the State of Maine Dependent Care Reimbursement Plan (“Plan”) for the exclusive benefit of its eligible employees and to provide such employees with specified dependent care reimbursement benefits. The Plan, as set forth herein, was effective 4/1/1993. The Plan is currently being updated and/or amended for the Plan Year commencing January 1, 2013 and shall be applicable only to those employees who qualify as eligible employees on or after such date.
The Plan is intended to meet the requirements of Section 129 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (“Code”), and to operate in conjunction with the State of Maine Cafeteria Plan so that Benefits paid under this Plan will be eligible for exclusion from gross income to the maximum extent possible under Sections 125 and 129 of the Code. The terms and conditions of the Cafeteria Plan are incorporated by reference into this Plan to the extent set forth in this document.
ARTICLE II
DEFINITIONS
Each word and phrase defined in this Article shall have the following meaning whenever such word or phrase is capitalized and used herein, unless a different meaning is clearly required by the context of the Plan. Wherever used herein, the singular shall include the plural and the plural shall include the singular, and each of the masculine, feminine and neuter shall include the other genders, except where the context clearly requires otherwise.
2.1 ANNUAL MAXIMUM AMOUNT means, with respect to a Participant for any Plan Year, the least of:
(a) five thousand dollars ($5,000), if the Participant is unmarried or is married and files a joint return with his or her spouse for federal income tax purposes; or two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500), if the Participant is married and files a separate return from his or her spouse for federal income tax purposes;
(b) if the Participant has a spouse who participates in a dependent care assistance program described in Code Section 129, and the Participant files a joint return with his or her spouse for federal income tax purposes, five thousand dollars ($5,000) reduced (but not to less than zero dollars ($0)) by the amount of employer contributions (including any salary reduction amounts and the value determined under Code Section 129(e)(8) of any on-site facility) made to such dependent care assistance program for the benefit of the spouse; and
(c) the earned income (within the meaning of Code Section 129(e)(2)) of the Participant if the Participant is unmarried, or the lesser of the earned incomes (within the meaning of Code Section 129(e)(2)) of the Participant and his or her spouse, if the Participant is married; provided that, in the event the Participant's spouse is a full-time student or incapable of caring for himself or herself, the spouse's earned income for purposes of this paragraph (b) shall be determined pursuant to Code Section 21(d)(2).
Whether a Participant is married for purposes of this Section shall be determined pursuant to all applicable provisions of Code Section 21(e).
Notwithstanding the foregoing to the contrary, the term “Annual Maximum Amount" also means any other amount that may be established by the Plan Administrator with respect to a Plan Year, on a uniform and nondiscriminatory basis and in accordance with applicable law, as the maximum amount of Benefits that a Participant may elect to receive under the Plan for Qualifying Dependent Care Expenses incurred during the Plan Year.
2.2 BENEFIT means reimbursement for Qualifying Dependent Care Expenses paid to a Participant from the Participant’s Dependent Care Account.
2.3 BENEFIT ACCOUNT DOLLARS means Benefit Account Dollars under the Cafeteria Plan.
2.4 BENEFIT ELECTION means a Benefit Election under the Cafeteria Plan.
2.5 BOARD OF DIRECTORS means the Board of Directors of State of Maine. The term “Board of Directors” also means any person or persons to whom the Board of Directors delegates all or part of its authority under the Plan.
2.6 CAFETERIA PLAN means the State of Maine Cafeteria Plan effective 4/1/1993, as amended from time to time.
2.7 CODE means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and the regulations issued thereunder, as amended from time to time.
2.8 CONTRACT ADMINISTRATOR means H R Support & Consulting Services, to the extent of the authority and responsibility to perform claims administration and other duties under the Plan conferred by the Administrative Services Agreement.
2.9 CONTRIBUTIONS means Benefit Account Dollars paid by the Employer to a Participant’s Dependent Care Account.
2.10 DEPENDENT means a Participant's spouse and any of the following individuals who depends on the Participant for more than one half (½) of his or her support during the Plan Year:
(a) his or her son or daughter, a descendent of either, or stepson or stepdaughter;
(b) his or her father or mother, an ancestor, brother or sister of either, or stepfather or stepmother;
(c) his or her brother or sister, a son or daughter of either, or stepbrother or stepsister;
(d) his or her son-in-law, daughter-in-law, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law or sister-in-law; or
(e) any other individual whose principal residence is with the Participant and who is a member of the Participant's household during such Plan Year.
Whether any individual is a Dependent of a Participant shall be determined in accordance with all applicable provisions of Code Section 152.
2.11 DEPENDENT CARE ACCOUNT means a bookkeeping reserve established pursuant to Article IV and setting forth the amount available to a Participant in the Plan for reimbursement of Qualifying Dependent Care Expenses.
2.12 EFFECTIVE DATE means 4/1/1993.
2.13 ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEE means any benefit eligible Employee under the Cafeteria Plan. The determination of an individual's employment status for all purposes under the Plan shall be made by the Employer in accordance with its standard classifications and employment practices, which shall be nondiscriminatorily applied and communicated to its Employees, and without regard to the classification or re-classification of the individual by any other party.
2.14 EMPLOYER means State of Maine and any Affiliated Employer (within the meaning of the Cafeteria Plan) that adopts this Plan with the consent of State of Maine.
2.15 ERISA means the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, and the regulations issued thereunder, as amended from time to time.
2.16 PARTICIPANT means a benefit eligible Employee who participates in the Plan as provided in Article III. Except as otherwise required by the context, the term “Participant” also means an Eligible Employee making a Benefit Election for participation in the Plan.
2.17 PLAN means the State of Maine Dependent Care Reimbursement Plan as set forth herein.
2.18 PLAN ADMINISTRATOR means the person or committee appointed in accordance with Section 5.1 to administer the Plan, and also means any person or persons to whom the Plan Administrator delegates all or part of its authority hereunder.
2.19 PLAN YEAR means the period beginning on the Effective Date and ending on December 31st. For all subsequent years, the Plan Year means a twelve consecutive month period beginning each January 1st.
2.20 QUALIFYING DEPENDENT CARE EXPENSES means, except as may be otherwise provided in Section 129(e)(1) of the Code, expenses incurred by a Participant during a Plan Year (a) for the care of a Qualifying Individual, or for related household services, and (b) to enable the Participant to be gainfully employed for any period for which there are one or more such Qualifying Individuals with respect to the Participant, but only to the extent that the Participant is not reimbursed for such expenses through insurance or otherwise under any dependant care assistance program other than this Plan. If such expenses are incurred for services provided outside the Participant's household by a dependent care center (as defined in Code Section 21(b)(2)(D)), they shall be deemed to be Qualifying Dependent Care Expenses only if such center meets all applicable laws and regulations of the applicable State or unit of local government.
In no event shall the term "Dependent Care Expenses" include any amount paid for services outside the Participant's household at a camp where the Qualifying Individual stays overnight or any amount paid to an individual with respect to whom, for the Plan Year, a deduction is allowable under Code Section 151(c) to such Participant or the spouse of such Participant, or who is a child of such Participant (within the meaning of Code Section 151(c)(3)) under age nineteen (19) at the close of the Plan Year.
For purposes of this Section, the term “Qualifying Individual” means (a) a Participant's Dependent who is under age thirteen (13) and with respect to whom the Participant is entitled to a deduction under Section 151(c) of the Code, or (b) a Participant's spouse or Dependent who is physically or mentally incapable of caring for himself or herself.
Each Participant submitting a claim for reimbursement of dependent care expenses shall be responsible for determining that such expenses constitute Qualifying Dependent Care Expenses as defined herein.
ARTICLE III
PARTICIPATION / ELIGIBILITY / WAITING PERIOD
3.1 ELIGIBILITY & WAITING PERIOD. Each benefit eligible employee, classified as part or full time (as defined by The State of Maine's Personnel Policies), regularly scheduled to work a minimum of 8 hours per week over a 12-month period, excluding seasonal or temporary employees, shall be eligible to participate in the Plan on the first of the month following 60-days of employment.
3.2 TERMINATION OF PARTICIPATION. An Eligible Employee’s participation in the Plan shall cease as of the date the Plan terminates, unless his or her participation ends on an earlier date in accordance with the terms of the Plan. Whenever a Participant ceases to be an Eligible Employee for any reason, he or she shall cease participation in the Plan, and his or her eligibility for Benefits and receipt of Benefit Account Dollars under the Plan shall cease, all as of the date on which he or she ceased being an Eligible Employee. Whenever a Participant makes (or is deemed to make) a Benefit Election for no participation in the Plan, he or she shall cease participation in the Plan, and his or her eligibility for Benefits and receipt of Benefit Account Dollars under the Plan shall cease, all as of the effective date of such election. A former Participant may submit claims for Benefits with respect to Qualifying Dependent Care Expenses pursuant to Article 4.6.
3.3 BENEFIT ELECTIONS. Each Eligible Employee may elect, in his or her initial and subsequent Benefit Elections under the Cafeteria Plan, to participate in the Plan for the applicable Plan Year or may decline such participation. An election to receive Benefits for a Plan Year shall specify the amount of such benefits, which may not be more than the Participant’s Annual Maximum Amount. Annual enrollment shall be held prior to the commencement of each Plan Year, in accordance with the terms and provisions of the Cafeteria Plan for Benefit Elections. At each annual enrollment, an Eligible Employee may change his or her election with respect to coverage under the Plan, subject to the further provisions of the Plan. In the event that the Eligible Employee fails to make an effective Benefit Election within the applicable time period under the Cafeteria Plan, he or she shall be deemed to have elected not to participate in the Plan for the applicable Plan Year.