As advisors to clients with non-English speaking employees, we are occasionally asked about the requirements for providing benefit plan information in languages other than English, such as the following:

"We run a mid-sized manufacturing company in West Michigan and employ a number of individuals who are only literate in a foreign language.  Our company sponsors and administers a 401(k) plan and distributes a summary plan description (SPD) to all participants.  As plan administrator, are we required to provide foreign speaking participants with a translated SPD?"

The answer isn't quite as simple as a yes or no, but the solution is relatively easy to calculate.

ERISA does not require SPDs to be translated into languages other than English, but if your 401(k) plan covers a certain minimum number of participants who are only literate in the same foreign language, you are required to provide language assistance to those participants.  Specifically, for plans with fewer than 100 participants as of the beginning of the plan year, the language assistance requirement applies if 25% or more of participants are literate only in a particular foreign language. For plans with 100 or more participants as of the beginning of the plan year, the language assistance requirement applies if the lesser of 500 participants or 10% of the total number of participants are literate only in a particular foreign language. 

If the language assistance requirement applies, then the SPD must contain a notice in the applicable foreign language, prominently featured, informing participants of where they can obtain additional assistance in that language.  The Department of Labor has provided a model notice, which is available on its web site.

According to ERISA regulations, the language assistance need not involve written materials, but must be "calculated to provide [the non-English speakers] with a reasonable opportunity to become informed as to their rights and obligations under the plan."  This will certainly require a contact person fluent in the applicable foreign language that is capable of accurately informing the participants of their rights and obligations under the plan.  Many employers call upon employees who are fluent in both English and the foreign language to become the contact person. They are typically asked to help out at benefit meetings, where the rapid flow of a presentation or give-and-take of a question-and-answer session can sometimes be hard to follow.