Rules Eased on Troubled-Pension Reports : Labor: Companies no longer have to file with the PBGC if the information is available elsewhere. The change draws criticism.

Companies with troubled employee pension plans no longer have to file reports on the funds’ finances with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. if the information is available from other U.S. agencies, according to new rules.

The rules, which apply to groups of companies that jointly operate employee pension plans, permit firms to file information on pension underfunding with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other federal agencies, without filing the reports with the PBGC, an agency under the supervision of the Labor Department.

A pension advocacy group opposes the changes, saying they make it difficult for employees and others to determine when their promised pension benefits are at risk.

“Less than 100 corporate groups are likely to meet the reporting criteria,” which require reports when plans are underfunded by $50 million or more or when companies miss a pension fund contribution or obtain a waiver for a scheduled fund contribution of more than $1 million.

The rule change “eliminated the reporting requirement where the information is publicly available from other federal agencies,” the PBGC said. That will “make it easier for companies to provide the information.”

The PBGC rules were also designed to simplify how companies calculate whether they are underfunded by $50 million or more; they are granted a 10-day grace period before a scheduled contribution is considered delinquent.

Also, some companies within a group will be able to avoid reporting if they account for 5% or less of the group’s revenue, operating income and net assets, the new rules say.

The Pension Rights Center said permitting companies to file reports of pension plan weakness in any of an array of federal agencies, rather than a central repository, will make it difficult to check up on companies with underfunded plans.