16PBGC25Q0057_Attachment_1_-_Statement_of_Work.pdf
PDF 409 KB Posted
- Attached to
- Benefit Connect Licenses Federal contract opportunity
- Solicitation number
- 16PBGC25Q0057
- Issued by
- Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
About this file
This Statement of Work (SOW) details a sole-source contract for Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) to obtain Benefit Connect (BC) licenses from Willis Towers Watson (WTW) for managing the Sears Pension Plans. The contract requires providing 10 read-only user licenses, system support, data center cloud migration assistance, monthly maintenance, SOC1 user access reviews, and three hours of monthly system administration support. Additionally, WTW must provide historical pension plan data, including full case master tables, PDF calculation audits, and payment amount tables for approximately 90,000 participants in two Sears pension plans.
The deliverables are structured across multiple contract line items (CLINs) with specific timelines: 10 licenses must be provided within five business days of award, monthly status reports are due on the first workday of each month, and the additional historical data must be delivered using secured file methods no later than 180 days after contract award. The contract supports PBGC's Office of Benefits Administration in completing participant data reviews, valuations, and benefit determination letters for the Sears pension plans, which were formally trusteed by PBGC in February 2019.
View the file
Other files for this federal contract opportunity
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| Sol_16PBGC25Q0057_Amd_0002.pdf | ||
| 16PBGC25Q0057 0002 Attachment 4 - Question and Answer_Final.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet | |
| Sol_16PBGC25Q0057_Amd_0001_signed.pdf | ||
| Sol_16PBGC25Q0057_Amd_0001.pdf | ||
| 16PBGC25Q0057_Attachment_2_-__Pricing_Schedule.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet | |
| 16PBGC25Q0057_Attachment_5_-_Sole_Source_Justification_Redacted.pdf | ||
| 16PBGC25Q0057_Attachment_4_-__Question_and_Answer_Template.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet | |
| Sol_16PBGC25Q0057.pdf | ||
| Attachment_3_-_OCI_Statement_Updated_05_20_2025.docx | DOCX document |
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Text version
SECTION 1
STATEMENT OF WORK
1.1 BACKGROUND
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) protects the retirement incomes of over 31 million American workers in private sector defined benefit pension plans. A defined benefit plan provides a specified monthly benefit at retirement, often based on a combination of salary and years of service.
PBGC was created by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to encourage the continuation and maintenance of private sector defined benefit pension plans, provide timely and uninterrupted payment of pension benefits, and keep pension insurance premiums at a minimum.
The Office of Benefits Administration (OBA) at PBGC manages the termination process for defined benefit plans, provides participant services (including calculation and payment of benefits) for PBGC-trusteed plans, provides actuarial support for PBGC, and carries out PBGC's responsibilities under settlement agreements.
The Plan Asset and Data Management Department (PADMD) administers the Office of Benefits Administration’s (OBA’s) plan asset evaluations, participant data and records management programs by using auditor judgement and other analytical procedures; oversee the preservation of evidence supporting individual participant calculations and financial reporting.
The Actuarial Services and Technology Department (ASTD) within OBA provides actuarial oversight and expertise supporting PBGC benefit calculation, valuation, and administration as well as providing programmatic management, technical support, and quality assurance for OBA systems.
PBGC (OBA) formally trusteed the single-employer pension plans for Sears (Sears Holdings Pension Plan 1 (#23148400) and 2 (#23148500)), respectively, on February 11, 2019. The plans contain approximately 30,000 and 60,000 participants, respectively, and both are priority cases in OBA’s plan inventory. Due to the size of both plans, the Sears work overall is a Corporate Priority. Continued prioritization of the Sears plans will allow OBA to actively work the plans to completion (participant data reviews, valuations, benefit determination letter issuance, etc.) as quickly as possible, in order for OBA to continue to reduce the unissued benefit determination inventory. By issuing more-timely Benefit Determinations (BDs) letters to participants in plans, OBA will continue to work towards meeting its mission and the key priorities stated in the PBGC Strategic Plan (FY '22-'26) and PBGC Strategic Goal 2.
Willis Towers Watson (“WTW”) was responsible for benefit administration and actuarial services for both Sears plans prior to trusteeship by PBGC. Benefit Connect (“BC”), WTW’s historical benefit administration support software system for the Sears plans, provides PBGC access for gathering, reviewing and analyzing participant data and working towards completion of the audit and actuarial deliverables within OBA for the Sears plans.
1.2 SCOPE
The contractor shall provide Benefit Connect (BC) licenses along with the required system support, enabling PBGC staff to utilize the benefit administration support system. This system must grant PBGC personnel access to essential data in BC for conducting research, executing benefit calculations, and managing benefits for approximately 90,000 participants in the Sears Pension plans.
1.3 OBJECTIVE
The objective of this contract is to obtain BC licenses to gain access to the WTW benefit administration and actuarial support system.
1.4 REQUIREMENTS
The Benefit Administration Support Licenses shall include the following specifications:
a) Provide read-only access to 10 PBGC users to the BenefitConnect system.
b) The contractor shall host and maintain the database BenefitConnect core system release consumption to absorb any security patches that are included in a core release or are dependent on being current on releases.
c) Provide system support for data center Cloud migration activities which are required for BenefitConnect hosting.
d) Data center hosting fees.
e) Provide monthly maintenance activities.
f) Provide monthly and quarterly SOC1 user access reviews and compliance.
g) Provide three hours per month of system and administration resource support outside of the above activities.
1.4.1 ADDITIONAL BENEFIT CONNECT DATA
These services will provide PBGC with any remaining relevant historical Benefit Connect data for the Sears Plan from WTW, that is not available with PBGC’s current licensing access to Benefit Connect, including the following:
a) The full case master, case notes and case activity tables from BenefitConnect for the Sears Plans.
b) Full PDF version of the calculation audit containing the calculation information in Benefit
Connect for the Sears Plans.
c) Full download of the payment amount table from Benefit Connect for the Sears Plans
The additional data would complete the migration of full copies of the relevant pension data files within Benefit Connect for the Sears Plans.
2.5 DELIVERABLES SCHEDULE
Deliverable Description Quantity/Media Due Date
2.5.1 Provide 10 licenses with
unique ID and password
Digital copy sent via email.
NLT five (5) business days after time of award.
2.5.2 Monthly Status Report
capturing activities during the month.
Digital copy sent to COR and CO.
1st workday of the month.
2.5.1 DELIVERABLES SCHEDULE FOR ADDITIONAL BENEFIT CONNECT DATA
Deliverable Description Quantity/Media Due Date
2.5.3 The full case master, case notes and case activity tables from Benefit Connect for the Sears Plans
Delivery using secured file method, depending upon size of the files (ex.
LeapFile or secure external hard drive delivery to PBGC) to
COR.
NLT 180 days after the award.
2.5.4 Full PDF version of the
calculation audit containing the calculation information in Benefit Connect for the Sears Plans
Delivery using secured file method, depending upon size of the files (ex.
LeapFile or secure external hard drive delivery to PBGC) to
COR.
NLT 180 days after the award.
2.5.5 Full download of the
payment amount table from Benefit Connect for the Sears Plans
Delivery using secured file method, depending upon size of the files (ex.
LeapFile or secure external hard drive delivery to PBGC) to
COR.
NLT 180 days after the award.
The Contractor shall provide the following services in accordance with the Pricing Schedule (for CLINs 0001 and 1001):
Deliverable Description Quantity/Media Due Date
2.5.1 Provide 10 licenses with
unique ID and password
Digital copy sent via email.
NLT five (5) business days after time of award (TOA).
2.5.2 Monthly Status Report
capturing activities during the month.
Digital copy sent to COR and CO.
1st workday of the month.
The Contractor shall provide the following services in accordance with the Pricing Schedule (for
CLIN 0002):
Deliverable Description Quantity/Media Due Date
2.5.3 The full case master, case notes and case activity tables from Benefit Connect for the Sears Plans
Delivery using secured file method, depending upon size of the files (ex.
LeapFile or secure external hard drive delivery to PBGC) to
COR.
NLT 180 days after the time of award (TOA).
2.5.4 Full PDF version of the
calculation audit containing the calculation information in Benefit Connect for the Sears Plans
Delivery using secured file method, depending upon size of the files (ex.
LeapFile or secure external hard drive delivery to PBGC) to
COR.
NLT 180 days after the time of award (TOA).
2.5.5 Full download of the
payment amount table from Benefit Connect for the Sears Plans
Delivery using secured file method, depending upon size of the files (ex.
LeapFile or secure external hard drive delivery to PBGC) to
COR.
NLT 180 days after the time of award (TOA).
As WTW was responsible for benefit administration and actuarial services for both Sears plans prior to trusteeship by PBGC, and for a period after trusteeship of the plans by PBGC in February 2019, Benefit Connect contained critical historical pension plan data needed by PBGC. While PBGC has maintained Benefit Connect access for several years and received raw Benefit Connect data, some data gaps in the Benefit Connect data were identified by PBGC.
The Additional Benefit Connect Data, would allow for the receipt of any remaining relevant historical Benefit Connect data for the Sears Plan from WTW, not available with PBGC’s current licensing access to Benefit Connect, including the following:
The full case master, case notes and case activity tables from Benefit Connect for the Sears Plans Full PDF version of the calculation audit containing the calculation information in Benefit
Connect for the Sears Plans Full download of the payment amount table from Benefit Connect for the Sears Plans
The additional data would complete the migration of full copies of the relevant pension data files within Benefit Connect for the Sears Plans. WTW must provide the remaining Benefit Connect data PBGC within the base year of the contract, no later than 180 days after the time of the award.
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