Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA)

Glossary

A federal statute that regulates employer-sponsored employee pension benefit plans and employee welfare benefit plans by (among other provisions):

Setting minimum standards for participation, vesting, benefit accrual, and funding for retirement plans.
Imposing standards of conduct for plan fiduciaries (see Practice Note, ERISA Fiduciary Duties: Overview).
Requiring plans to regularly:
- provide participants and beneficiaries information about the plan, including information about plan features, filing benefit claims, and funding (see SPD Compliance Chart for ERISA Plans and Practice Note, Summaries of Benefits and Coverage Under the ACA);
- disclose certain information to the government (see Practice Note, Form 5500 for Employee Benefit Plans: Overview).
Permitting participants to sue for benefits and fiduciary duty violations (see Practice Notes, ERISA Fiduciary Duties: Penalties for Breaching Fiduciary Duties and ERISA Litigation: Causes of Action Under ERISA Section 502).
Guaranteeing payment of certain benefits through the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) if a defined benefit plan is terminated.

Responsibility for interpreting, implementing, and enforcing ERISA is divided among the Department of Labor, the Internal Revenue Service, and the PBGC.

Since its enactment in 1974, ERISA has been the subject of numerous statutory amendments, for example, under:

For more information on ERISA, see:

Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) | Practical Law