The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) will have an impact on the plans that you have arranged for your employees. A law with very wide-ranging coverage, ERISA provides the foundation for the legalities behind benefit plans of private employers in the United States. If your company fails to follow ERISA, your company is taking a legal risk.
ERISA’s impact on employee benefit plans is so widespread that every business that complies with it must understand:
• What it is• Whether their benefit plans are covered by the law• How it works
ERISA enforces the requirements of employee benefit plans, including:
• Employee retirement plans – which provide retirement income for employees.• Employee welfare benefit plans – which provides employee income for any benefit other than retirement pensions.
If an employer provides the above benefits to employees, it must comply with ERISA.