U.S. Department of Labor. Employee Benefits Security Administration. ERISA protects the interests of employee benefit plan participants and their beneficiaries. It requires plan sponsors to provide plan information to participants. It establishes standards of conduct for plan managers and other fiduciaries.
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) is a federal law that sets minimum standards for most voluntarily established retirement and health plans in private industry to provide protection for individuals in these plans.
What Does ERISA Cover? Plans that are covered under ERISA include employer-sponsored retirement plans, such as 401(k)s, pensions, deferred compensation plans, and profit-sharing plans.
ERISA applies to private-sector companies that offer pension plans to employees. This includes businesses that: Are structured as partnerships, proprietorships, LLCs, S-corporations and C-corporations. No matter how your employer has structured his or her business, it is covered by ERISA if it is a private entity.
Examples of ERISA Health and Retirement Plans Welfare benefit plans, including medical, dental, life insurance, apprenticeship and training, scholarship funds, severance pay, and disability insurance. Pension plans, profit-sharing plans, stock bonus plans, money purchase plans, and 401(k) plans.
In general, ERISA does not cover group health plans established or maintained by governmental entities, churches for their employees, or plans which are maintained solely to comply with applicable workers compensation, unemployment, or disability laws.
ERISA requirements for employee benefit plan administrationmedical, surgical, or hospital care.benefits for sickness, accident, disability, or death.unemployment benefits.vacation benefits.apprenticeship and training programs.day care centers.scholarship funds.prepaid legal services.More items...
What types of employers must comply with ERISA? If an employer is offering a benefit plan that is for the purpose of providing one or more benefits listed in ERISA to employees and beneficiaries (e.g., medical, surgical, or hospital care), then generally, that employer would need to comply with ERISA.
Fiduciary responsibilities under an ERISA-covered plan include: Acting solely in the interest of plan participants and their beneficiaries and with the exclusive purpose of providing benefits to them. Carrying out their duties prudently. Following the plan documents (unless inconsistent with ERISA).
An ERISA plan is one you will contribute to as an employer, matching participants' inputs. ERISA plans must follow the rules of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, from which the plan earned its name. Non-ERISA plans do not involve employer contributions and do not need to follow the stipulations of the Act.
Under ERISA, for example, a company with a pension plan must provide a vesting options for its employees. This means that after working a certain number of years, an employee's pension plan will mature. ERISA also requires companies that offer pension plans to meet specific threshold minimums.
After conducting both tests, the only piece left is to map the Control Group. To do this, every entity that satisfies either test is linked together like a chain, and every entity making up part of that chain is considered part of the same Control Group.
Under this example, Ophelia’s ownership increases to 100% because she is married to Harold. Because the two of them are married, she is credited with his ownership, increasing her ownership to more than 50%. Because her ownership rises above 50%, she must also count Diane’s ownership as her own.
A company is part of a Control Group if it satisfies one of two ownership tests. These tests are known as the parent-subsidiary test and brother-sister test. If two or more entities satisfy either of these tests, then those entities are part of a Control Group. Because both of these tests deal with ownership, it is important to collect some ...
While being part of a Control Group or Affiliated Service Group is not inherently bad, discovering that a company sponsoring a plan is part of a Control Group after a plan is adopted often results in plan sponsors needing to make additional contributions and expanding plan participation.
Because her ownership rises above 50%, she must also count Diane’s ownership as her own. Harold on the other hand, does not need to count Diane’s ownership in this example because he is not Diane’s father and stepparents are not credited with unadopted stepchildren’s’ ownership.