What is the Employee Retirement Income Security Act?

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) was enacted in 1974 and is a federal law that sets minimum standards for private employee benefit plans in the United States. ERISA is administered by the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) and was designed to protect the rights of employees and their benefits. ERISA establishes certain standards related to retirement plans, health plans, and other employee benefits. It requires that employers provide certain information to participants and beneficiaries about the plans, and it sets out rules for how the plans are to be funded and managed. ERISA also provides for the establishment and regulation of fiduciary responsibilities, which means those responsible for the management of the plan must act in the best interests of the participants and beneficiaries. With respect to California, ERISA preempts, or supersedes, any state law related to employee benefit plans. In other words, ERISA provides a national set of minimum standards for employee benefit plans, and California and other states are barred from providing additional or more specific standards. However, California does have a few laws that are not preempted, such as the state’s Unclaimed Property Law and the California Multiemployer Benefit Plan Funding Law.

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What is the Employee Retirement Income Security Act?

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