A 1974 federal law that sets minimum standards for most voluntary pension and health plans in private industry.
ERISA is the federal law that regulates employer-sponsored pension plans and most welfare benefit plans (health, dental, life, disability, etc.). It establishes fiduciary responsibilities, reporting requirements (5500 filings for plans above certain participant counts), disclosure obligations (SPDs, SBCs), claims procedures, and remedies for plan participants.
ERISA preempts most state law for benefit plan administration, which is why benefits regulation is largely federal rather than state-level. The preemption is what allows a PEO to operate a single master plan that covers employees in all 50 states without designing 50 different plan documents.
In PEO arrangements, the PEO is typically the plan sponsor and administrator for ERISA purposes — assuming fiduciary responsibility for the plans offered to the co-employed workforce.
A 1974 federal law that sets minimum standards for most voluntary pension and health plans in private industry.
ERISA is the federal law that regulates employer-sponsored pension plans and most welfare benefit plans (health, dental, life, disability, etc.).
Most PEO buying decisions touch several related concepts at once. Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) typically comes up alongside the other terms in this category. Closely related terms include Group health insurance, Cafeteria plan (Section 125), 401(k) plan.
This is one entry from our PEO glossary covering payroll, benefits, workers comp, HR compliance, and PEO mechanics. Browse all terms.
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