Salute to ERISA. 50 Years and Counting!

Few people today recall the 1963 failure of automaker Studebaker and the resulting loss of workers’ pensions. It started the buzz about the state of pension law in the United States with many issues to be resolved. For example, before ERISA, employers could adopt plans in which short breaks in service resulted in a loss of accumulated vesting service. This forced affected participants to start over in accumulating retirement benefits. With many plans, participants did not vest until they reached their full retirement age. After Studebaker, it took 10 more years to get a bill introduced in Congress—which was finally signed on Labor Day, September 2, 1974. Hear more about the evolution of ERISA from video author Jeffrey Mamorsky of Cohen & Buckmann, P.C.

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Related Content

• ERISA at 50: Fiduciary Protections Video
  Hear more about ERISA’s development. ERISA was almost written to require independent fiduciaries to safeguard pension plan assets. Instead, the prohibited transaction rules were developed to allow employers to designate a fiduciary or fiduciaries to invest plan assets and complete other fiduciary functions, subject to rules requiring that their activities be for the “exclusive benefit” of participants and beneficiaries.
• ERISA at 50: Impact of ERISA and Major Amendments Video
  Discover how ERISA has grown through the years. Since its enactment in 1974, as generally effective for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 1975, this law has expanded at a brisk pace. Amendments often are to both the Internal Revenue Code and ERISA, particularly when they affect qualified retirement plans.
• 50 Years Later, ERISA Remains a Work in Progress
  Learn more about ERISA and its application. ERISA covers welfare benefit plans such as medical, group life, and disability plans. But the drafters of ERISA didn't focus on them except for disclosures, like requiring a summary plan description. Today, after COBRA, HIPAA, the Affordable Care Act, and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (which includes the No Surprises Act), ERISA has expanded rights and disclosures to plan participants in employer-provided employee benefit plans. The existing fiduciary rules also apply to them.

Practical Guidance Updates 
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• Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Key Legal Developments Tracker (Current)
  Stay informed on new developments.
  • Retirement Plans. Two Texas district courts have granted a stay on the effective date of the Department of Labor's 2024 Fiduciary Rule. Fed'n of Ams. for Consumer Choice, Inc. v. United States DOL, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 131589 (E.D. Tex. July 25, 2024); Council of Life Insurers v. United States DOL, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 133158 (N.D. Tex. July 26, 2024).
  • Retirement Plans. IRS and Treasury issue final and proposed regulations under R.C. § 401(a)(9). The final regulations, among other things, implement changes under the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act (Division O of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020, Pub. L. No. 116-94) and the SECURE 2.0 Act (Division T of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, Pub. L. No. 117-328). 89 Fed. Reg. 58,886 (July 19, 2024); 89 Fed. Reg. 58,644 (July 19, 2024).
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