ERISA

Employee Retirement Income Securities Act of 1974. This is the basic law covering qualified plans and incorporates both the pertinent Internal Revenue Code provisions and labor law provisions. ERISA is the basic law designed to protect the rights of participants and beneficiaries of employee benefit plans offered by employers, unions, and the like. ERISA imposes various qualification standards and fiduciary responsibilities on both welfare benefit and retirement plans, and provides enforcement procedures as well. In the retirement area it also provides standards for tax qualification.