On August 28, 2024, Juliana Reno was quoted in SHRM on the 50th anniversary of the impactful Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) being signed into law. According to the article, ERISA has proved to be successful while also leading to a great deal of litigation.
SHRM also reported that ERISA may have also contributed to the decline of pension plans, but has had an overall positive impact. “Without ERISA, there would be far fewer workers with retirement savings and far fewer workers with robust health insurance,” Reno explained.
Another industry source explained that ERISA’s complicated rules were intended to protect pensions but may have inadvertently done the opposite, since it is less onerous for employers to rely on 401(k) plans. Reno agreed: “Technically, 401(k) plans came about due to changes in the tax code, not ERISA, but in my view, the growth would not have been as robust without ERISA pre-emption.”
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