Many businesses offer some form of qualified retirement plan and, in doing so, they fall under the governance guidelines of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, better known as ERISA. ERISA establishes guidelines and minimum standards designed to protect employees of private sector companies who participate in retirement and welfare benefit plans. Businesses administering a qualified retirement plan that aren’t in full compliance with ERISA could be subject to costly penalties.1

If your employee retirement plan provides a future retirement income or allows employees to defer earnings for retirement, then it is an ERISA plan. As an employer who provides these ERISA plan benefits, you are also considered by ERISA to be a named fiduciary who takes on the responsibility of administering these plans and, likewise, the liability should your plans not comply with the guidelines and standards established by ERISA.2