are government employers subject to erisa
ERISA only exempts two types of employers: 1  Employee benefit plans maintained by governmental employers are exempt from ERISA’s requirements. This exemption includes plans maintained by the federal, state or local (for example, a city, county or township) governments.  Church plans are also exempt from ERISA. All qualiﬁ ed private-sector plans with tax-incentive features. are regulated by the federal government (primarily by the Employee. Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, ERISA), but public-sector plans. are not subject to most ERISA provisions. Within these constraints, private-sector plan sponsors are relatively free to establish, maintain, and modify their plans as regulated by ERISA. By contrast, the basic features of public employee plans—eligibility, contributions, types of beneﬁ ts, etc.—are often spelled out in statutes or. in local ordinances. Relationship to Federal Law. A second fundamental difference in the environment of public employee. plans as opposed to those sponsored by private companies is the role played by. federal tax and beneﬁ ts law and regulation. The taxing power of the federal. government has been used to encourage the provision of employee beneﬁ ts by. private business since 1916, when corporations were ﬁ rst allowed to deduct. payments to retired employees, their families, and dependents as ordinary and. necessary expenses (Graebner, 1980). You already know that an employee benefit plan qualified as a “government plan” is exempt from ERISA’s framework. But what is the definition of “government”? Some employers may not actually be government entities, and public private partnership may inject ERISA back into the framework. This new case gives you the tests to apply to determine whether a government entity exists, which then means ERISA does not apply. Smith v. Regional Transit Authority, __ F. Supp. 2d __ (E.D. ERISA only exempts two types of employers: Employee benefit plans maintained by governmental employers are exempt from ERISA’s requirements. This exemption includes plans maintained by the federal, state or local (for example, a city, county or township) governments. A group health plan is an employee welfare benefit plan established or maintained by an employer or by an employee organization (such as a union), or both, that provides medical care for participants or their dependents directly or through insurance, reimbursement, or otherwise. The benefit plan qualified as a governmental plan and was exempt from ERISA because the plan in question was established and maintained by both a political subdivision and an “agency or instrumentality” of that political subdivision. 1 Employee benefit plans maintained by governmental employers are exempt from ERISA’s requirements. This exemption includes plans maintained by the federal, state or local (for example, a city, county or township) governments.  Church plans are also exempt from ERISA. A church plan is any employee benefit plan established or maintained by a church or by a convention or association of churches that is exempt from tax under Section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code), and has not made an election under Code Section 410(d) to be subject to ERISA.
Yes, governmental employers are exempt from ERISA’s requirements.