REPRESENTING EMPLOYEES FOR OVER 25 YEARS
Fair Employment Legal Services, S.C.
Attorney John D. Uelmen
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REPRESENTING EMPLOYEES FOR OVER 25 YEARS Fair Employment Legal Services, S.C. Attorney John D. Uelmen
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ERISA CASES The Employee Retirement Income Security Act ("ERISA") is the principal federal law that regulates benefit plans offered by nongovernmental employers. This is a very comprehensive law which covers virtually all retirement and welfare benefits provided by an employer including pension payments; accident and disability benefits; and health care, dental and life insurance. An employer is required to provide employees eligible for participation in a benefit plan with a description of the plan known as a Summary Plan Description ("SPD"). The SPD must be written in a manner calculated to be understood by the average plan participant and sufficiently accurate to apprise the participants of their rights and obligations under the Plan. Plan participants are also entitled to request and obtain statements regarding the total benefits accrued any other document, agreement, contract, or other instrument under which the plan is established or operating. The law places certain fiduciary obligations upon those who operate a pension and welfare benefit plans, and also provides various procedures for the collection of unpaid benefits which are owed and the failure to comply with the duties imposed by the law. A plan participant having difficulty collecting benefits which are owed under a benefit plan must be careful to establish a sufficient evidentiary record with the Plan Administrator or other fiduciary who administers the benefit. It is usually advisable to obtain legal assistance while the Plan Administrator is still considering the claim because often the evidence needed to prove the claim must have been submitted to the Plan Administrator for it to be considered by a court in a subsequent action under ERISA. ERISA contains complex procedural and substantive provisions which are being constantly interpreted and reinterpreted by the courts. Someone who is having difficulty obtaining benefits from an ERISA plan should consider consulting with a legal professional who is familiar with this statute and the most recent court decisions. |
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