ERISA stands for the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, which is a federal law that sets minimum standards for most voluntarily established retirement and health plans in the private industry. The law governs how employers provide benefit plans to employees and is administered in part by the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), a branch of the U.S. Department of Labor. ERISA ensures that minimum standards are set for private industry pension and health plans, as well as other benefit plans such as life insurance. The law establishes requirements and guidelines for employers and benefit plan managers, trustees, and certain other service providers.

ERISA prohibits fiduciaries from misusing funds and sets minimum standards for participation, vesting, benefit accrual, and funding of retirement plans. It also grants retirement plan participants the right to sue for benefits and breaches of fiduciary duty. Employees are offered protections against fiduciary wrongdoing, and plan participants or the Department of Labor (DOL) may be able to sue plan fiduciaries if plans are mismanaged or if plan fiduciaries engage in conduct prohibited under ERISA.

ERISA also regulates employer-sponsored healthcare plans. The law has gone through a series of changes since it was first enacted in 1974. ERISA does not require employers to offer plans, and it does not cover retirement plans established or maintained by governments or churches.

In summary, ERISA is a federal law that sets minimum standards for most voluntarily established retirement and health plans in the private industry. It governs how employers provide benefit plans to employees and establishes requirements and guidelines for employers and benefit plan managers, trustees, and certain other service providers. ERISA also regulates employer-sponsored healthcare plans and grants retirement plan participants the right to sue for benefits and breaches of fiduciary duty.