Protecting Your ERISA Rights: What Your Missouri Employer Should Tell You (Part A)

If you work for a private employer in Missouri you are protected by laws known as the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). One of the benefits you have under ERISA rights is that your employer must disclose certain information about your retirement plan and disability benefits. Violations of these ERISA rights can result in the need to seek the help of a St. Louis ERISA lawyer.

The Basics of the Benefits Protected by ERISA Rights

The ERISA rights protect several types of employee benefits for Missouri workers. Private pension and retirement plans are the most commonly discussed aspects of your benefits package, but many workers do not realize that their disability benefits and insurance are also protected by ERISA rights.

In most cases, your benefits in an ERISA-protected benefits package are paid for partially by your employer and partially out of your own paycheck. Because your paychecks have these payments automatically taken out you are given specific ERISA rights that allow you access to the information regarding how your payments are applied to your benefits.

The ERISA law is in place to protect Missouri workers from unfair practices regarding their benefits and prevent loss of necessary coverage when they need to call upon those benefits in the face of retirement or unexpected disability. You may need a St. Louis ERISA lawyer if you attempt to collect on your benefits and find that there has been mismanagement of your accounts.

Your ERISA Rights to Disclosure of Information on Your Benefits Package

As a Missouri employee in a private company you are entitled to both automatic disclosures and requested disclosures in regards to your ERISA-protected benefits. The ERISA rights require that you receive periodic updates to the following aspects of your benefits: 

• Summary of material modification;
• Summary annual report;
• Periodic pension benefit statement;
• Notification of significant reduction in future benefit accruals;
• Annual funding statement; and
• Notice of intent to terminate.