• Employees are entitled to different pension and welfare plans.contract b image by Andrey Kiselev from Fotolia.com
  
  The law mandates employers to grant benefits to their employees to help preserve and protect individual welfare. Most of these benefits include health coverage and compensation. Several other benefits also allow the individual to secure coverage for other family members. The kind of benefits granted often depends on the nature of work, tenure and type of organization. Upon retirement, employees also are granted benefits and other coverage plans.
  
  

Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)

• The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) is governed by the Office of Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA). The act contains provisions granting employee benefit plans in the private sector. That is, ERISA guides the proper establishment and maintenance of several health and employee plans given under the employee's organization. Under the law there are several benefits that an employee should be given, particularly if that employee has worked for a specific time for that organization. ERISA helps establish benefits such as retirement plans and welfare plans. Employers should provide retirement plans to employees who have served a particular tenure. The plan should provide a specific amount of income upon the employee's retirement. Welfare plans, on the other hand, take care of health benefits including death and disability privileges. Vacation and training benefits also are established under ERISA. Under the act, employers are required to provide and maintain the benefits in a financially fair and sound manner.
  
  

COBRA Continuation Coverage

• Under the law, employees may qualify for the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) if their group health plan may otherwise be terminated due to certain circumstances. COBRA provides a way for employees to temporarily extend their health plans. The act allows the employee to continue the coverage to their dependents including spouses, children and even former spouses. That is, employees may extend their group plans if the covered employee dies or gets terminated. Reduction of working hours also may be grounds for the extension. Employers will require a certain amount of compensation from employees to provide the continuation coverage plan.
  
  

Cash Balance Plan

• Upon retirement, the law also grants employees the rights to receive pension plans. Basically, there are two types of pension plans that employees can choose from: defined contribution plans or defined benefit plans. Defined benefit plans allow employees to get specific benefits while defined contribution plans provide the kind of benefits based on the employee's contribution prior to retirement. Under the law, defined contribution plans are determined according to the gains or losses of the employee's account. The benefits given to the employee depends on the stated account balance.