• Learn about the duties of a retirement plan provider.retirement at last image by Pix by Marti from Fotolia.com
  
  A retirement plan provider is a company or institution that provides a retirement plan for their employees. Under U.S. Law, companies are not required to provide retirement plans. However, if they opt to do so, certain laws and regulations apply that protect employees. The laws in the U.S. governing pension plan providers are set forth under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).
  
  

ERISA Vesting Requirements

• While employees are not required to provide a pension, if they opt to do so, they have to set a pension vest at a certain period of time. In other words, they must tell employees that after they work for a predetermined number of years, the pension may not be taken away. For example, if a company promises that pensions will vest in 20 years, any employee who works for the company for 20 years must be paid the pension benefits promised to him. In the event the company is unable to fulfill the vested pension, the federal government created the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, which backs pensions for employers and which will pay the promised vested pensions if the company cannot.
  
  

ERISA Fund Requirements

• Under ERISA, plans must have a set minimum amount of assets set aside to fund the pension fund. These numbers depend on the size of the business and the number of employees that work there. ERISA funds must be managed by an ERISA fiduciary, which is an individual appointed to oversee the allocation and investment of these funds. The ERISA fiduciary must act in the best interests of the employees at all times when managing and investing money.
  
  

Notice

• Companies that provide a retirement plan have to inform employees about the plan's existence and terms under ERISA. These companies also must inform employees about how the plan is funded. Employees who believe funds are being mismanagement or who are denied their benefits due under ERISA can file a complaint with the Department of Labor.