Title 29 — LaborRelease 119-73
§1081 Coverage
Title 29 › Chapter CHAPTER 18— - EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT INCOME SECURITY PROGRAM › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - PROTECTION OF EMPLOYEE BENEFIT RIGHTS › Subtitle Subtitle B— - Regulatory Provisions › Part part 3— - funding › § 1081
Summary
Applies to most employee pension plans covered by the law, but not to certain types. It does not cover employee welfare benefit plans; plans that are just a set of individual insurance contracts that meet special rules; unfunded plans kept mainly to give deferred pay to a select group of managers or highly paid workers; plans run by some tax-exempt societies or trusts when employers do not contribute; plans that never had employer contributions after September 2, 1974; agreements that pay retired or deceased partners under tax rule 736; individual retirement accounts or certain old retirement bonds; individual account plans (except money purchase plans) and defined benefit plans treated like such accounts; excess benefit plans; or unfunded arrangements by an employer wholly owned by employees to pay benefits forfeited under a former employer’s plan. An “insurance contract plan” means a plan paid for only by buying individual insurance policies that require steady yearly premiums until each person’s retirement age (starting when they join or when a benefit increase takes effect), that give the same benefits at normal retirement age and are guaranteed by a licensed insurer to the extent premiums were paid, that have current and past premiums paid so policies don’t lapse (or are reinstated), and that have no security interests or outstanding policy loans during the plan year. For a multiemployer plan that is ending under the special multiemployer rules, these rules apply until the last day of the plan year in which the plan terminates.
Full Legal Text
Title 29, §1081
Labor — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)This part shall apply to any employee pension benefit plan described in section 1003(a) of this title, (and not exempted under section 1003(b) of this title), other than—
(1)an employee welfare benefit plan;
(2)an insurance contract plan described in subsection (b);
(3)a plan which is unfunded and is maintained by an employer primarily for the purpose of providing deferred compensation for a select group of management or highly compensated employees;
(4)(A)a plan which is established and maintained by a society, order, or association described in section 501(c)(8) or (9) of title 26, if no part of the contributions to or under such plan are made by employers of participants in such plan; or
(B)a trust described in section 501(c)(18) of title 26;
(5)a plan which has not at any time after September 2, 1974, provided for employer contributions;
(6)an agreement providing payments to a retired partner or deceased partner or a deceased partner’s successor in interest as described in section 736 of title 26;
(7)an individual retirement account or annuity as described in section 408(a) of title 26, or a retirement bond described in section 409 of title 26 (as effective for obligations issued before January 1, 1984);
(8)an individual account plan (other than a money purchase plan) and a defined benefit plan to the extent it is treated as an individual account plan (other than a money purchase plan) under section 1002(35)(B) of this title;
(9)an excess benefit plan; or
(10)any plan, fund or program under which an employer, all of whose stock is directly or indirectly owned by employees, former employees or their beneficiaries, proposes through an unfunded arrangement to compensate retired employees for benefits which were forfeited by such employees under a pension plan maintained by a former employer prior to the date such pension plan became subject to this chapter.
(b)For the purposes of paragraph (2) of subsection (a) a plan is an “insurance contract plan” if—
(1)the plan is funded exclusively by the purchase of individual insurance contracts,
(2)such contracts provide for level annual premium payments to be paid extending not later than the retirement age for each individual participating in the plan, and commencing with the date the individual became a participant in the plan (or, in the case of an increase in benefits, commencing at the time such increase became effective),
(3)benefits provided by the plan are equal to the benefits provided under each contract at normal retirement age under the plan and are guaranteed by an insurance carrier (licensed under the laws of a State to do business with the plan) to the extent premiums have been paid,
(4)premiums payable for the plan year, and all prior plan years under such contracts have been paid before lapse or there is reinstatement of the policy,
(5)no rights under such contracts have been subject to a security interest at any time during the plan year, and
(6)no policy loans are outstanding at any time during the plan year.
(c)This part applies, with respect to a terminated multiemployer plan to which section 1321 of this title applies, until the last day of the plan year in which the plan terminates, within the meaning of section 1341a(a)(2) of this title.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
References in Text
Section 409 of title 26, referred to in subsec. (a)(7), means section 409 of Title 26, Internal Revenue Code, prior to its repeal by Pub. L. 98–369, div. A, title IV, § 491(b), July 18, 1984, 98 Stat. 848, applicable to obligations issued after Dec. 31, 1983. This chapter, referred to in subsec. (a)(10), was in the original “this Act”, meaning Pub. L. 93–406, known as the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. Titles I, III, and IV of such Act are classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see
Short Title
note set out under section 1001 of this title and Tables.
Amendments
2006—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 109–280 struck out heading and text of subsec. (d). Text read as follows: “Any amount of any financial assistance from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation to any plan, and any repayment of such amount, shall be taken into account under this section in such manner as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury.” 1989—Subsec. (a)(4)(A), (6). Pub. L. 101–239, § 7891(a)(1), substituted “Internal Revenue Code of 1986” for “Internal Revenue Code of 1954”, which for purposes of codification was translated as “title 26” thus requiring no change in text. Subsec. (a)(7). Pub. L. 101–239, § 7894(d)(4)(A), substituted “section 409 of title 26 (as effective for obligations issued before January 1, 1984)” for “section 409 of title 26”. Subsec. (a)(8). Pub. L. 101–239, § 7894(d)(1)(A)(i), struck out “or” after semicolon at end. Subsec. (a)(9). Pub. L. 101–239, § 7894(d)(1)(A)(ii), substituted “; or” for period at end. Subsec. (a)(10). Pub. L. 101–239, § 7894(d)(1)(A)(iii), substituted “any” for “Any”. 1980—Subsec. (a)(10). Pub. L. 96–364, § 411(b), added par. (10). Subsecs. (c), (d). Pub. L. 96–364, § 304(a), added subsecs. (c) and (d).
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 2006 Amendment Pub. L. 109–280, title II, § 201(d), Aug. 17, 2006, 120 Stat. 868, provided that: “(1) In general.—The
Amendments
made by this section [enacting section 1084 of this title and amending this section] shall apply to plan years beginning after 2007. “(2) Special rule for certain amortization extensions.—If the Secretary of the Treasury grants an extension under section 304 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 [29 U.S.C. 1084] and section 412(e) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 [former 26 U.S.C. 412(e)] with respect to any application filed with the Secretary of the Treasury on or before June 30, 2005, the extension (and any modification thereof) shall be applied and administered under the rules of such sections as in effect before the enactment of this Act [Aug. 17, 2006], including the use of the rate of interest determined under section 6621(b) of such Code [26 U.S.C. 6621(b)].”
Effective Date
of 1989 AmendmentAmendment by section 7891(a)(1) of Pub. L. 101–239 effective, except as otherwise provided, as if included in the provision of the Tax Reform Act of 1986, Pub. L. 99–514, to which such amendment relates, see section 7891(f) of Pub. L. 101–239, set out as a note under section 1002 of this title. section 7894(d)(1)(B) of Pub. L. 101–239 provided that: “The
Amendments
made by subparagraph (A) [amending this section] shall take effect as if included in section 411 of the Multiemployer Pension Plan
Amendments
Act of 1980 [Pub. L. 96–364].” section 7894(d)(4)(B) of Pub. L. 101–239 provided that: “The amendment made by subparagraph (A) [amending this section] shall take effect as if originally included in section 491(b) of Public Law 98–369.”
Effective Date
of 1980 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 96–364 effective Sept. 26, 1980, except as specifically provided, see section 1461(e) of this title.
Regulations
Secretary authorized, effective Sept. 2, 1974, to promulgate
Regulations
wherever provisions of this subchapter call for the promulgation of
Regulations
, see section 1031 of this title. Special Rule for Certain Benefits Funded Under an Agreement Approved by the Pension Benefit Guaranty CorporationFor applicability of amendment by Pub. L. 109–280 to a multiemployer plan that is a party to an agreement that was approved by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation prior to June 30, 2005, and that increases benefits and provides for certain withdrawal liability rules, see section 206 of Pub. L. 109–280, set out as a note under section 412 of Title 26, Internal Revenue Code.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
29 U.S.C. § 1081
Title 29 — Labor
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73