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Title 29 — LaborRelease 119-73not60

§1142 Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans

Title 29 › Chapter 18— EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT INCOME SECURITY PROGRAM › Subchapter I— PROTECTION OF EMPLOYEE BENEFIT RIGHTS › Subtitle Subtitle B— Regulatory Provisions › Part 5— administration and enforcement › § 1142

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

Creates an Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans made up of 15 members the Secretary appoints. No more than eight can be from the same political party. Members must be qualified to review the programs in this law. The group includes three employee representatives, three employer representatives, three people from the general public (one must represent pension beneficiaries), and six experts from financial and business fields (insurance, corporate trust, actuarial advice, investment advice, investment management, and accounting). Terms are three years, but the first group is staggered so five serve one year, five serve two years, and five serve three years. Members can be reappointed. A majority is a quorum and decisions need a majority of those voting. The Council must advise the Secretary and send recommendations. It must meet at least four times a year and when the Secretary asks. The Secretary must put the Council’s recommendations into his yearly report. The Secretary provides an executive secretary and needed staff and can get data from other agencies. Members are paid the daily equivalent of the GS–18 annual pay rate for each day worked (including travel) and get travel expenses and per diem like intermittent federal workers. Section 1013(a) of title 5 does not apply to the Council.

Full Legal Text

Title 29, §1142

Labor — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)There is hereby established an Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans (hereinafter in this section referred to as the “Council”) consisting of fifteen members appointed by the Secretary. Not more than eight members of the Council shall be members of the same political party.
(2)Members shall be persons qualified to appraise the programs instituted under this chapter.
(3)Of the members appointed, three shall be representatives of employee organizations (at least one of whom shall be representative of any organization members of which are participants in a multiemployer plan); three shall be representatives of employers (at least one of whom shall be representative of employers maintaining or contributing to multi-employer plans); three representatives shall be appointed from the general public, one of whom shall be a person representing those receiving benefits from a pension plan; and there shall be one representative each from the fields of insurance, corporate trust, actuarial counseling, investment counseling, investment management, and the accounting field.
(4)Members shall serve for terms of three years except that of those first appointed, five shall be appointed for terms of one year, five shall be appointed for terms of two years, and five shall be appointed for terms of three years. A member may be reappointed. A member appointed to fill a vacancy shall be appointed only for the remainder of such term. A majority of members shall constitute a quorum and action shall be taken only by a majority vote of those present and voting.
(b)It shall be the duty of the Council to advise the Secretary with respect to the carrying out of his functions under this chapter and to submit to the Secretary recommendations with respect thereto. The Council shall meet at least four times each year and at such other times as the Secretary requests. In his annual report submitted pursuant to section 1143(b) 11 See References in Text note below. of this title, the Secretary shall include each recommendation which he has received from the Council during the preceding calendar year.
(c)The Secretary shall furnish to the Council an executive secretary and such secretarial, clerical, and other services as are deemed necessary to conduct its business. The Secretary may call upon other agencies of the Government for statistical data, reports, and other information which will assist the Council in the performance of its duties.
(d)(1)Members of the Council shall each be entitled to receive the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay in effect for grade GS–18 of the General Schedule for each day (including travel time) during which they are engaged in the actual performance of duties vested in the Council.
(2)While away from their homes or regular places of business in the performance of services for Council,22 So in original. Probably should be “for the Council,”. members of the Council shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in the same manner as persons employed intermittently in the Government service are allowed expenses under section 5703(b) of title 5.1
(e)section 1013(a) of title 5 (relating to termination) shall not apply to the Council.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

This chapter, referred to in subsecs. (a)(2), (b), 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. section 1143(b) of this title, referred to in subsec. (b), was omitted from the Code. Section 5703 of title 5, referred to in subsec. (d)(2), was amended generally by Pub. L. 94–22, § 4, May 19, 1975, 89 Stat. 85, and, as so amended, does not contain a subsec. (b).

Amendments

2022—Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 117–286 substituted “section 1013(a) of title 5 (relating to termination)” for “section 14(a) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (relating to termination)”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

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. References in Other Laws to GS–16, 17, or 18 Pay RatesReferences in laws to the rates of pay for GS–16, 17, or 18, or to maximum rates of pay under the General Schedule, to be considered references to rates payable under specified sections of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees, see section 529 [title I, § 101(c)(1)] of Pub. L. 101–509, set out in a note under section 5376 of Title 5.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

29 U.S.C. § 1142

Title 29 — Labor

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60