US Code

Public Law 119-73 (01/23/2026)

29 U.S.C. § 1051

Coverage

section 1003(a) of this titlesection 1003(b) of this titleThis part shall apply to any employee benefit plan described in (and not exempted under ) other than—
(1)
an employee welfare benefit plan;
(2)
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;
(3)
(A)
a plan 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)
section 501(c)(18) of title 26 a trust described in ;
(4)
section 501(c)(5) of title 26 a plan which is established and maintained by a labor organization described in and which does not at any time after , provide for employer contributions;
(5)
section 736 of title 26 any agreement providing payments to a retired partner or a deceased partner’s successor in interest, as described in ;
(6)
section 408 of title 26section 409 of title 26 an individual retirement account or annuity described in , or a retirement bond described in (as effective for obligations issued before );
(7)
an excess benefit plan; or
(8)
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.

Pub. L. 93–406, title I, § 20188 Stat. 852Pub. L. 96–364, title IV, § 411(a)94 Stat. 1308Pub. L. 101–239, title VII103 Stat. 2445(, , ; , , ; , §§ 7891(a)(1), 7894(c)(1)(A), (11)(A), , , 2448, 2449.)

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Section 409 of title 26section 409 of Title 26Pub. L. 98–369, div. A, title IV, § 491(b)98 Stat. 848, referred to in par. (6), means , Internal Revenue Code, prior to its repeal by , , , applicable to obligations issued after .

Pub. L. 93–406section 1001 of this titleThis chapter, referred to in par. (8), was in the original “this Act”, meaning , 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 and Tables.

Amendments

Pub. L. 101–239, § 7891(a)(1)1989—Pars. (3)(A), (4), (5). , 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.

Pub. L. 101–239, § 7891(a)(1)section 408 of title 26Par. (6). , substituted “section 408 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986” for “section 408 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954”, which for purposes of codification was translated as “” thus requiring no change in text.

Pub. L. 101–239, § 7894(c)(11)(A)section 409 of title 26section 409 of title 26, substituted “ (as effective for obligations issued before )” for “”.

Pub. L. 101–239, § 7894(c)(1)(A)(i), struck out “or” after semicolon at end.

Pub. L. 101–239, § 7894(c)(1)(A)(ii)Par. (7). , substituted “plan; or” for “plan.”

Pub. L. 101–239, § 7894(c)(1)(A)(iii)Par. (8). , substituted “any plan” for “Any plan”.

Pub. L. 96–3641980—Par. (8). added par. (8).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 1989 Amendment

section 7891(a)(1) of Pub. L. 101–239Pub. L. 99–514section 7891(f) of Pub. L. 101–239section 1002 of this titleAmendment by effective, except as otherwise provided, as if included in the provision of the Tax Reform Act of 1986, , to which such amendment relates, see , set out as a note under .

Pub. L. 101–239, title VII, § 7894(c)(1)(B)103 Stat. 2449

Pub. L. 96–364“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 [].”
, , , provided that:

Pub. L. 101–239, title VII, § 7894(c)(11)(B)103 Stat. 2449

section 491(b) of Public Law 98–369“The amendment made by subparagraph (A) [amending this section] shall take effect as if originally included in .”
, , , provided that:

Effective Date of 1980 Amendment

Pub. L. 96–364section 1461(e) of this titleAmendment by effective , except as specifically provided, see .