ERISA, short for the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1975, is a federal act in the United States that requires minimum benefits for companies. While its terms to not state that a company must have a benefit plans, it does say that those who do must meet up with the requirements they have set. The plans of primary importance in ERISA are retirement and health, but life and disability plans are covered as well. First, the ERIS states that the management of these plans must be done in a certain way. For example, the managers of the plan must inform participating employees of important details of the plan, especially its features and the required contribution. Also, ERISA has created standards about how the employees can execute their plans - how long a person must work for attain eligibility and benefits, as well as rules on the proportions of funding paid by employer and employee. Also connected to the ERISA are newer, improved laws on health, such as the COBRA and HIPAA, both of which set new requirements for health benefits.