The Employee Retirement Income Security Act—ERISA—was the hot topic at an employee benefits conference in the fall of 2024, marking 50 years since its passage. Held at the Catholic University of America, which co-sponsored the event with Boston College Law School and the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, it convened scholars across various disciplines to discuss the legislation’s strengths and shortcomings, and to consider proposals for future reform. Associate Professor Natalya Shnitser, the David and Pamela Donohue Faculty Fellow at Boston College Law School, who co-organized the event, spoke with BC Law Magazine about ERISA’s significance and the state of employee benefits laws at that time.
The interview was conducted by Isabella Burrell ’25.
Can you provide a brief background about the current state of employee benefits law, specifically focusing on ERISA?
ERISA turned 50 years old in 2024, so we’ve had this legal experiment in our employee benefits system for five decades now. And even as the nature of benefits, demographics, and economic conditions have changed, the law has remained largely the same.
What are some of the challenges at the forefront of ERISA?
First, over time, there’s been a shifting of risk and responsibility onto individual workers in the United States. It’s unclear whether the law does enough to protect workers and equip them with...
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