Research Guides: ERISA: Research Guide to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act: Statutory Law

About

When a law is passed, it is first published as a Session Law. Eventually it is reworked into a subject arrangement of the law which is called a code. Most researchers will make use of an annotated version of the code which often cites to case law, secondary sources, other relevant statutes and regulations that will help you with your research.

Tips for Locating Statutes

Use an index to search by subject
Use the popular name table to search by name
Use the conversion table to search by public law number
Retrieve by citation
Search online using Terms & Connectors or Natural Language

Statutes & Codes

ERISA is codified in various sections of the United States Code. The two most pertinent are: Title 26 (tax) and Title 29 (labor). The following sources provide access to the relevant USC sections.

United States Code (U.S.C.)
The United States Code is the codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States.
West's Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and Treasury regulations
Contains the complete text of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended through the end of the First Session of the 113th Congress. The book is designed to be used with Title 26 of the United States Code Annotated® for historical notes and notes of decisions construing the Code.
Bloomberg Law Benefits & Executive Compensation Practice Center
The collection of Laws, Regulations & Agency Documents provides full text of the statutes which are essential to an understanding of the legal and analytic framework underpinning the field of benefits practice. Also included are BNA's exclusive Annotated Primary Sources.
CCH Cheetah Pension & Employee Benefits
Provides the text of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 as well as amending legislation from the most recent Congress. Also provides a detailed topical index that uses key words to direct you to specific ERISA topics.
United States Code Service (USCS)
Published by LexisNexis, the USCS provides an annotated version of the United States Code based on the Statutes at Large . Annotations provide access to historical notes, cross-references to other statutes/regulations, and references to relevant secondary sources. The USCS also includes general and title specific indexes.
United States Code Annotated (USCA)
Published by Thomson Reuters, the USCA provides an annotated version of the United States Code published by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the House of Representatives. Annotations provide access to historical notes, cross-references to other statutes/regulations, and references to relevant secondary sources. The USCA also includes general and title specific indexes.