Final answer:
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) of 1974 ensures a basic minimum benefit for employees at retirement, alongside measures safeguarded by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) of 1974 guarantees a basic minimum benefit that employees could expect to be paid at retirement. The act was a significant federal law designed to protect the retirement assets of American workers by implementing rules that qualified plans must follow to ensure that plan fiduciaries do not misuse plan assets.
Along with the Social Security Act, ERISA ensures that workers have some form of financial security when they retire. Employers who provide pension plans must adhere to certain standards, such as contributing a portion of the pension funds to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), which will cover at least some pension benefits in the event the company cannot fulfill its pension obligations due to bankruptcy.