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Nonprofit organizations and ERISA commerce coverage
Summary A requester asked whether nonprofit organizations were outside ERISA. DOL said nonprofit status alone provided no exemption where activities affected commerce, absent another statutory or regulatory exception. It also rejected using NLRB jurisdictional dollar thresholds for ERISA, which had no such threshold.
Document
Federal opinion letter
Agency
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
Document number
P/OPINION 75-41
Date issued
July 1, 1975
Status
Unknown
EBSA's index does not mark withdrawn or superseded opinions; still posted on dol.gov as of 2026-10-26.
Status last verified October 26, 2026
Topics
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About this page: The full text below is the official document from U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA). Ezel adds the plain-English summary and tracks the document's status. The official source linked on this page is authoritative for any reliance.
P/OPINION 75-41
4(b)
July 1, 1975
Dear :
This is in response to your inquiry regarding the status
of non-profit organizations under the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). Your letter of
inquiry was forwarded to us by the [city] office of
the Department of Labor.
We agree with you that there is no exemption from coverage
under ERISA for non-profit organizations solely for this
reason, and that those whose activities affect commerce
would be governed under the Act unless exempt for other
reasons under the Act or the regulations. We do not agree,
however, with your suggestion that the jurisdictional
amounts adopted by the National Labor Relations Board
are pertinent under ERISA. This Act contains no jurisdictional
amounts, and there is nothing in the legislative history
to indicate that the Department of Labor is expected to set
jurisdictional minimums.
Sincerely,
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