ERISA Benefits Law Desk ReferenceERISA Benefits Tech, LLC

Part 16 · Chapter 4

Protected-Status Constraints on Benefit Plan Design

Law stated as of October 3, 2026 · FMLA, USERRA, and Wellness Programs

Scope and status

This is the overlay that catches the protected-status constraints on benefit plan design that are not FMLA, USERRA, or wellness — age under the ADEA, disability under the ADA, pregnancy under Title VII/PDA and the newer accommodation statutes, and the ERISA §510 interference rule that ties all of them back to the plan. Each unit names the Part that covers the downstream consequence; the point of this chapter is to cover the gap and point to the right place, not to repeat topics treated elsewhere.

How to use: Each unit is self-contained — lead rule first, then authority, then routing. Citations are to primary authority (ADEA §4(f)(2) and 29 C.F.R. §1625.10; ADA, 42 U.S.C. §§12112, 12201(c); Title VII and the PDA, 42 U.S.C. §2000e(k); the PWFA and the PUMP Act; ERISA §510).

Sections

Part A is shown in full. The other sections are listed by title; their text is available to subscribers.

Part A — Age

A1.The equal cost or equal benefit rule

Part 16, ch. 4, § A1

The ADEA prohibits age discrimination in compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, which includes employee benefits. The operative accommodation is §4(f)(2), as amended by the OWBPA: it is not unlawful for an employer to observe the terms of a bona fide employee benefit plan where, for each benefit or benefit package, the actual amount of payment made or cost incurred on behalf of an older worker is no less than that made or incurred on behalf of a younger worker — the "equal benefit or equal cost" rule. The EEOC's regulation works the rule benefit-by-benefit by default and permits cost data to be applied on a five-year age bracket basis. It also permits, as an alternative, a limited benefit-package approach: a reduction in one benefit greater than its own cost data would justify may be offset by another benefit available to the same employees, so long as the overall result is no lesser cost to the employer and no less favorable benefits. The package approach may not be used for a retirement or pension plan, and may not be used to reduce health benefits more than a benefit-by-benefit comparison would justify. Statute: 29 U.S.C. §623(f)(2), as amended by the OWBPA, Pub. L. 101-433. Final reg: 29 C.F.R. §1625.10, including (d)(2) and (f)(2) (the benefit-package alternative).

A2.Where age shows up elsewhere in the Desk Reference

Part 16, ch. 4, § A2

Three age items are covered in other Parts rather than here: OWBPA waiver conditions for a release of ADEA claims, including the group-program disclosure and decisional-unit problem, live in the Part 26 (Severance, WARN, and Workforce Restructuring) (unit E1); early-retirement window design and the constraints that a window may set a minimum eligibility age but may not exclude older employees or reduce benefits with increasing age is covered in the same Part; and the Medicare-coordination exemption — the EEOC regulation exempting the practice of coordinating employer-sponsored retiree health coverage with Medicare eligibility from the ADEA — lives in Part 13's retiree-medical chapter. The operative rules are in the Parts named.

Part B — Disability

  1. B1Disability-based distinctions in health plan designSubscribers
  2. B2Leave as a reasonable accommodation, and the benefits tailSubscribers
  3. B3Disability and retirement plansSubscribers

Part C — Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Related Conditions

  1. C1The PDA baselineSubscribers
  2. C2The newer accommodation statutesSubscribers
  3. C3Coverage mandatesSubscribers

Part D — ERISA §510: The Provision That Connects Them

  1. D1The interference ruleSubscribers
  2. D2Where the statutes overlap on one set of factsSubscribers

The first Part of each chapter is open to everyone. The remaining sections, with their authority and practice points, are available to subscribers and to clients of ERISA Benefits Law Group, PLLC whose engagement includes access.

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