The rights that are protected include:

• Early retirement benefit. ERISA does not require a retirement plan to provide participants with the option to retire earlier than at the plan's normal retirement age. If such an option is offered, however, a plan generally may not be amended to eliminate the right to take such an early retirement with respect to benefits accrued before the amendment.
• Retirement-type subsidy. Retirement-type subsidies are also a protected part of your benefit and cannot be eliminated retroactively.

Certain important plan features are not protected, such as a social security supplement, directing investments, a particular form of investment, taking a loan from a plan, or making employee contributions at a particular rate on either a before- or after-tax basis.

Can your plan reduce future benefits?

ERISA does not prohibit your employer from amending the plan to reduce the rate at which benefits accrue in the future. For example, a plan that paid $5 in monthly benefits at age 65 for years of service up through 2002, may be amended to provide that years of service beginning in 2003 are credited at the rate of $4 per month.

If you are a participant in a defined benefit plan or a money purchase plan, you must receive written notice of a significant reduction in the rate of future benefit accruals after the plan amendment is adopted and at least 15 days before the effective date of the plan amendment. The written notice must describe the plan amendment and its effective date.

What happens to your service credit if you leave your job and later return?

A break in service can have serious consequences for your benefit if it extends for a long enough time and your benefit is not yet fully vested. However, ERISA does not permit your accrued benefit to be forfeited if you have a short break in service. ERISA establishes rules governing the circumstances under which a plan is required to continue to credit a participant with service earned before a break in service if the participant later returns to employment. These rules are very technical, but in general guarantee your service credit cannot be forfeited for absences shorter than 5 consecutive years. If you need to take a leave of absence, you should carefully examine your plan's rules so that you do not inadvertently and unnecessarily lose retirement benefits you have accrued.