HRPA Defends ERISA Preemption in Key Legal Challenge

HR Policy Association joined several business organizations in an amicus brief arguing that an Illinois law threatens the uniformity of employers-provided benefits and undermines ERISA preemption.

Background: Staffing Services Association of Illinois v. Flanagan challenges an Illinois law requiring staffing agencies to provide benefits to their employees equivalent to those that their client companies offer to their own employees. 

• The law would apply to staffing agency employees who work with a client for 90 days or more. 

• The plaintiff, the Staffing Services Association, argues that the Illinois statute is preempted by ERISA. They have requested a district court order to block the law's enforcement until the case is resolved.

• HRPA’s amicus brief supports the request, urging the court to grant the Staffing Services Association’s motion for a preliminary injunction. 

Why it matters: ERISA’s preemption provisions allow self-insured businesses to provide consistent, tailored benefits to employees. Without this framework, employers would face a patchwork of state regulations, complicating the design and administration of health, welfare, and retirement benefits for employees and their families.