An employer that maintains a severance plan that is subject to ERISA but fails to follow ERISA's requirements may be subject to potential penalties. If you have questions about ERISA federal law, see our ERISA FAQs.Questions about your claim? This blog post will give an overview of how ERISA can impact your severance agreement. In short, yes, severance can affect your longterm disability benefits. But there are many facets to this issue of which you should be aware. You are under no legal obligation to sign a severance (also called a separation) agreement. Section 734 of ERISA provides that the Secretary may promulgate such regulations as may be necessary or appropriate to carry out the provisions of part 7.