You hired employees, now additional steps must be taken to keep your retirement plan in compliance with Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Department of Labor (DOL) regulations.
Follow this guide to ensure The Plan remains in compliance:
- Provide the Summary Plan Description and Rollover Form to each new hire, on their day of hire. Each employee, including yourself, has the right to roll outside/old retirement accounts, into the 401(k) Plan on their hire date.
- As a reminder, failure to offer the plan to eligible employees will result in a plan violation requiring that your company pay significant penalties, taxes and costly and time consuming filings with the IRS and DOL.
- Offering the plan can be easy; we assist with that process:
- We determine if an employee is eligible for the 401(k) Plan
- How to make available investment options
- Enrolling Employees
- Webinar: You Hired Employees, Now What?
- You cannot exclude “Part Time” employees from the plan. There are certain employees you may exclude from the plan, as defined in your 401(k) Plan legal documents. Ask an LRS team member for assistance making this determination.
- If you hire, 1099/independent contractors, union workers and/or leased employees, please contact us to discuss additional requirements.
- If your organization employs individuals who are eligible or will soon become eligible to participate in the plan and the only investment currently available via the plan is privately held stock (qualified employer securities), pursuant to DOL regulations you are not offering a sufficiently diverse range of investment options.
“Under Labor Department regulations, there must be at least three different investment options so that employees can diversify investments within an investment category, such as through a mutual fund, and diversify among the investment alternatives offered. In addition, participants must be given sufficient information to make informed decisions about the options offered under the plan.
Leading Retirement Solutions can help you complete this important DOL requirement by assisting you with adding investment options to your plan including mutual funds and money market accounts and preparing and providing the required employee notices. Please contact a Leading Retirement Solutions team member and we can assist you with fulfilling this requirement.
Making Other Investment Options Available
- Initially, the only available investment option in the 401(k) Plan is the private stock of your company.
- You want to add other options and more traditional options like Mutual Funds, Stable Value, Money Market, Target Date Funds and more.
- Invest remaining rollover monies into these investments
- LRS will assist you with making other options available
An Employee Is Eligible, Now What?
- Present employees with a comprehensive enrollment kit, provided by LRS
- Offer enrollment & require submission of an enrollment form, provided by LRS
- IRS regulations require that you present employees with certain participant notices and information related to the Plan’s available investment options, provided by LRS.
- As an owner of the company, your 401k contributions may be restricted when employees do not participate. Contact your LRS Administrator for solutions.
- Additional information at: Contribution Maximums
Consolidate Old Retirement Accounts
- If you or any of your employees have an IRA, a 401(k), 403(b), 457, pension plan, Defined Benefit Plan, we will help you and your employees consolidate all of your retirement accounts into the new 401k plan.
- Provide a copy of the Summary Plan Description and Rollover form on each employee’s date of hire.
Leading Retirement Solutions
(206) 430-5084 phone
(800) 974-2814 (toll free)
service@leadingretirement.com
www.leadingretirement.com
Our mission: to proactively support organizations and lead them toward a secure future.