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Department of Labor – “Request for Information and Required Response”

URGENT COMPLIANCE BULLETIN

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date:              May 20, 2021

From:             Benefits Compliance Consultants (info@bc2co.com)

To:                  All Employee Benefits Agents and Plan Administrators

Re:                  Department of Labor – “Request for Information and Required Response” inquiries related to Form M1 filings for MEWA’s

 

It has come to our attention that the US Department of Labor is actively reviewing Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements (MEWAs) and is currently sending   “Request for Information with Written Response Required” notices to MEWA Administrators that have failed to file Form M1 report(s).

The DOL is requiring a 15-day written response to all notices and outlines all actions that MUST be completed within this time frame. These notices also make specific mention of the following civil action:

“If you were required to file the Form M1 and failed to do so, you may be liable to civil penalties of up to $1,644 per day pursuant to section 502(c)(5) of the Employee Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA).  The Department may take other action against you including, but not limited to, ordering you to cease and desist operations of the Plan, pursuant to ERISA section 521(a) and 29 CFR 2560.521-1.”

 

If you have received one of these notices and/or have not filed a timely Form M1 filing, please contact us at (515)244-2424 or info@bc2co.com immediately. 

Your trusted resource for comprehensive ERISA compliance,

Benefits Compliance Consultants

www.bc2co.com

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Avoiding IRS Penalties with Monthly ACA Compliance

As the IRS is expected to follow through on the ACA mandate fervently, it is critical that employers comply with the ACA process to avoid any penalties from the Internal Revenue Service. As per the mandate, companies with 50 or more full-time employees (or those who work equivalent to full-time employees) are required to provide minimum essential coverage to at least 95 percent of their workforce, along with their dependents. The coverage must also meet the minimum value and should be affordable for employees.

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Some organizations may feel like they can get away without following the proper guidelines but in the long run, there is far more value in adhering to the process than getting hit by multiple penalties. These penalties may result in a substantial amount of loss if you are no€™t careful. Moreover, there are plenty of benefits for following the ACA compliance as well. Some of the benefits of monthly ACA compliance are given below.

1) Consistent Records of Coverage

The implementation of monthly ACA compliance allows you to have a record of the various offers of coverage available to your workforce. On a month-by-month basis, you can get more data when it comes to the number of employees who enrolled for or declined the coverage as well. The more employees you have, the more important it is to follow the monthly ACA compliance process.

2) Better Preparation

One of the best aspects of following monthly ACA compliance is that you get to know which employees will become eligible ahead of time so that the necessary documentation can be prepared in advance. This ensures that no employee ever misses any offers of coverage and helps the company to be more efficient when it comes to extending coverage to its employees.

3) Preventing Penalties

By following the proper monthly ACA compliance process, you will always be in a better position to check the information contained in IRS penalty letters and set the record straight whenever necessary. By not following the process properly, you might end up with penalties for no reason just because you don’t have the proper information recorded.

What is the Latest ACA Reporting Schedule?

1) 1094-C/1095-C has to be filed (paper) with the IRS by February 28, 2020.

2) 1095-C has to be furnished to your workforce by March 2, 2020.

3) 1094-C/1095-C has to be electronically filed with the IRS by March 31, 2020.

Failure to meet the above deadlines can lead to penalties under IRC 6721/6722.

Penalties for Not Following the ACA Mandate

If employers file the required ACA information after the deadline but within 30 days of the last day, they might have to pay up to $50 per return not filed. Once the 30-day period is over till August 1st, the penalty goes up to $110. After August 1st, the penalty will jump up to $270 per return not filled which can result in a ton of loss for the company overall.

So always pay on time to avoid huge IRS penalties.

 

Questions? Need Help with ACA compliance? Form 5500 or wrap plan documents?

 

Call:

(515)-244-2424

by BC2

New Compliance Requirements Added by the Secure Act

The Secure Act or Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act is a bipartisan reform bill that increases access to benefit plans and expands retirement savings for employees. As of January 1st, 2020, most of the provisions have already come into effect. This legislation will help small businesses in particular to set up employer-sponsored plans and significantly expand coverage across the spectrum to ensure that every hardworking citizen will be able to prepare for a more secure financial future. Several compliance requirements have been added recently that companies across the nation have to abide by. Here are some of the changes when it comes to:

1) Part-Time Employees

Part-time employees who either worked at least 500 hours in 3 consecutive 12-month periods or reached the age of 21 by the end of the before mentioned period must be eligible to participate in a 401(k) plan. The change includes both mandatory substantive and administrative changes. The plan year after 12/31/2020, i.e. the 12-month period beginning before 1/1/2021 will not be taken into account.

2) 401(k) Safe Harbor Changes

Automatic deferral rate for QACA’s or Qualified Automatic Contribution Arrangements has been increased to 15 percent. The requirement to have a notice for participants when adopting a non-elective employer has been removed as well. These changes were made effective from 12/31/2019.

3) Qualified Births and Adoptions

Retirement plan withdrawals up to $5000 for a qualified birth or adoption won’€™t be subject to 10 percent withdrawal tax, which is a huge relief for expecting parents. As of 12/31/2019, these changes have come into effect.

4) Post-Death Minimum Distribution Rules

Once a participant dies, the remaining account balance must be distributed to the designated beneficiaries within 10 years. This rule will be applied regardless of whether the participant dies before or after the RBD date.

5) High Increase in IRS Civil Penalties

secure act

Failure to file Form 5500 will now incur a penalty of $250 per day with a cap of $150,000 per annual report. Not providing withholding notice will lead to $100 penalty fee per failure with a cap of $50,000 per year. If Form 8955-SSA is not filed for terminated vested participants, a penalty fee of $10 per participant per day will be levied up to $50,000. If the IRS is not notified of registration changes such as plan name, plan administrator address, plan termination, etc., a penalty of $10 per day will be incurred. If the failure continues after the deadline, then the penalty fee will be multiplied by the number of days missed beyond the last date, until a maximum of $10,000 per failure.

In addition to the above changes, there are several more which employers need to be aware of to ensure proper compliance. The complete list of changes can be found on the official government website. The penalties for not complying with the new requirements may be severe, but in the long run, it will benefit not only employees but employers as well. Top-tier talents will always be attracted to the companies that provide the best benefits after all.

by BC2

ACA Compliance Remains a Concern for Employers

Ever since the ACA came into being, a lot of organizations have always struggled to understand all the requirements and guidelines that came with it. It has always remained an issue for employers. Some companies, on the other hand, have chosen not to take it as seriously as they need to. Sometimes, employers send their reports and never heard anything back until much later, when they got swamped with waves of letters from the IRS.

What are the Different Types of Penalties Incurred by Employers?

There are mainly two types of penalties received by companies from the IRS. One pertains to the lack of coverage provided to employees by the employer and the other is related to the affordability of the plan offered. If an employer has refused to provide coverage to their workforce, then they can get hit with up to $2000 of penalty fees per employee. If the plan offered isn’t€™t affordable, the penalty fee may even go as high as $3000 per employee, which is a substantial amount of money for sure.

How to Stay ACA Compliant?

Looking into the ACA healthcare benefits is a complex process that can be quite overwhelming for employers or HR professionals. However, it can be broken down into smaller steps and implemented in a far simpler manner by taking a few things into consideration. Once your company has been identified as an applicable large employer, you need to start identifying employees that are eligible for health benefits. This can be done using different processes, each with their pros and cons. They are as follows:

1) Monthly Measurement

With this method, ACA eligibility is accessed on a monthly basis and is dependent on the number of hours the employee has worked the previous month. If he or she worked at least 130 hours during the month, then they can be considered as a full-time employee. This method is the easiest to implement and doesn’t€™t require complicated calculations.

2) Look Back Measurement

With this method, eligibility is determined based on a span of 3 to 12 months defined as the measurement period as opposed to on a month-by-month basis. This method saves time as employers need to do it only once or a few times a year. However, the risk of getting a bigger fine is higher in the event of mistakes or miscalculations being made. Implementation is also quite complicated, especially when new hires join the workforce causing overlaps of measurement periods.

3) Extending Coverage to All

This is probably the safest method to avoid raking in huge penalties. There is no need to access eligibility or face difficulty in implementing measurement periods. This method also attracts top talent due to the extended coverage, making the business more competent and efficient in the long run.

At the end of the day, every business owner needs to pick the method that best works for themselves and their businesses to ensure that they can stay ACA compliant and remove any possibility of getting huge fines from the IRS.

by BC2

Secure Act of 2019: Its Consequences on Retirement and 401k Compliance

The SECURE Act of 2019 approved by the Senate on Dec 19, 2019 is targeted towards helping every community when it comes to their retirement financial future. It consists of significant provisions aimed towards improving access to tax-advantaged accounts and encourages small businesses to provide retirement plans for their workers. Some of the major elements introduced in the bill included raising the minimum age for required minimum distributions from 70.5 to 72 years of age and giving students the ability to repay their student loans using 529 accounts (up to $10000).

Secure Act of 2019: Its Repercussions on Compliance Benefits

As far as small businesses are concerned, here are a few incentives contained in the retirement SECURE Act that encourage and help employers become plan sponsors.

1) Increasing Business Tax Credit for Plan Startup Costs – The current cap will be raised from $500 up to $5000 depending on special circumstances to make the process of setting up retirement plans more affordable for small businesses.

2) Automatic Enrollment – For plans that add automatic enrollment, small businesses will be provided with an additional $500 tax credit for 3 years.

3) Simplification of Rules – Rules related to qualified non-elective contributions have been simplified.

4) More Time – The time for adopting new plans has been extended beyond the end of the year to the date when companies file their tax return.

5) Reduced Plan Administrator Costs – Certain contribution plans with a common administrator now come with a consolidated Form 5500 to reduce costs. It is also important to note that penalties incurred by failure to file Form 5500 and withholding notices have been increased.

The SECURE Act also allows small employers unrelated to one another to come together and open multiple employer plans or MEPs. This can significantly reduce not only overall costs but administrative duties as well. MEPs are also referred to as PEPs (Pooled Employer Plans) and come with a single plan document, Form 5500 filing and independent plan audit. While MEPs could change the game for small businesses, it is important to note that there will be certain restrictions too such as standardized investment options and requirements that might be too much of a hassle to handle.

Until recently, the U.S retirement system was plagued with numerous problems that required a large portion of workers to supplement their social security with their personal savings. Due to reduced scope and lack of incentives, only 55 percent of the adult workforce was seen to participate in retirement plans, according to a 2018 report. However, a lot of things have been changed with the SECURE Act. Although it isn’t perfect, it certainly is a step in the right direction. It helps workers of all ages and those who come from all communities to be better prepared for their retirement age by allowing them different options for investment. Here are some of the ways in which the retirement Secure Act will bring about more positive changes to workers everywhere in the country.

1) It will now be easier for small businesses to set up 401ks as the cap under which they can auto-enroll employees (safe harbor retirement plans) has been increased from 10 percent to 15 percent.

2) It allows businesses to have part-time employees to participate in retirement plans. However, to be eligible, employees must work either 1000 hours in the designated year or have worked 3 years with 500 hours of service. This increases the scope of retirement plan participants by a significant margin allowing more people to have a choice in their financial future.

3) Permits participants to withdraw $5000 from 401k accounts with zero penalties to cover the cost of adopting or having a child.

4) Encourages employers to have more annuities in their 401k plans. Businesses now don’t have to worry about any legal liability that may arise from the annuity provider’s failure to meet financial obligations and don’t have to choose the lowest cost plan either.

5) Qualified disaster distributions will now have their penalties waived off if they are taken before the age of 59 .

The retirement SECURE Act of 2019 creates significant changes for small business owners and widens the scope for enrollment, allowing more people to sign up for a better financial future. Whether it becomes a game-changer is still unknown but it is indeed a step in the right direction.

Does your business need our services? We can help!

Form 5500, wrap plan document, 401k, retirement benefits & more ERISA Compliance

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by BC2

Retirement Plan Compliance Guidelines You Must Know

The Employee Benefits Security Administration or EBSA is responsible for assuring that all 401k plans are in compliance with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). In recent years, the number of compliance audits conducted by both the IRS and the DOL has increased exponentially. It is the duty of the plan administrator to maintain, understand and ensure compliance to minimize the risk of their plan being audited. Given below is a retirement plan compliance guide that may help you to prevent any compliance issues from arising.

retirement plan compliance time

1) Reviewing Key Documents

There are three main documents that must be maintained, reviewed and retained every year at all costs. One of them is the most recent plan document that includes updated agreements. The other is the plan amendments document that includes any changes as per ERISA. The third one is the latest service agreements with TPAs. It is important for the administrator to not only review these files but also have signed copies of them.

2) Understanding the Plan Document

Every retirement plan will have a set amount of provisions that define the eligibility of participants and the benefits they can gain from it. The administrator must always go through the plan document to understand every aspect of eligibility from age requirements, service requirements to employee classification to ensure that all eligible employees get included in the plan. The document will also contain key information pertaining to the sources of compensation such as bonuses, severance pay, and taxable benefits, etc.

3) Understanding TPA Duties

Misunderstanding TPA’s duties is another reason why a retirement plan compliance issue may arise. To prevent errors from occurring, it is vital to keep a signed copy of the latest service agreements and read them fully to understand its full scope. Calculations related to employer contributions are mostly done by the TPA but some service agreements might indicate that it is the responsibility of the plan administrator to do so. Therefore, it is important to ensure that there is no confusion regarding the duties or it might lead to negligence and compliance issues in the end.

4) Adherence to Regulations

Retirement plans have a ton of rules and regulations to follow and sometimes a few of them might slip through the crack and never get enforced. For instance, most plans have a provision where employees who leave and then get rehired within a set amount of time can gain eligibility for participating in a 401k plan but it is often overlooked by a lot of companies. When it comes to an audit, even the tiniest detail will be under heavy scrutiny.

5) Ensuring Consistency of Day to Day Operations

It’s not sufficient to just have a plan document that meets all the required compliance needs. Day to day operations of the plan must be consistently upheld to all the rules and regulations as per the law. Sometimes, regulations may change before the sponsor is required to make changes to the plan. In such cases, operations might vary from the written terms of the plan. By maintaining consistency in the day to day operations of the plan, both the administrator and the sponsor can better prepare for any hurdle that may come their way.

By ensuring that there aren’t any issues when it comes to retirement plan compliance, everyone benefits, including the business owner and his/her employees. A happy workforce will always be a productive one too. We provide a number of different services such as Form 5500, ERISA compliance, benefits compliance, 401k and our specialty wrap form planning aimed at helping companies keep all their plans in accordance with the rules and regulations set by the IRS and DOL.

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by BC2

Busiest Trends in Work Benefits for 2020 & What to Expect?

business consultants for ERISAWith the economy at record highs, employers from all over the country are strategizing on ways to attract and retain prospective top talents for their companies. One of the most effective ways they are doing this is by providing great workplace benefits that people actually look for and need for a great work experience.

As per early predictions, companies and organizations are now seeing the value of investing in workplace benefits and are stepping up their efforts to attract the right people for their jobs. Given below are some of the busiest trends in work benefits in the year 2020.

1) Its Payday Any Day

One of the most common things people wish for is flexibility in terms of their paychecks. Some companies like Walmart, Uber and Lyft have already started allowing their employees to access their earnings once their hours have been logged instead of waiting for the designated payday. This trend might become more popular over the coming few years.

2) Work From Home

As the cost of living in major cities is increasing every day, it does make life difficult for new employees who come from other cities. More and more people are moving away from urban areas to more cost effective neighborhoods to reduce their cost of living. To help in this regard, companies are willing to provide more flexible work policies such as allowing work from home. This not only brings a lot of convenience to employees but it greatly benefits the employers as well. Employers will be able to save on office space and have a greater pool of talent to choose from since location won’t be a restriction anymore.

3) Expanded Health Coverage

Health care is definitely one of the top benefits that employees care about today. Currently, the two main issues for workers are the narrow coverage of healthcare and inconvenience brought by the need to visit a doctor in person to utilize the benefit. Companies are now focusing on extending the coverage to include not only physical health but mental and behavioral health too. They are also focusing on allowing employees to address their health needs online as both telemedicine and telehealth are attracting more people every day.

4) An Inclusive Workplace

With the advent of new technology, it will be possible for companies to hire talent from a diverse pool of candidates who come from different races, genders and backgrounds. While companies utilize artificial intelligence technologies to hire potential candidates, there is now a growing need to modify the program with inclusion in mind. Allowing employees to refer and participate in the hiring process is also another way in which some companies are planning to build a more diverse and inclusive workforce.

5) Personalized Opportunity

Higher pay is a great way to retain top talent in companies. Another equally important factor is the opportunity for career growth. More and more workers are now looking for more personalized opportunities to advance their careers. The tech industry, for example, has more open jobs than employees as people tend to jump from one company to another in search of advancing their skill and expertise. Employers are now preparing to invest more time and money in their employees to allow them to not only stay up to date with their skills but also to help them acquire new ones.

Other busiest trends in work benefits include creative ways to pay off student loans, better help for financial management and family planning. With so many inspiring and unique upcoming trends, it seems that 2020 will be a great year for both employees and employers.

Busiest Trends in Work Benefits for 2020

by BC2

ERISA’s Electronic Disclosure Rules

New Electronic Disclosure Rules Proposed by the DOL and its Details

The Department of Labor has proposed that retirement plans would need to have a new safe harbor process for the electronic delivery of participant notices. This comes as a welcome addition as the old disclosure rules were considered to be outdated by many. According to the new proposal, a retirement plan administrator can now furnish required disclosures to their plan participants and beneficiaries through electronic delivery unless the participants decide to opt-out. It is important to note that this new proposal will not apply to employee welfare benefit plans such as group health plans or disability plans.

What is the New Safe Harbor Method?

ERISA Electronic Disclosure Rules Pathway

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The new method utilizes a “notice and access” model where the plan participants and beneficiaries are kept in the loop regarding key information on their plans. This is done by giving them instructions on accessing disclosures and for requesting paper copies of them. Under the new method, you can put your fears of ending up with penalties to rest as it not only brings more convenience but transparency as well.

Old Safe Harbor Method?

Those who don’t have the ability to access documents in the electronic form can go for the 2002 safe harbor method as long as they provide affirmative consent. For employers, the old method tends to be more bothersome as they usually have to distribute the documents on paper.

New Rules for the Employers

The new proposal comes with a few pre-requisites to utilize the new method such as specifying the timing, content, delivery methods and standards for the site where the disclosures will be housed. It can only be used for participants who have an electronic address such as personal email, work email or even mobile phone numbers. As a result, there won’t be any limits to the type of device the information can be accessed on. However, according to the DOL, it is recommended that if smartphone numbers are used for the participant’s condition of employment, then the employer-provided smartphone must come with a data plan.

What Are Some of the Changes?

1) When it comes to covered persons, the new method is much broader in application than the old one as it doesn’t require affirmative consent if participants receive an electronic address from their employer.

2) Covered documents such as the summary plan description, summary annual report and pension benefits statements can be furnished electronically, only when they are required to be or due to specific events such as plan amendments.

ERISA’s Electronic Disclosure Rules

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Retirement Wrap Plan Consultants Are Ready For Hire

The Importance of Hiring Retirement Wrap Plan Consultants

A wrap plan is a document that organizations use to ensure that they are compliant with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). It also helps them to reduce costs pertaining to the administration of health and welfare benefit plans provided to their employees. Employee welfare benefits covered by ERISA include a host of programs such as insurance, medical, dental and accidental death coverage. Non-compliance will result in penalties that may amount to $110 per day or more. It would be wise to hire retirement wrap plan consultants to ensure that such a predicament would never happen in the first place.

They can help you do the following:

Regulation Monitoring

Rules may evolve and change over time. Having a consultant would make it easier to ensure that the company is following the latest rules and guidelines properly.

Share Analytics

Retirement wrap plan consultants can monitor the percentage of people who are on track for a successful retirement future and share it with the employer to gauge the level of success of their retirement plans.

Summary Reports

Companies can obtain a summary of their plans along with certain key metrics such as total plan assets, participation rate, contribution types and savings rate. This will help the company find problematic areas if any.

Participant Engagement

This gives the employer a unique insight into the number of employees who are deferring at various rates so that they can review it and see if they are doing enough to maximize employer contributions. This also includes information about how many loans the participants have taken out and if there are any outstanding balances. This way, the company can review the status of each loan and see if the employees are following the required rules and guidelines.

Investment Plans

In a single file, the company will be able to see the summary of the different plans and important data points such as expense ratio, beginning balance, net flow and ending balance.

Plan Activity

This gives a glimpse into transactions that occur during reporting periods such as asset flows, disbursement and rollovers. To get more clarity on the matter, the transactions can even be divided into specific types like contribution, distribution and loan payment.

Compliance Summary

The most important aspect of the retirement wrap plan consultant’s job is to provide a summary of important compliance issues and areas where there might be a problem. If any area gets flagged, the company needs to solve it as soon as possible to ensure that they meet all compliance requirements. Some of the known categories include top heavy testing, 401k non-discrimination tests and participant deposit timing. Some even provide short notes for reference so that the employer can move quickly and take action before it’s too late.

Many companies are afraid of raking up penalties for not following the correct guidelines but hiring a retirement wrap plan consultant would help alleviate that fear. There are several retirement wrap plan consultancies out there today. Creating a wrap plan document is no easy feat and requires a lot of attention to detail and compliance. Once it is done, it can vastly simplify the process by having the required information in one place and eliminate the need for multiple Form 5500 submission.

by BC2

Who is Exempt from Filing Form 5500?

Is your business exempt from filing Form 5500?

The Form 5500 is an annual report that is filed with the department of labor containing information about the financial conditions, investments and operations of a 401k plan. It is a vital part of any business that provides a retirement plan to its employees. Generally, a company has to deposit their employee’s salary deferrals no later than the 15th business day of the month after the contribution date. Small businesses that have 100 or fewer employees get an extension of 7 days after the collection of salary deferrals.

Plans not covered by ERISA or Employee Retirement Income Security Act are exempt from filing form 5500. If you are wondering who is exempt from filing Form 5500, then read on.

1) Business Owner Only Plan – A retirement plan that covers only the business owner and the spouse (if applicable) is usually exempt from filing form 5500. This is only possible if the total plan’s assets are worth $250,000 or more, as of the first day of the plan year. This is because it assumes that the business doesn’t have employees that are eligible for the plan. If employees are improperly excluded, then the exemption is void and the Form 5500 must be filled.

2) Non-Erisa 403(b) Plans – 403(b) plans are generally exempt from filing Form 5500 and so Churches and government institutions usually get an exemption as they both frequently sponsorexempt from filing Form 5500 it. Apart from them, if an employer has limited involvement in its operation and maintenance, then that plan will also get an exemption. However, it is important to note that it is very hard to define what “limited involvement” means and so in such cases, one should consult the exemption status with an entity that has in-depth knowledge about it. Not all 403 (b) plans get an exemption.

3) Unfunded Welfare Plans – If a welfare plan has less than 100 participants at the start of the plan year and is insured or entirely unfunded, then there is no need to file Form 5500. So what makes a plan to be considered unfunded? Well, if the employer is paying the full cost of the plan from their general account, the plan is considered to be unfunded. If there is a trust involved or if the cost comes from a specific account (where the participant contributions are separated from general assets), they won’t get an exemption.

4) Plans with Only Certain Specified Benefits – If the plan provides only certain specified benefits then there is no need to file Form 5500 even if the number of participants is high. Daycare centers, certain apprenticeships and union plans, etc. generally get an exemption.

If you are unsure as to whether you or your company is exempt from filing Form 5500 you need to consult with a knowledgeable authority. Otherwise, you may end up with a penalty of $25 per day up to a maximum of $15,000 from the IRS and up to $1,100 per day from the department of labor. Most companies realize their mistake only after they receive a letter from the IRS or DOL (department of labor). As this letter is usually sent a year after its due, a substantial amount of penalty fees may be levied upon the company. It’s always wiser to be cautious to minimize potential risks especially when it comes to the IRS. We provide a number of different services ranging from Form 5500 preparation to providing retirement wrap plans to help companies navigate easier when it comes to financial hurdles.