Retirement Plans Required

The Illinois Secure Choice Act is designed to establish a retirement savings program sponsored by the State of Illinois for employers who do not already offer a plan.

Under the Illinois Secure Choice Act, employers in Illinois who are not exempt (see below) will be required either to have a retirement savings program in place for their workforce or to register under the Illinois Secure Choice Program. For employers with 25-99 employees, the registration deadline is November 1, 2019. (Larger employers should already be registered). Employers can register at https://employer.ilsecurechoice.com/.

While the intention is to keep employer burdens to a minimum, there are still several compliance tasks that will apply to applicable employers.

Employers who do not comply with the Secure Choice Act may be subject to fines and penalties as high as $250 per eligible employee (increasing to $500 in 2020).

Program Exemptions

Employers who offer any type of retirement plan to their workers (including 401(k) plans, profit sharing plans, SEP or SIMPLE plans, and traditional defined benefit plans) are exempt from registering under the new program. Additionally, employers with fewer than 25 employees and employers that have been in business for less than two years are exempt from participating in the program.

We Can Help

Please contact us if you would like to understand the benefits of establishing an employer retirement plan of your own, or if you have questions about complying with the requirements of the State of Illinois Secure Choice Act.  We can help you in either case.

https://employer.ilsecurechoice.com/home/employers/program-details.html