CalSavers Program Expanding for Small Employers

Amberlee (Conley) Lapointe • September 29, 2022

On August 26, 2022, the Governor of California signed Senate Bill No. 1126 (“S.B. 1126”) into law, amending California’s CalSavers Retirement Savings Program (“CalSavers”).  In general terms, CalSavers automatically enrolls eligible California employees in ROTH Individual Retirement Accounts if their employer does not provide a qualified retirement plan.  CalSavers requires eligible employers to facilitate the program by registering with CalSavers, providing employee information to CalSavers, and remitting employee contributions to CalSavers.

CalSavers currently applies to eligible employers with five or more employees.  The CalSavers requirements for employers took effect in three phases:  (1) September 30, 2020, for eligible employers with more than 100 employees;  (2) June 30, 2021, for eligible employers with more than 50 employees; and (3) June 30, 2022, for eligible employers with five or more employees.

As amended by S.B. 1126, CalSavers will expand to eligible employers with one or more eligible employees by December 31, 2025.  Accordingly, California employers with less than five employees may need to carefully consider the following questions:

  • Will you be subject to CalSavers, as amended by S.B. 1126?   In other words, are you an eligible employer with eligible employees, as defined under the CalSavers rules?
  • When do CalSavers requirements take effect for employers with less than five employees? As noted above, S.B. 1126 calls for compliance by December 31, 2025.  However, S.B. 1126 also grants the CalSavers Retirement Savings Board authority to extend the deadline.  Therefore, small employers may want to pay close attention to any applicable CalSavers deadlines announced in the next few years.
  • If you will be subject to CalSavers, would you rather offer a different qualified retirement plan?   Employers are exempt from CalSavers if they provide an employer-sponsored qualified retirement plan (e.g., a 401(k) Plan). 

The failure to comply with CalSavers may result in penalties of up to $750 per eligible employee for continued noncompliance.  Earlier this year, the CalSavers Retirement Savings Board announced that CalSavers began imposing these penalties in January 2022.

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Employee burnout has become an epidemic in today’s modern workplace. So much so that the World Health Organization (WHO) officially recognizes it as an “occupational phenomenon.”1 While many used to consider mounting workplace stress an individual employee problem, these days, it’s become an employer’s responsibility to prevent burnout before it hurts productivity and business performance—not to mention your employees’ physical and mental health. Luckily, you can prevent burnout from affecting your workforce in several ways. This article will explore the causes and signs of employee burnout and the steps you can take to create a positive work environment where employees feel safe from toxic stress levels.

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If you're a small business owner, you may have heard of the acronym PCORI and the fees that come with it. But what is PCORI, and how does it apply to your organization? Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), sponsors of self-insured health plans must pay a fee to fund the federal Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). PCORI is an independent organization the ACA created to conduct research to help healthcare consumers make better decisions for their specific needs and outcomes. It also performs research related to clinical effectiveness. Employers offering a self-insured medical reimbursement health plan, such as a health reimbursement arrangement (HRA), must pay this fee by July 31 each year via Form 7201. This fee was initially set to expire in 2019, but Congress extended it through September 30, 20292, due to the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 20203.
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