New CalSavers Law – What Employers Need to Know Retirement Plans for CA Employees

• CalSavers stands for California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Trust Act
• Law in effect July 1, 2019
• Large employers with at least one eligible CA based employee* and that do not currently offer their own employer sponsored retirement plan must register with CalSavers program
• In such cases, Employers must begin auto-enrolling employees in the CalSavers plan no later than June 30, 2020
• In 2020, employers with as few as 5 employees based in CA will be required to enroll in the CalSaver program
• The law applies to both for-profit and non-profit employers but excludes government agencies

*Eligible CA based employees means employee is age 18 or older

Employers should note the following deadlines to either claim an exemption or register with CalSavers:
100+ employees: June 30, 2020
50+ employees: June 30, 2021
5+ employees: June 30, 2022

Employers that offer their own qualified retirement plan are exempt from the mandate. However, employers will need to certify exemption to the State by providing proof of any “qualified retirement plan” which satisfies this requirement. Some examples of retirement plans that satisfy this requirement are:
• Qualified pension plans
• 401(k) plans
• 403(a) plans
• 403(b) plans
• Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) plans
• Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLE)
• Payroll deduction IRAs with automatic enrollment