Human Resources Best Practices Guide by Staff One - HTML preview

401K PLANS OFFER FLEXIBILITY IN RETIREMENT SAVINGS

Offering a 401(k) Retirement Plan is an important way for companies to stay competitive. Quality employees are looking for more than just compensation; they are looking for enriched benefits, and they understand the value of retirement planning made easy.

Many Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs) offer a 401(k) plan, which is a great way to save. Most offer a full range of plan options, and clients may elect eligibility criteria and potential match options based on their needs, such as a discretionary per-payroll basis, or an optional one-time contribution at year-end.

Pretax and Roth options may be offered in a single plan, and employees may contribute both Pretax and Roth dollars via payroll, and it will deposit in a single account. This is a convenient, low-maintenance way for employees to save for retirement.

If your company maintains its own retirement plan, then you are well aware of the many responsibilities of being a Plan Fiduciary. A PEO is well equipped to handle all responsibilities of a 401(k) retirement plan, including:

• Conducting Quarterly Investment Committee Meetings.
• Sending Participant Distribution Option Packets as Qualified Events occur.
• Filing annual 5500 Documents which include an Audit, which may become costly.
• Calculating Annual ADP/ACP and Top Heavy Testing.
• Sending out Enrollment Packets including Summary Plan Description (SPD), 404(c) Compliance
• Information, Qualified Default Investment Alternative (QDIA), and Explanation of Expenses.

Taking advantage of a PEO’s 401(k) plan allows you to not only alleviate administrative costs, but also frees you of this fiduciary liability. If a company does not closely abide by the ever-changing 401(k) regulations, it is hit with penalties and time-consuming correction procedures.