Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law changes to the SECURE CHOICE SAVINGS PROGRAM, which passed in the recent legislative session. The change goes into effect on January 1, 2022. The law will now apply to employers with at least 5 employees.
Currently, the law applies only to employers with more than 25 employees. Newly covered employers will be brought into compliance in two waves – employers with 16 to 24 employees will have a deadline to comply of no sooner than September 1, 2022, and employers with 5-15 employees will have a deadline to comply of no sooner than September 1, 2023.
The law requires pertinent employers to either provide long term savings, such as Simple IRAs, 401k, or similar retirement savings programs to employees; or to enroll employees into the state sponsored Secure Choice Savings Program, which is free of charge. Employers are not required to invest or pay into Secure Choice. Instead, employees would have a small percentage of their pay automatically deducted from their regular pay and invested into a state insured retirement savings account. Employees have the right to opt-out. The Illinois Treasurer’s office runs the program.
NFIB was the only business organization that consistently opposed this legislation. To see the new language PA 102-179.
