When the U.S. Department of Labor released its finalized safe harbor for state-administered retirement plans this past August, the agency laid out specific conditions by which states could mandate participation in retirement plans without exposing employers to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act’s fiduciary requirements.
Several states had legislated, or were in the process of legislating, state-administered retirement plans prior to the safe harbor’s finalization.
But questions lingered as to whether or not state payroll deduction programs would inadvertently cause participating employers to establish ERISA-covered plans, creating “a serious impediment to the wider adoption” of state-run programs, according to Labor Department analysis published with the safe harbor.
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Nick Thornton
Nick Thornton is a financial writer covering retirement and health care issues for BenefitsPRO and ALM Media. He greatly enjoys learning from the vast minds in the legal, academic, advisory and money management communities when covering the retirement space. He's also written on international marketing trends, financial institution risk management, defense and energy issues, the restaurant industry in New York City, surfing, cigars, rum, travel, and fishing. When not writing, he's pushing into some land or water.
