State Savings Program Could Affect Your Chiropractic Business

The Illinois Department of Revenue recently published the adopted rules for the state’s Secure Choice Savings Program. This program will affect some small businesses, specifically those having at least five employees. This would include a chiropractic office.

The program, administered by the Illinois Secure Choice Savings Board through the office of the Illinois State Treasurer’s office, establishes a retirement savings program for employees who work for an employer that does not offer a qualified retirement plan.

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The law does not require any matching funds from the employer, but there may be some indirect costs related to administrative time (notification, payroll setup, sending withheld funds, etc.). But, again, no direct costs to the employers.

The program was launched in 2018, but due to the phase-in provisions of the enabling legislation, the final rules have just now been adopted. Illinois businesses with at least five employees that have been in business for at least two years, and that do not currently provide a qualified retirement plan for employees, must either begin offering a qualified plan or automatically enroll their employees into the Secure Choice plan. The employer would have to provide payroll deduction retirement arrangements for those employees who choose to participate, and deposit on behalf of those employees, the withheld funds into the program.

Examples of a qualified retirement plan would include an Individual Retirement Account (IRA), 401 (k) plan, 403 (b) plan, or other similar retirement savings vehicles.

Employer is defined as “an entity engaged in a business, industry, profession, trade, or other enterprise in Illinois, whether for profit or not for profit, that has employed at least five employees during every quarter of the previous calendar year, and has been in business at least two years”.

Larger businesses, those with over 25 employees, have been operating under this requirement since 2019. Businesses with 16-24 employees must comply beginning November 1, 2022. Businesses with 5-15 employees must comply by November 2, 2023.

What Do You Need To Do?

• If you employ 16-24 employees, you must register with Secure Choice by November 1, 2022
• If you employ 5-15 employees, you must register with Secure Choice by November 1, 2023
• Enroll all employees who choose to participate into the program
• Be prepared to facilitate payroll deductions each payroll through a bank transfer by those deadlines
• The Secure Choice Savings Board can supply you with a packet of information for employees who choose to enroll in the savings program

There are penalties for employers who meet the qualifications for participation in the savings program that do not comply. An employer who fails to enroll an employee in the program within the time prescribed will face a penalty of $250 per employee for the initial calendar year of non-compliance, and $500 per employee for each subsequent year of non-compliance. Employers, if penalized with the above sanctions, may file a written protest against the assessment, setting forth the grounds on which such protest is based.