91 FR 9213 — Requirement To Provide Paper Statements in Certain Cases-Amendments to Electronic Disclosure Safe Harbors ERISAProposed Rules (FR)Proposed Feb 25, 2026★ strong match
lower. Conversely, if the proportion of plans using the 2002 safe harbor relative to the 2020 safe harbor is lower, the overall costs would be higher. To demonstrate this, the Department includes its analyses for a range of scenarios in Table 11 below. These scenarios depict uniform usage of the 2020 safe harbor, unifo…
75 FR 2068 — Definition of “Plan Assets”-Participant Contributions ERISAFinal Rules (FR)Jan 14, 2010★ strong match
…e commenters requested that these types of special circumstances be addressed by providing a longer safe harbor period. Several commenters recommended that the 7-business day safe harbor period be retained, noting that such period is an appropriate safe harbor period for small plans. In attempting to define the appropr…
ERISARegulationsNov 22, 2024related by meaning
…or. A fiduciary that meets the conditions of paragraph (d) of this section shall, with respect to a distribution described in paragraph (b) of this section, be deemed to have satisfied its duties under section 404(a) of the Act with respect to the distribution of benefits, selection of a transferee entity described in …
90 FR 28007 — Selection of Annuity Providers-Safe Harbor for Individual Account Plans ERISAFinal Rules (FR)Jul 1, 2025★ strong match
the financial capability of the insurer.[7]
This provision both streamlines the safe harbor [8]
and offers a level of certainty
( printed page 28008) not available under the regulatory safe harbor. Moreover, removing the regulatory safe harbor also eliminates situations in which a plan fiduciary might waste time and r…
ERISAProposed Rules (FR)Proposed May 8, 2013★ strong match
aph (d)(2)(ii) safe harbor—rate of return applied to current account balance of $125,000 and post 2012 projected contributions
7% compounded annually. Paragraph (d)(2)(iii) safe harbor-discount rate used to determine present value of the projected account balance
3% compounded annually.
(d)
Safe harbor for converting c…
85 FR 31884 — Default Electronic Disclosure by Employee Pension Benefit Plans Under ERISA ERISAFinal Rules (FR)May 27, 2020★ strong match
ing in an initial paper notice to all individuals to whom the plan administrator intends the safe harbor to apply, before the safe harbor can be used. A couple of commenters also asked for confirmation that paragraph (f)(3) of the safe harbor does not preclude plan administrators from continuing to make online informat…
91 FR 46602 — Electronic Disclosure by Group Health Plans Under ERISA ERISAProposed Rules (FR)Proposed Jul 23, 2026
unication methods. This proposed rule responds to this need by extending the 2020 electronic safe harbor to group health plan disclosures.
D. Baseline For purposes of the regulatory impact analysis, the Department considers the 2002 safe harbor as the baseline against which all incremental effects of the proposed rule …
84 FR 37508 — Definition of “Employer” Under Section 3(5) of ERISA-Association Retirement Plans and Other Multiple-Employer Plans ERISAFinal Rules (FR)Jul 31, 2019
…le as favoring CPEOs. In response to these comments, the Department streamlined the Proposed Rule's safe harbor structure in the final rule. Unlike the Proposed Rule, which contained one safe harbor for PEOs that are CPEOs and a second safe harbor for PEOs that are non-CPEOs, the final rule contains only one safe harbo…
81 FR 59464 — Savings Arrangements Established by States for Non-Governmental Employees ERISAFinal Rules (FR)Aug 30, 2016★ strong match
…on benefit plan. The employer's participation must be required by state law—if it is voluntary, the safe harbor does not apply. The 1975 IRA Payroll Deduction Safe Harbor is still available, however, to interested parties who voluntarily choose to facilitate employees' participation in a state program, if the condition…
81 FR 47534 — Proposed Revision of Annual Information Return/Reports ERISAProposed Rules (FR)Proposed Jul 21, 2016★ strong match
…23a.
A section 401(k) plan may (in accordance with the plan document) allow participants to receive hardship distributions under Code section 401(k)(2)(B)(i)(IV). A distribution from a participant's elective deferral account can only be made if the distribution is because of an immediate and heavy financial need, and t…
ERISADOL Technical ReleasesJul 25, 2023★ strong match
s potential enforcement safe harbor would be limited to NQTLs related to network composition and would not extend to other NQTLs.
Applicability Period If all of the standards set forth in a future guidance establishing the enforcement safe harbor are satisfied, the Departments would not take enforcement action against …
85 FR 59132 — Pension Benefit Statements-Lifetime Income Illustrations ERISAFinal Rules (FR)Sep 18, 2020related by meaning
…nt value of certain accelerated forms of benefit under a defined benefit plan (including single-sum distributions) must not be less than the present value of the accrued benefit calculated using applicable interest rates (under Code section 417(e)(3)(C)) and the applicable mortality table (under Code section 417(e)(3)(…
90 FR 35646 — Pooled Employer Plans: Big Plans for Small Businesses ERISAProposed Rules (FR)Proposed Jul 29, 2025
…designated investment alternatives available to participating employers in a PEP? 22. Should such a safe harbor designate a permissible range of total fees for participants in the PEP? For this purpose, the safe harbor could define total fees as an average percent of assets.
23. Are there any issues specific to registe…
80 FR 72006 — Savings Arrangements Established by States for Non-Governmental Employees ERISAProposed Rules (FR)Proposed Nov 18, 2015related by meaning
… under the program.
Back to Citation
17.
In previous guidance issued by the Department under other safe harbors involving private parties, the Department concluded that employers could take certain corrective actions to stay within the safe harbor and that such actions, in and of themselves, did not lead to the establ…
81 FR 92639 — Savings Arrangements Established by Qualified State Political Subdivisions for Non-Governmental Employees ERISAFinal Rules (FR)Dec 20, 2016★ strong match
fy under the safe harbor for lack of experience. The section below discusses the changes made to accomplish this result.
D. Demonstrated Capacity Test The final regulation adopts a “demonstrated capacity” test in addition to the population test. As noted in the preceding sections, the population test removed from the s…
ERISARegulationsJan 1, 2017related by meaning
(c) (c) Conditions. With respect to an automatic rollover of a mandatory distribution described in section 401(a)(31)(B) of the Code, a fiduciary shall qualify for the safe harbor described in paragraph (b) of this section if:
(c)(1) (1) The present value of the nonforfeitable accrued benefit, as determined under secti…
ERISAFinal Rules (FR)May 17, 2024related by meaning
…ccordance with the requirements of section 401(a), 403(a), or 403(b) of the Code at the time of the distribution. (3) The standards set forth in this section apply solely for purposes of determining whether a fiduciary meets the requirements of this safe harbor. Such standards are not intended to be the exclusive means…
89 FR 5624 — Automatic Portability Transaction Regulations ERISAProposed Rules (FR)Proposed Jan 29, 2024related by meaning
…of the plan.
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5.
See
SECURE 2.0 Act Sec. 304, updating dollar limit for mandatory distributions.
Back to Citation
6. Code section 401(a)(31)(B)(i) requires the transfer be made to an “individual retirement plan,” defined by Code section 7701(a)(37) as an individual retirement account described in Cod…
88 FR 54511 — Request for Information-SECURE 2.0 Reporting and Disclosure ERISAProposed Rules (FR)Proposed Aug 11, 2023
arbor).[8]
The Department intends, therefore, to update
( printed page 54515)
the 2020 safe harbor as necessary to reflect these updates.
Question 19: What modifications or updates to the 2002 safe harbor are needed to implement section 338 of SECURE 2.0? Commenters are encouraged to consider whether any additional inf…
84 FR 56894 — Default Electronic Disclosure by Employee Pension Benefit Plans Under ERISA ERISAProposed Rules (FR)Proposed Oct 23, 2019
safe harbor for that employee. If the employer does not wish to rely on this new safe harbor for a group of employees, however, the employer does
not need to send this initial notification to that group of employees. To illustrate, assume that an existing defined contribution plan covers three participants, only one o…