New Regulations Expand Availability of Multiple Employer Retirement Plans

Small employers throughout the country may soon have a new option for providing cost-effective, employer-sponsored benefits to their employees. Following an executive order via the Trump administration, both the Department of Labor (DOL) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have issued regulations to encourage the creation of and participation in multiple employer retirement plans (MEPs).

A multiple employer plan is a “plan maintained by two or more employers who are not related” as defined by the IRS. The DOL previously introduced a policy to alleviate restrictions on MEPs that provide health care benefits (so-called association health plans), but it was ultimately successfully challenged by a number of state governments. Similar to the prior attempt, the new regulations would override decades of sub-regulatory guidance issued by both the DOL and IRS.

Stephen Bowers discusses the impact of the new IRS regulations on multiple employer retirement plans in his recent article New Regulations Expand Availability of Multiple Employer Retirement Plans.