Sharon L. Lippett, Member of the Firm in the Employee Benefits practice, in the firm’s New York office, was quoted in Employee Benefit News, in “DOL Final Rule Expands Retirement Plan Options for SMBs,” by Nick Otto. (Read the full version – subscription required.)
Following is an excerpt:
The Department of Labor finalized a rule Monday expanding the access of multiple employer plans (MEPs), a boon to small and medium employers.
Under the rule, association retirement plans could be offered by associations of employers in a city, county, state, multi-state metropolitan area or in a particular industry, nationwide. The final rule also allows plans to be sponsored through professional employer organizations — or a human-resource company that contractually assumes certain employment responsibilities for its client employers.
The rule enables small businesses to offer benefit packages comparable to those of large employers. The DOL expects the plans to reduce administrative costs through economies of scale and to strengthen small businesses' hand when negotiating with financial institutions
and other service providers. The final rule will go into effect on Sept. 30. ...
Sharon Lippett, a member of law firm Epstein Becker Green's employee benefits and executive compensation practice says association retirement plans will likely be viewed positively by small employers.
"I think that ARPs will be viewed favorably by small employers that want to provide retirement benefits to their employees and don’t want to be participating employers in prototype/volume submitter plans," she says. "Additionally, ARPs may deter the growth of retirement plans established by state and local governments, in which employers that do not offer any other employee retirement plan must participate."
