On October 3, 2024, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Notice 2024-73, which provides guidance on the application of nondiscrimination rules under Internal Revenue Code § 403(b) for long-term, part-time employees. The notice also announces that the final regulations, which the IRS will issue for 401(k) plans on long-term, part-time employees, will apply to plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2026.
If you employ part-time workers and/or engage independent contractors, sit up and take note: 2024 brings significant changes to how you must manage your workforce. The US Department of Labor’s (DOL) revised Independent Contractor Rule introduces additional uncertainty as to how the agency and perhaps courts will decide independent contractor misclassification disputes. Provisions of the SECURE 2.0 Act, meanwhile, will simultaneously impose a new mandate for employers to provide part-time workers with expanded access to retirement benefits.
In this webinar, McDermott Partners Brian J. Tiemann and Joseph K. Mulherin, along with Tom Robertson of Graystone Consulting, discussed the steps employers must take to ensure compliance with these new regulations taking effect in 2024.
Topics included:
How the SECURE 2.0 Act, starting this year, expands the criteria under which employers must offer part-time employees the opportunity to participate in employer-sponsored 401(k) and 403(b) retirement plans
The DOL’s changes to its Independent Contractor Rule, compliance considerations, tips for strengthening the independent contractor argument and mitigating misclassification risks
Other benefits considerations employers must be aware of if required to reclassify workers, such as the mandate to provide employee health insurance under the Affordable Care Act
The IRS recently released Notice 2018-95 to provide transition relief to 403(b) plan sponsors that improperly excluded part-time employees from making elective deferrals under their plans. Employers must begin to operate the part-time employee exclusion under their 403(b) plans correctly for the plan year immediately following the transition relief period, which will mean as soon as January 1, 2019 for many 403(b) plan sponsors. In addition, going forward, many employers will need to amend their 403(b) plans to properly reflect the conditions that must be satisfied to exclude part-time employees from 403(b) plan participation.
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