By June 30, 2021, nonexempt employers with more than 50 California W-2 employees must register with the CalSavers program.
For exempt employers, if you’ve already offered a retirement plan, you do not have to participate in the program, but you still must register as “exempt” on the CalSavers website. Nonprofit organizations must register with CalSavers as well (if not exempt), but religious organizations are exempt from the registration requirements.
How to Register for CalSavers Program
For registering, employers will be notified via letter of their requirement to register with the CalSavers program. An access code will be given to them in the letter and the employer must register on the CalSavers website: https://employer.calsavers.com/. If the employer didn’t receive an access code or if it’s been lost, they can ask for an access code on the website.
When employer is registered, they must enter an employee roster onto their CalSavers account, providing basic employee information such as their name, address, phone number, e-mail address, and external payroll ID (this is all done on an Excel spreadsheet).
If an employee does not respond to CalSavers after contacting the employee, they will be automatically enrolled in the program with a 5% contribution rate. The contribution rate will be posted on the employer’s portal on the CalSavers website and any changes to the contribution rate will be e-mailed to the employer by CalSavers.
Within 30 days of uploading the employee list, the employer must begin to collect, remit, and report contributions for each payroll period. If you need more information about how this is done, click here: https://employer.calsavers.com/home/employers/resources.html.
Employer Liabilities
If an employer does not comply with the program requirements, they will be subject to a $250 per employee penalty after receiving a notice of noncompliance from the EDD. After 180 days of the notice, the penalty will be increased to $500 per employee. The FTB will collect the penalty.
Employers do not have any liability for an employee’s decisions to participate in the program, for their investment decisions, or for the performance of those investments.
More details about the program are available on the CalSavers website at www.calsavers.com.
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