PRIMACY STRATEGY GROUP

Multiemployer Pension Reform FY2026 Authorizations, Appropriations, and Budget Policy Section 101 of the SECURE 2.0 Act requires employers with more than 10 employees to automatically enroll new employees at 3% of pay, increasing annually by 1% up to at least 10% but no more than 15% of pay. The 401(k) automatic enrollment provision presents a unique and increased set of challenges for Taft-Hartley plans that do not encumber single-employer plans in the same manner and that require further legislative reforms. Put simply, these automatic enrollment and auto-escalation provisions would dramatically increase the administrative complexity of 401(k) deferrals for multiemployer plans. While SECURE 2.0 was intended to promote retirement savings, the added complexity of administering the automatic enrollemt and escalation provisions will undermine that objective because existing multiemployer DC plans will likely not add a 401(k) feature to their plans and very few (if any) new 401(k) plans will be established in the multiemployer space.

Multiemployer Pension Reform

Multiemployer Pension Reform FY2025 Authorizations, Appropriations, and Budget Policy ection 101 of the SECURE 2.0 Act requires employers with more than 10 employees to automatically enroll new employees at 3% of pay, increasing annually by 1% up to at least 10% but no more than 15% of pay. The 401(k) automatic enrollment provision presents a unique and increased set of challenges for Taft-Hartley plans that do not encumber single-employer plans in the same manner and that require further legislative reforms. Put simply, these automatic enrollment and auto-escalation provisions would dramatically increase the administrative complexity of 401(k) deferrals for multiemployer plans. While SECURE 2.0 was intended to promote retirement savings, the added complexity of administering the automatic enrollemt and escalation provisions will undermine that objective because existing multiemployer DC plans will likely not add a 401(k) feature to their plans and very few (if any) new 401(k) plans will be established in the multiemployer space.