401(k) Pension Plan Safe Harbor Notices Available October 30

If your cooperative sponsors the NRECA 401(k) Pension Plan with the Safe Harbor provision, watch your Message Center on the Employee Benefits website this week. On approximately October 30, Safe Harbor notices will be released electronically to co-ops with the provision.

The Message Center alert will contain detailed distribution guidelines and a link to the new Retirement Plan Documents–Safe Harbor Notice page on the Employee Benefits website. Download the notice and give it to employees who are eligible for the 401(k) Plan by November 30, 2015.

Distribution Acknowledgement is Required
After distributing the notice, remember to fill out the acknowledgement form. This year, you can acknowledge distribution on the Safe Harbor Notice page. Follow the link in the Message Center alert or access the page directly by going to My Benefits > Co-op Retirement > Retirement Plan Documents-Safe Harbor Notices.

For Non-Safe Harbor Co-ops
You can find out more about the advantages of Safe Harbor by downloading the Frequently Asked Questions About the 401(k) Safe Harbor Provision from Cooperative.com.

Co-ops considering adopting the Safe Harbor provision for the first time in 2016 should contact their field representative right away to discuss the process and the implementation timeline. If you decide to pursue the provision, NRECA’s benefits compliance team will help you analyze the impact to your plan and execute the required documents by the proper deadlines.

Existing Safe Harbor co-ops with questions about distributing the notice should should contact the benefits compliance team at 866.673.2299, option 7, or at pension.compliance@nreca.coop.