"Has the IRS issued guidance for a plan that does not timely operate in accordance with the 3% minimum auto-enroll (plus appropriate auto increase and 90 day withdrawals)? Also, what about plans with exemptions that no longer qualify mid-year since EACA has to be a full plan year?"

"A lot of bigger companies use onboarding/hr systems that guide people through filling out employment paperwork. And some of them have a very low paid demographic for whom a 'blind' application of auto enrollment would result in a nightmare for clients. People making minimum wage have trouble paying for rent and groceries. How do we feel about a form with the following options (paraphrasing)? The point would be to get them to respond and make it easy for them to opt out. There are often language barriers and technology challenges, etc.

• "By initialling here _____________,I confirm that the following statement applies to me: I understand the automatic enrollment provisions of the Plan and I do not wish to be automatically enrolled in payroll deduction contributions, nor to have my contributions automatically increased each year. If and when I decide to contribute to the Plan I will make an affirmative payroll deduction contribution election. If no election is made above you will be automatically enrolled in the Plan as described in the Automatic Contribution Arrangement Notice."

"Participant pay in 2021 means Participant is HCE in 2022. Participant terminates 12/31/22 with pay $3,000 below HCE limit for 2022 Participant receives last paycheck in 2023 for $5,000 (ie $2,000 over HCE determination for 2022). Pay definition is W-2 so final paycheck not included for plan purposes. Our conclusion is to include Participant in 2023 ADP test as NHCE but wondering of other thoughts?"

"Owner has a small business and has a 401k plan. Owner is also the exec director of a non profit. Exec director wants to start a 403b for the non-profit. She also wants to move her business 401k into the new 403(b) as she wants to have her business payroll run through the non-profit. Based on this alone, could we move the merge the 401k into the 403b and could the business employees participate in the new 403b plan? I need to confirm if the business is being dissolved or will the owner still have the business. And if the business is still around, the business really cannot be part of a 403b plan, correct? But about the idea of running the business payroll through the non profit? Is that a valid work-around to have the business employees participate in the 403b?"

"Looking at a 5500-EZ that has been filed with no assets for many years. I was told that, technically these plans are not required to reflect assets, at least on 5500-EZ i.e. ok to file them blank. I checked the 2023 EZ instructions and unless I missed it, did not find anything backing this up. One set of instructions I found stated the do not need to file EZ unless assets are over 250k. Am I missing anything on this?"