Enrolling your Participants
How do I enroll a Participant into my plan?
As the Plan Administrator or Plan Representative, your enrollment responsibilities include:
1. Identifying the employees who are eligible to participate in the plan;
2. Providing the newly eligible Participant data via the Envoy Choice Portal;
3. Distributing the Welcome Letter, Summary Plan Description, and Individual Retirement Guide to the newly eligible Participant; and
4. Setting up the Participant’s contribution rate in your payroll system.
Plan Sponsor Step 1: Identify employees who are eligible to participate in the plan
1. Review the plan’s eligibility and entry date requirements in the Plan Document’s Adoption Agreement and/or Summary Plan Description. The eligibility requirements for the plan are clearly outlined in both of these documents.
2. Identify the employees who have satisfied the plan’s eligibility requirements. Remember that most 403(b) plans include dual eligibility.
3. Voluntary Contributions – the Universal Availability feature unique to 403(b) plans typically allows all employees to participate in the plan on a voluntary (elective deferral) basis upon hire. In some cases, certain exclusions may apply.
4. Employer Contributions – there may be additional service requirements and age requirements associated with the employer contribution portion of the plan. As a result, a Participant may be eligible for that part of the Plan that is funded with employer contributions at a date later than their initial date of hire.
5. Identify the applicable entry date for each newly eligible Participant. This is the first date that the voluntary salary reduction contributions and/or employer contributions can commence.
Plan Sponsor Step 2: Provide the newly eligible Participant data via the Envoy Choice Portal
1. Include all employees (including those who are not currently active Participants) on the Comprehensive Payroll Data file utilized for contribution submissions.
2. The census data provided via the Comprehensive Payroll Data file will activate the Participant’s ability to log onto the EWP using their SSN. The Participant login will then enable the newly eligible Participant to enroll in the plan using interactive enrollment tools that provide a guided, educational enrollment experience.
Plan Sponsor Step 3: Distribute and document the Notice of Eligibility and Enrollment Instructions to the newly eligible Participant
1. Provide Notice of Eligibility to the Participant. Communication tools designed to accomplish this requirement are available to you on the Envoy Choice Portal
2. Go to www.EnvoyFinancial.com and click Account Login
3. Enter your Username, password, select Employer from the drop-down menu, and click Login
4. On the navigation bar, click Reports and select Document Center from the drop-down menu. Then choose View Documents under the Document Center section.
Three important communication pieces (Welcome Letter, Individual Retirement Guide, and the Summary Plan Description) should be distributed to each newly eligible participant.
5. Welcome Letter – the Welcome Letter is in Word format and should be copied and pasted onto your organization’s letterhead.
6. Summary Plan Description – the IRS-required Summary Plan Description (SPD) is written in layman’s terms and provides meaningful information about the plan to the Participant.
7. Individual Retirement Guide – this document directs your Participant to important retirement education tools, resources, and Envoy support.
8. Document the delivery of these documents to the Participant. In the event of an IRS audit of the retirement plan, you may be required to demonstrate that notice of eligibility has been provided to all newly eligible Participants.
9. Provide the Individual Retirement Guide and the enrollment instructions to the Participant. Enrollment instructions are available to you, the Plan sponsor, on the web portal.
Plan Sponsor Step 4: Set up the Participant’s contribution rate in your payroll system
1. As a result of the completion of the Participant’s online enrollment, the Plan Administrator or Plan Representative for your plan will receive a system-generated email detailing the Participant’s contribution elections. This notification will serve as the Participant’s Salary Reduction Agreement.
2. Print a copy of this email notification and file it in the Participant’s Human Resource folder. In the event of an IRS audit of the retirement plan, you may be required to provide copies of these Salary Reduction Agreement notifications for your Participants.
3. Set up the Participant’s withholding elections in your payroll system. The elections will be either pre-tax (Traditional) contributions or after-tax (Roth) contributions. The elections may be expressed as a percentage of the Participant’s compensation (i.e. 5%) or a fixed dollar amount per pay period (i.e. $50 per pay period).
Please email Envoy Financial if you have questions or need additional information.