Welcome to CalSavers

The CalSavers Retirement Savings Program was created by state law to ensure all California workers can save for retirement through automatic payroll contributions facilitated from their workplace.

GET STARTED HERE

Designed with you in mind

Employers play an important role in helping workers save for retirement. While CalSavers was created to support employees, it is also designed to be as easy as possible for all employers.

Easy faciliation

Employers serve a limited role: facilitate the program by adding and maintaining their employee roster and submitting contributions via simple payroll deduction.

No employer fees

There are no employer fees and employers do not make contributions to employee accounts.

Ongoing support

You have access to detailed description of your role with tips, templates, and support so that you can focus on running your business.

Just a few simple steps

By law, mandated California employers must register and facilitate program activities by specific deadlines. Setting up your account is quick and easy. After completing these steps for the first time, you'll maintain your account by adding and removing employees and submitting payroll deductions each pay period.

DETERMINE
MANDATE STATUS

Not all employers are required to participate. Only employers who do not sponsor a retirement plan and have one or more California employees must join CalSavers.

REGISTER
YOUR COMPANY

Registering takes just a few minutes. You will need your company’s Federal Employer Identification Number or Tax Identification Number (EIN/TIN), your CA payroll tax number and your CalSavers Access Code.

ADD EMPLOYEE
INFORMATION

When you register, you’ll submit information for each eligible employee. This will begin the automatic enrollment process. Employees will then have 30 days to decide to participate or opt out. If they do not make a selection, they will be auto-enrolled in the program.

SUBMIT EMPLOYEE
CONTRIBUTIONS

After you add employee information and the 30 day opt out period ends, you’ll begin facilitating payroll deductions each payroll period through bank transfer. These deductions will be added to the employee’s account and invested according to their selections.

Employers are not responsible for answering questions about the program, managing investment options, processing distributions, or giving investment/tax advice. Your employees will maintain their account directly through the CalSavers program.

Mandated Deadlines

Each spring, employer mandate status is assessed based on quarterly employee data that employers submit to the Employment Development Department (EDD) from the preceding year*. A registration deadline of December 31 is then applied to newly-mandated employers. (e.g. newly-established businesses or employers who recently employed more than one employees). Employers will receive their official registration information by US mail and/or e-mail in the Spring of that year.

In 2022, California passed legislation (SB-1126) to expand the CalSavers mandate to employers with at least one employee. Eligible employers with 1-4 employees are required to register or exempt by December 31, 2025. Employers with 1-4 employees will start receiving early notification starting in February 2025.

If your deadline was:

September 30, 2020
June 30, 2021
December 31, 2022
December 31, 2023
December 31, 2024

Compliance enforcement is underway.

If your deadline is:

December 31, 2025

Registration materials will be sent soon.

Not sure of your deadline?

Check your notice or contact us at:

clientservices@calsavers.com
or
(855) 650 - 6916

Employers who do not fulfill their responsibilities by the specified deadline dates are subject to enforcement action, which will include financial penalties.

*Employer eligibility and mandate status is based on an employer’s average number of employees from the previous year. This number is calculated by averaging the number of employees reported to EDD on an employer’s four DE9/DE9C filings from the prior calendar year.

THE CALSAVERS RETIREMENT SAVINGS TRUST ACT

CalSavers was established in state law to address the growing retirement savings gap that will occur for many residents in the future.

Simple and trusted way to save for retirement

CalSavers was created to ensure all Californians have access to a simple way to save for their future.

Employees will be auto-enrolled after 30 days if they do not opt out and will begin saving through payroll contributions facilitated by their employer.
Employees can opt out and back in at any time.
The savers account is a Roth IRA (after tax) that is set up in their name. (Savers can recharacterize to a Traditional IRA.)
The default savings rate is 5% of gross pay. Savers can change their rate at any time.
The savers account is portable. It stays with them even if they leave your workplace.
Savers can manage their account online or by phone.

Take the next step

START FACILITATING

Get started with facilitating CalSavers.

DO IT YOURSELF

GET SUPPORT

Meet with our client services team to learn more about the program and your responsibilities

GUIDED SUPPORT

FAQ SPOTLIGHT

Can employers start facilitating CalSavers at any time? When are employers required to take action?

The initial three-year phased rollout of the CalSavers program has ended. If an employer’s mandated deadline was September 30, 2020, June 30, 2021, June 30, 2022, or December 31, 2022 and they have not registered with CalSavers, then they are out of compliance and must register immediately or face enforcement action which will include financial penalties.

Employers with 5 or more employees:

Each spring, we assess employer mandate status using employee data that employers submit to the Employment Development Department (EDD). Employers who reported an average of five or more employees on the four DE9C filings for the prior year are mandated and have a registration deadline of December 31.

Employers with 1-4 employees:

California recently passed legislation to expand the CalSavers mandate to employers with at least one employee. Starting on January 1, 2023, employers with 1-4 employees can register with CalSavers. This segment of mandated employers has until December 31, 2025, to register their business.

Businesses that do not employ any individuals other than the owners are exempt from the expansion of the mandate. Additionally, the usual categories of exempt employers will remain exempt. That includes government entities, religious and tribal organizations, and employers that sponsor a retirement plan.

Your eligibility and compliance deadlines are based on your average employees throughout the previous calendar year. This number is calculated by averaging the numbers of employees you report to the Employment Development Department on your previous four DE9C filings for the prior year.

As an employer, do I have to facilitate CalSavers? Who is an eligible employer?

State law requires employers that don’t offer their own retirement plan to facilitate CalSavers. If you employed an average of average of one or more California-based employees in the previous calendar year (at least one of whom is age eighteen) and don’t sponsor a qualified retirement plan, your business is required to register for CalSavers.

Qualified retirement plans include:

401(a) – Qualified Plan (including profit-sharing plans and defined benefit plans)
401(k) plans (including multiple employer plans or pooled employer plans)
403(a) - Qualified Annuity Plan or 403(b) Tax-Sheltered Annuity Plan
408(k) - Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) plans
408(p) - Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees of Small Employers (SIMPLE) IRA Plan
Payroll deduction IRAs with automatic enrollment

If you already offer a qualified retirement plan above and have received a notice to register, please inform us of your exemption on the employer portal

Religious, tribal, and government organizations are also exempt.

Are there penalties for non-compliance?

Yes. Per Government Code Section 100033(b), each eligible employer that, without good cause, fails to allow its eligible employees to participate in CalSavers, on or before 90 days after service of notice of its failure to comply, shall pay a penalty of $250 per eligible employee if noncompliance extends 90 days or more after the notice, and if found to be in noncompliance 180 days or more after the notice, an additional penalty of $500 per eligible employee.

Employers may be subject to penalties for failure to register before their deadline or failure to complete other actions necessary to allow eligible employees to participate, including failure to upload employee information and failure to submit employee contributions under timeframes established in state regulations.

Are all employees eligible for the program?
When do employees become eligible?

All employees of a participating employer are eligible as long as they are at least age eighteen and have the status of an employee under California law. There are no minimum requirements based on hours worked or tenure with their employer.

Employees are eligible to participate in CalSavers from of the first day they are hired. Participating Employers are required to upload them to the portal within 30 days of their hire date.

Please note that employee contributions to the Program do not begin until the first payroll following the 30-day notification decision period, so depending on the length of employment, short-term employees may not be able to make contributions.