Regulatory and Legislative

Bill to Improve Gig Worker Access to Retirement Introduced

Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) has introduced S. 2217, the Independent Retirement Fairness Act.  Among other things, the bill would provide for the following.

•    Amends ERISA to allow independent workers to participate in a pooled employer plan (PEP) as if the worker were an employee of the employer in the plan, and allow trade associations to participate in the PEP as if the trade organization were an employer.
•    Amends IRC Sec. 408(k) to provide that—at the election of the employer—an independent worker may be treated as an employee for purposes of eligibility in the Simplified Employer Pension (SEP) plan of the employer.
•    Amends the annual audit requirements for group of plans reporting under the SECURE Act (as modified by SECURE 2.0), to allow plans subject to the annual audit requirement to perform a consolidated audit in certain circumstances, similar to rules for PEPs. 
•    Amends PEP audit requirements to specify that any audit opinion required is related only to portions of the plan attributable to participating employers that would otherwise be required to have an audit under a single-employer plan arrangement.
•    Directs the Secretary of the Treasury and Secretary of Labor to create pilot programs to encourage retirement savings among independent workers, and provides that coordination of pilot programs with safe harbor plans would not cause such programs to fail to meet applicable requirements.

The bill is part of a larger package introduced by Senators Cassidy, Tim Scott (R-SC), and Rand Paul (R-K) to improve access to benefits for gig workers. The Senate HELP committee will hold a hearing on Thursday, July 17, titled “Freedom to Work: Unlocking Benefits for Independent Workers”.

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