An article in “Employee Benefit News” addresses a number of questions that employers should ask of their plan administrators and recordkeepers regarding plan compliance.

An article in “Employee Benefit News” addresses a number of questions that employers should ask of their plan administrators and recordkeepers regarding plan compliance. We’ve included a few of them below:

•    Have your plan documents been amended for all recent law changes? Is your plan’s operation based on the written terms of your plan document? The IRS can assess penalties if your plan document is missing required language. NADART takes careful steps to ensure its plan documents are amended for any law changes. All of our procedures are based on the terms within the plan document. 

•    Have you provided employees with required notices and reports? NADART completes the Form 5500 for its plans by filing it electronically by the required deadline. We also provide a copy of the Summary Annual Report for employees, which summarizes the financial information in the Form 5500.

•    Are you versed in 2008 rule changes? NADART keeps up-to-date on all rule changes, including ones for the current year. Notices are provided to our plan coordinators and participants via the NADART Web site, newsletters and other written forms of communications.

The article notes that companies may be able to reduce the penalties incurred by inadvertently violating retirement plan rules and requirements if they identify the problem before it is found on an audit or as a result of a determination letter filing.

If you’d like additional information on NADART’s compliance practices, or information on any of its retirement plan features, please contact a NADART representative at (800) 462-3278 or e-mail nadart401k@nada.org.