Small Business Owners: Are You Helping Protect Your Employees’ Financial Security?

If you are a small business providing retirement and health benefits to your employees, you play an important role in your employees’ financial security. Not only do you provide for your employees’ current financial needs through paychecks and health benefits, you help assure their future financial security by providing an easy way to save for retirement.

During National Small Business Week, the Department of Labor recognizes small businesses as the backbone of our economy – providing critical jobs to more than half of all Americans, as well as health and retirement benefits that are essential to workers’ financial and physical wellbeing. An important part of the work of the Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration is educating small businesses about retirement and health benefit plans.

We know that most employers and plan fiduciaries want to do the right thing for their workers, as demonstrated by their provision of health and retirement benefits. However, inadvertent mistakes can happen and create problems. We want to help you prevent this. We assist employers in complying with the law by increasing awareness and understanding of basic fiduciary responsibilities and protections for health and retirement benefits. The Department offers seminars, webcasts, publications, checksheets and tips, frequently asked questions and online tools. In fact, we have a number of seminars coming up. If you have a retirement plan, please join us in Cincinnati, Ohio; Denver, Colorado; Pasadena, California; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Salt Lake City, Utah. If you have a health plan, we hope to see you in Anchorage, Alaska or Indianapolis, Indiana. We are continuing to schedule additional seminars. To receive email notifications of upcoming events, subscribe here.

The retirement plan seminars address issues including selecting and monitoring service providers, depositing contributions on time, and providing disclosures to plan participants. At the health plan seminars, we team up with state regulators to provide information on state and federal health benefits laws. If you can’t make it to one of our seminars, sign up for one of our webinars or learn more right now at dol.gov/EBSA.

If you don’t have a retirement plan but are interested in starting one to help you and your employees save for a secure future, check out these resources on the options available and how to start and operate a plan.

Small businesses are critical to the financial security of their employees. We know you have limited time, resources, and access to professional help – we are here to help. There’s no better time than during National Small Business Week (May 4-8) to get started and take advantage of our resources, so that you and your employees can enjoy a more secure and healthy future.

Have a question for us? Contact one of our Benefits Advisors electronically at askebsa.dol.gov or by calling 1-866-444-3272.