Article provided by our partners at WFJ Law Firm and The Compliance Center
Minnesota employers face another compliance deadline in 2026. The Minnesota Secure Choice Retirement Program (“Secure Choice”)—a state-established automatic payroll deduction IRA program for employees without access to a workplace retirement plan—is now open for employer registration. Covered employers must either register for the program or certify their exemption.
Secure Choice expands employee access to retirement savings through payroll deductions. Notably, the program does not require employer matching contributions or charge employer fees, although employers may still incur internal payroll-related administrative costs. Employers are also not responsible for managing employee investments. Employers are, however, responsible for registration, employee enrollment, payroll deduction, contribution remittance, and maintaining required employee and payroll information.
Covered Employers
Employers with at least five employees must participate in Secure Choice if they do not currently offer, and have not offered within the prior 12 months, a qualified retirement savings plan. Employers that already offer a qualified retirement savings plan must certify their exemption through the Secure Choice portal.
Certain employees are excluded from the program, including government employees, employees who were under age 18 on December 31 of the prior calendar year, and certain temporary or seasonal employees hired for a limited period that will not extend beyond 180 days.
Upcoming Employer Registration Deadlines
Secure Choice uses a phased registration schedule based on employer size. Registration is now open, and employers must meet their assigned deadlines. Employers should receive a notification from Minnesota Secure Choice when it is time for the business to register. The current registration deadlines are as follows:
- Soft launch and voluntary enrollment for any size covered employer: March 30, 2026
- 100 or more covered employees: June 30, 2026
- 50 to 99 covered employees: December 31, 2026
- 25 to 49 covered employees: June 30, 2027
- 10 to 24 covered employees: December 31, 2027
- 5 to 9 covered employees: June 30, 2028
- Employers with 4 or fewer employees are exempt
Employers with 100 or more covered employees should act promptly if they have not yet registered or certified an exemption. Employers with later deadlines should also begin preparing, particularly if they need to coordinate with payroll providers.
Employee Contributions and Participation
Secure Choice is funded through employee payroll deductions. Employer contributions are not permitted. Employee contributions are generally made to a Roth IRA on an after-tax basis unless the employee elects to contribute to a traditional IRA on a pre-tax basis. Employees are always fully vested in their accounts.
Unless an employee chooses a different amount or elects not to contribute, payroll deductions begin at 5% of pay after the employee’s applicable waiting period. The default rate then increases by one percentage point each year until it reaches 8%. Employee participation is voluntary, and employees may elect not to contribute, change their contribution rate, or stop contributions, subject to the program’s procedures.
Penalties and Enforcement
Employers should take the registration and payroll obligations seriously. State law allows penalties for employers that fail to enroll covered employees, begin required payroll deductions, or remit withheld contributions under the program.
Penalties for failing to enroll covered employees or begin required payroll deductions do not begin immediately. After the applicable warning period, penalties can begin at $100 per covered employee and increase in later years.
Employers should further note that state law treats withheld contributions differently. If an employer withholds money from employee paychecks but does not send those amounts to the program on time, the employer may be required to remit the withheld contributions plus interest. A willful and intentional failure to remit withheld contributions after demand may also result in misdemeanor penalties.
Employer Next Steps
To satisfy their obligations under the new state program, employers should determine whether they are covered, confirm whether they offer a qualifying retirement savings plan, and register or certify an exemption by their assigned deadline. Employers should also coordinate with payroll providers, prepare for employee enrollment and payroll deductions, and decide who will manage Secure Choice updates going forward.
Employers must visit the Minnesota Secure Choice website to register or certify their exemption by entering their EIN and their Access Code received from Minnesota Secure Choice. Employers must do the following steps to set up and maintain their Minnesota Secure Choice Employer Account:
- Register. You are ready to register once you receive your Access Code by mail or email.
☐ Set up your employer account by using the company’s EIN and unique Access Code. Employers will receive their Access Code from Minnesota Secure Choice when it is time to register.
☐ Enter your business email as your username and create a password.
☐ Identify your payroll provider (if you use one) and share your payroll schedules or upload your payroll schedules manually.
☐ Add your company’s routing number, bank name, bank account number, and account type.
☐ Employees must be at least 18 years old to be eligible for Minnesota Secure Choice. If your payroll provider wants to know what is required, or if you want to compile your employee information manually in advance, you can go to SecureChoice.mn.gov/employers/program-details to download the csv file to be sure you have everything you need.
- Send Contributions. Once you added employees, Minnesota Secure Choice will communicate directly with them to explain their options during the 30 days they have to opt out or customize their account. At the end of the 30-day period, you can begin payroll deductions and submit contribution information and funding for the employees who choose to stay in the program.
- Create a new deduction in your payroll system.
- Create a contribution file or enter the information directly in the employer portal.
- Enter the contribution on the employer portal.
- Ongoing Maintenance. Keep you account updated and stay in compliance by:
- Remitting payroll for active employees every pay period.
- Updating contribution rates as needed. MN Secure Choice will notify you if an employee makes a change.
- Keeping the employee list up to date – add new employees or mark departed employees as terminated in the portal.
Secure Choice introduces a new compliance obligation for employers in 2026 and beyond. While the program is designed to minimize administrative burden, employers must understand their obligations and meet the applicable deadlines. As always, please contact the Compliance Center with any questions.