Media & Press Center

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MANALAPAN, NJ — April 4, 2026

Most small business owners don’t know they’re already breaking the law.

Seventeen states — including California, New Jersey, New York, Illinois, Connecticut, Maryland, Oregon, Colorado, and Delaware — have passed mandatory retirement savings laws requiring employers to offer employees a retirement savings option. Businesses that don’t comply face escalating fines. And the vast majority of affected business owners have never heard of these programs.

The fines are real. The deadlines have passed. And most business owners are unprepared.

California’s CalSavers program covers any employer with 1 or more employees. New Jersey’s RetireReady NJ program currently applies to businesses with 25 or more employees — and that threshold is expected to drop to 10 or more employees. New York’s upcoming state retirement mandate will cover employers with 5 or more employees. Delaware EARNS is launching in 2026. Connecticut’s MyCTSavings program is already in active enforcement.

The penalties are not hypothetical. California fines start at $250 per employee in year one and escalate to $500 per employee per year for continued non-compliance. Oregon and Colorado impose fines of up to $100 per employee per year. Maryland charges up to $250 per employee annually. A 50-person New Jersey business ignoring the RetireReady NJ mandate could face $25,000 in annual fines.

“The question I ask every business owner I meet is simple: do you know which state retirement mandate applies to your business? Most of them don’t. And by the time they find out, the fine letter is already on the way.”
— Alex Kandelaki, CLU, ChFC, CEO & Founder, Kandelaki Solutions LLC

There is a way out — and it’s simpler than most business owners think.

Employers who already offer a qualified retirement plan — such as a 401(k), SIMPLE IRA, or SEP-IRA — are typically exempt from state mandate enrollment requirements. But exempt status is not automatic. In New Jersey and most other mandate states, employers must actively file a Certificate of Exemption to avoid penalties — even if they already have a plan in place.

For employers who don’t yet offer a plan, setting up a qualified private retirement program may provide more flexible options than the default state program — and may deliver meaningful tax advantages including tax-deferred contribution limits of up to $70,000 per year (based on 2026 IRS limits; consult a qualified tax advisor).

“We’re not here to sell anything on the first conversation. We’re here because most business owners deserve 15 minutes of clarity before a fine they didn’t see coming costs them thousands of dollars.”
— Alex Kandelaki

For informational and educational purposes only. Not financial, tax, or legal advice. State mandate requirements vary and are subject to change. Penalty amounts are based on publicly available state program guidelines as of the date of publication and may vary. Consult a qualified financial, legal, or tax advisor before making any compliance or retirement plan decisions.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MANALAPAN, NJ — April 4, 2026

Penalty escalation to $500 per employee in year two makes immediate compliance critical

CalSavers enforcement activity has intensified significantly in 2026, with California’s Franchise Tax Board actively pursuing penalty assessments against non-compliant employers and the second-year penalty tier — $500 per employee — now applying to businesses that were first cited in 2024 or 2025. Kandelaki Solutions LLC, a retirement mandate compliance consulting firm, is urging all California employers with five or more employees to verify their compliance status immediately.

California’s CalSavers Retirement Savings Program applies to all private-sector employers with five or more W-2 employees who do not already offer a qualifying workplace retirement plan. With a threshold of just five employees, CalSavers has the broadest reach of any state mandate program in the country.

“Five employees is a very low bar. This program covers corner stores, professional offices, food trucks with a few employees, home service businesses — the breadth is enormous. And the year-two penalty escalation is not theoretical.”
— Alex Kandelaki, Founder, Kandelaki Solutions LLC

California employers who already sponsor a qualifying retirement plan — including a 401(k), SIMPLE IRA, SEP-IRA, defined benefit plan, or 403(b) — are exempt from CalSavers. However, the exemption must be registered through the CalSavers program portal. CalSavers has a well-developed enforcement infrastructure and actively cross-references employment data from the Employment Development Department to identify non-compliant employers.