When relief ends, ordinary deadlines return, and your records are the proof.
The best protection after a disaster is a short, dated file. This page covers what to record, how to restart the ordinary clocks and how participant contribution deposits fit.
Where This Page Fits.
General information, not legal advice. Each claim on this page is tied to the statute, rule or agency notice cited in the Laws And Sources section.
EBSA Disaster Relief For Group Health Plans
The overview: what disaster relief is, how a notice is built and what Michigan employers do before one is issued.
ERISA Section 518 Relief For Plan Notices
How late notices and disclosures are excused when you act in good faith and deliver as soon as administratively practicable.
How EBSA Disaster Relief Gets Triggered
From a federal declaration to a published notice with an incident period and an end date, and why to watch each one.
What To Document.
Notice 2024-01 expects fiduciaries to act reasonably and prudently, to make accommodations that prevent loss of benefits or undue delays and to minimize benefit losses from missed deadlines. Your file shows you did that.
Keep seven items: the notice and its end date; the incident period for your location; the participants, offices and vendors affected; each deadline that moved and the date the item was handled; the channels you tried; the reason for any delay; and the dated communications you sent. Our guide on dated records of COBRA notices shows the habit in a narrower setting.
Bringing The Ordinary Clocks Back.
Relief for late notices under Notice 2024-01 covers deliveries within the period from the first day of the incident period through the end date, provided the plan acted in good faith and delivered as soon as administratively practicable. After the end date, the ordinary rules apply again. Anything still outstanding should go out before that date, not after it.
Tell participants in writing what their deadline is and when it restarts, using the dates in the joint notice for COBRA, special enrollment, claims and appeals. Update your compliance calendar, and give your COBRA vendor and administrator the same dates so that no one is working from a different clock.
Participant Contribution Deposits.
Under 29 CFR 2510.3-102, participant contributions become plan assets as soon as they can reasonably be separated from the employer’s general assets. The rule sets outer limits: for welfare benefit plans, no later than 90 days after receipt. The notice describes the usual deadline for retirement plan contributions and loan repayments as the 15th business day of the following month.
Because of a covered disaster, the Department said it will not take enforcement action solely for a temporary delay in forwarding contributions or loan repayments. Employers and service providers must still act reasonably, prudently and in participants’ interest, and comply as soon as administratively practicable. This is a non-enforcement position and not a waiver, so record the reason for the delay and the date the money moved.
Common Misreadings.
Letting late items pile up until the last day. The standard is as soon as administratively practicable, not by the end date.
Leaving vendors on the old calendar. A vendor that does not know the end date may keep extending a deadline that has returned.
Treating the contribution allowance as open ended. It covers a temporary delay caused by the disaster, and nothing in the notice supports a delay once the cause has passed.
Related Rules And Tools.
Keep Dated Records Of COBRA Notices
Why a dated record of each notice protects you.
Employee Premium Contributions As Plan Assets
When withheld premiums become plan assets and how fast they must move.
A Compliance Calendar For Your Plan Year
A plan-year view of the dates that matter.
COBRA Notice Deadlines For Employers
Who must send which COBRA notice, and by when.
Laws And Sources
EBSA Disaster Relief Notice 2024-01: The worked example: Hurricanes Helene and Milton, the covered areas, incident periods, the May 1, 2025 end date and the conditions attached.
EBSA Disaster Relief Page: The Department of Labor list of current disaster relief notices. Check it for any Michigan declaration.
ERISA Section 518, 29 U.S.C. 1148: The statute that lets the Secretary of Labor disregard a period of up to one year for plans affected by a declared disaster.
29 CFR 2510.3-102: When participant contributions become plan assets and the outer time limits for forwarding them.
Quick Answers.
What should an employer document during disaster relief?
Keep the notice and its end date, the people and vendors affected, each deadline that moved, the channels you used, the reason for any delay and the date each item went out.
What happens to deadlines when the relief period ends?
Ordinary deadlines apply again after the end date in the notice. Items still outstanding should go out as soon as administratively practicable, before the end date where possible.
Can we delay depositing employee contributions after a disaster?
Under Notice 2024-01 the Department said it would not take enforcement action solely for a temporary delay caused by a covered disaster. You must still act reasonably and prudently and comply as soon as administratively practicable.
The Rest Of This Series.
Health Plan Deadlines Extended In A Disaster
Which COBRA, special enrollment, claims, appeal and external review deadlines the joint notice can move, and what the ordinary clocks are.
Electronic Delivery During A Disaster
When email, text messages and a website count as a good-faith way to reach participants, and how the safe harbor still works.
Form M-1 And Form 5500 Disaster Relief
How MEWA reports and annual returns follow IRS relief, and who counts as directly affected.
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