California law AB1554, signed into law by Governor Newsom on August 30, 2019, describes a new requirement for employers to advise participants in a Flexible Spending Account (FSA) of claim deadlines before the end of the plan year. Per the law: “This bill would require an employer to notify, in a prescribed manner, an employee who participates in a flexible spending account of any deadline to withdraw funds before the end of the plan year.”
Two different forms must be used, one of which can be electronic. Examples of notification options are “(1) Electronic mail communication. (2) Telephone communications. (3) Text message notification. (4) Postal mail notification. (5) In-person notification.”
Incorporating the claim filing deadline in your annual FSA open enrollment communications would satisfy this requirement as long as it is provided in two forms of the suggested methods. Terminated employees must also be notified of the claim filing deadline. This could be done in exit paperwork, verbally in an exit interview or sent electronically.
A poster could also be posted in an area that is accessible to all employees and should include the annual claim filing deadline as well as the deadline to file after the last day of employment, if mid-year. Click Here for a sample poster.
Your Johnson & Dugan team can work with you to incorporate this notice in your communications and meet this new requirement.
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