(a) As used in this section: (1) “Automatic enrollment” means a plan provision in an employee retirement plan described in Section 401(k) or 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or any subsequent corresponding internal revenue code of the United States, as from time to time amended, or a governmental deferred compensation plan described in Section 457 of said Internal Revenue Code, or a payroll deduction Individual Retirement Account plan described in Section 408 or 408A of said Internal Revenue Code, or the Connecticut Retirement Security Exchange established pursuant to section 31-418, under which an employee is treated as having elected to have the employer make a specified contribution to the plan equal to a percentage of compensation specified in the plan until such employee affirmatively elects to not have such contribution made or elects to make a contribution in another amount; and (2) “automatic contribution arrangement” means an arrangement under an automatic enrollment plan under which, in the absence of an investment election by the participating employee, contributions made under such plan are invested in accordance with regulations prescribed by the United States Secretary of Labor under Section 404(c)(5) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended from time to time.

(b) Any employer who provides automatic enrollment shall be relieved of liability for the investment decisions made by the employer or the Connecticut Retirement Security Authority pursuant to section 31-423 on behalf of any participating employee under an automatic contribution arrangement, provided:

(1) The plan allows the participating employee at least quarterly opportunities to select investments for the employee's contributions between investment alternatives available under the plan;

(2) The employee is given notice of the investment decisions that will be made in the absence of the employee's direction, a description of all the investment alternatives available under the plan and a brief description of procedures available for the employee to change investments; and

(3) The employee is given at least annual notice of the actual investments made on behalf of the employee under such automatic contribution arrangement.

(c) Nothing in this section shall modify any existing responsibility of employers or other plan officials for the selection of investment funds for participating employees.

(d) The relief from liability of the employer under this section shall extend to any other plan official who actually makes the investment decisions on behalf of participating employees under an automatic contribution arrangement.

(P.A. 08-118, S. 2; P.A. 16-29, S. 19; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 16-3, S. 108, 207.)

History: P.A. 16-29 amended Subsec. (a)(1) by adding reference to Connecticut Retirement Security Program and amended Subsec. (b) by adding reference to Connecticut Retirement Security Authority, effective July 1, 2016; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 16-3 changed effective date of P.A. 16-29, S. 19, from July 1, 2016, to January 1, 2017, effective June 2, 2016, and amended Subsec. (a)(1) by replacing “Connecticut Retirement Security Program” with “Connecticut Retirement Security Exchange”, effective January 1, 2017.