The IRS will close its five-year grace period for SECURE Act amendments on December 31, 2026, requiring most non-governmental retirement plans to restate plan documents for the first time since 2019, attorneys at Nixon Peabody told HR Briefing.

That deadline is one of six near-term compliance items the firm flagged at its spring 2026 employee benefits briefing, alongside a proposed fiduciary safe-harbor rule, PBM transparency mandates, and a new employer-sponsored child savings vehicle called Trump Accounts.

What does the December 31, 2026 deadline cover?

Plans must document operational changes made under the SECURE Act, the CARES Act, and SECURE 2.0, including revised required minimum distribution ages, long-term part-time employee eligibility extended to 403(b) plans, and the Roth catch-up requirement for high earners.

The IRS's 2025 Required Amendments List extends RMD-related amendments to December 31, 2027, and the Roth catch-up amendment deadline is expected in 2029. But attorneys Emily Pellegrini, Kelly Hathorn, and Lena Gionnette warned that post-deadline amendments may not qualify for anti-cutback relief.

Sponsors of pre-approved plans face a separate restatement onto an updated IRS-approved document form by the same year-end date. Counsel advised contacting recordkeepers or document providers now to avoid end-of-year bottlenecks.

How does the proposed DOL fiduciary safe harbor change 401(k) governance?

The Department of Labor published proposed regulations on March 30, 2026, creating a presumption of reasonableness for plan committees that document consideration of six factors when selecting investment alternatives: performance, fees, liquidity, valuation methodology, appropriate performance benchmarks, and complexity.

The proposal responds to a litigation wave that has produced more than 500 class actions since 2016 and over $1 billion in settlements, according to attorney Christian Hancey. Plan committees have gravitated toward conservative investment choices to avoid suit, he noted, and the rule is meant to counter that pressure.

The proposal meaningfully opens participant-directed plans to private equity, private debt, and target-date funds with alternative asset sleeves. Cryptocurrency receives less attention, signaling the DOL is still working through guardrails.

What does the PBM transparency proposal require?

The DOL's proposed Pharmacy Benefit Manager Transparency Rule, published January 30, 2026, would require PBMs to disclose manufacturer rebates, spread pricing, copay clawbacks, formulary placement incentives, and price protection arrangements to plan fiduciaries before contract execution and semi-annually afterward. Annual audit rights are part of the package.

The proposed effective date is January 1, 2027, for calendar-year plans. But the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2026, already law, requires 100% rebate pass-through to plans quarterly and removes contractual barriers to fiduciary information access for contracts entered into, extended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2029.

Attorneys Damian Myers and Annie Zhang recommended reviewing existing PBM and TPA contracts, establishing a disclosure calendar, engaging an independent auditor, and considering a dedicated Health and Welfare Benefits Committee.

How do Trump Accounts work as an employee benefit?

Trump Accounts are a new employer-sponsored child savings vehicle modeled on HSAs, governed by new Internal Revenue Code Section 128. The federal government will contribute a one-time $1,000 pilot amount for children born between 2025 and 2028.

Employers may contribute up to $2,500 per employee per year tax-free, with employees able to add another $2,500 through a Section 125 cafeteria plan. The overall annual cap from all sources is $5,000, and contributions cannot begin before July 4, 2026.

Treasury designated the Bank of New York Mellon as the initial custodian and Robinhood as the initial broker. Investments are limited to approved index funds below a Treasury-set expense threshold, and accounts are taxed upon distribution to the child after age 18.

Open questions remain on cafeteria plan interaction and whether the IRS will exempt the accounts from ERISA. Attorneys Mark Stember and Kelly Hathorn said employers who want early adoption should expect written-program requirements modeled on dependent care assistance programs.

What new litigation risk do health and welfare plans face?

A wave of late-2025 lawsuits has begun targeting voluntary benefits programs, arguing that employers promoting voluntary benefits prominently in open enrollment materials or handbooks may cross from facilitating enrollment into endorsement, bringing the programs within ERISA's reach.

The structural conditions mirror the retirement plan litigation wave: opaque vendor compensation, expanding transparency tools, and governance practices that lag retirement-plan norms. "The goal is not perfect decision-making but a demonstrably thoughtful and well-documented process," attorney Eric Paley wrote in the briefing materials.

Paley recommended forming a Health and Welfare Benefits Committee with a board reporting structure, documenting governance decisions, mapping healthcare vendor compensation flows, and resisting binary incumbent-versus-challenger renewal decisions.

How should plan sponsors approach AI in benefits administration?

AI now verifies eligibility, adjudicates claims, reconciles payroll, and drafts participant communications across carriers, recordkeepers, and TPAs. "Plan sponsors retain ultimate fiduciary responsibility regardless of which tools they deploy," attorneys Lena Gionnette and Eric Paley told attendees.

Participant communications generated by AI can carry the wrong tone or introduce compliance-fraught inaccuracies. Recordings from AI note-taking tools expand discovery scope and risk misinterpretation, so manually drafted minutes remain the safer approach.

Vendor agreements should specify how AI is used, include indemnification provisions, set data-protection standards, and define permissible AI use.

What disclosure deadlines should plan sponsors calendar now?

Several 2026 dates fall before the SECURE Act deadline:

• SMMs for 2025 plan changes are due July 29
• Form 5500 filings on July 31 (sponsors extending to October 15 must affirmatively request the extension)
• Summary annual reports by September 30 (December 15 with an extension)
• Medicare Part D credible coverage notices by October 15
• Safe harbor, QDIA, and automatic contribution notices for the 2027 plan year by December 2

Penalties accumulate quickly, and missed deadlines draw DOL and IRS audit attention, attorney Emily Morrison warned. The firm recommends auditing 2025 plan amendments for undistributed SMMs, confirming Form 5500 preparation, reviewing SPDs for the five-year restatement, and assigning internal ownership for each obligation.

The next year of plan sponsor activity will turn on how the DOL finalizes its fiduciary and PBM rules, whether Treasury clarifies Trump Account ERISA treatment, and whether the late-2025 voluntary-benefits lawsuits produce an early plaintiff ruling.