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Each month, Mployer collects and presents some of the most relevant and most pressing recent changes in law, compliance, and policy in areas related to employee benefits, health care, and human resources.
The Internal Revenue Service released updated contribution limits for individual retirement accounts and retirement plans in 2025.
The 401(k) annual contribution cap increased from $23,000 to $23,500.
The annual catch-up contribution limit for participants age 50 and older, on the other hand, remains at $7,500 annually for the time being.
There was a new category of catch-up contribution introduced this year, however, that was created by the Secure 2.0 Act and applies to contributors ranging from age 60 to 63 which allows for up to $11,250 of catch-up 401(k) contributions per year.
You can read more here.
You can find the complete IRS 2025 benefit contribution limit list here.
Beginning January 1, 2025, the minimum wage paid for work associated with federal contracts will increase.
The minimum wage that can be paid for work conducted in association with federal contracts covered by Executive Order 13658 will be $13.30 ($9.30 for tipped employees), while the minimum wage paid for work conducted in association with federal contracts covered by Executive Order 14026 will climb to $17.75 per hour for both tipped and non-tipped employees.
Additional guidance about which kinds of contracts are covered by which executive order can be found here.
You can find guidance for ERISA 403(b) plan eligibility requirements for long-term, part-time employees according to the updated standards from the Secure ACT 2.0 here.
Large employers with an average of 50 or more full-time employees or the equivalent are required to either offer employees minimal, affordable health coverage or they must pay a penalty in the event that an employee secures health coverage with a premium tax credit via the exchanges.
In 2025, the threshold for what qualifies as affordable coverage increases from 8.39% to 9.02%, which means that an employee’s required contribution to the plan can be no more than 9.02% of their salary in order for the plan to be considered affordable, which allows employers to avoid potentially paying the penalty.
You can read more about the affordability threshold here.
Many states have voting leave requirements. To learn more about the local rules governing how employers should address voting leave for employees, check out our list of state voting leave regulations here.
Employers in California, New York, and Washington DC are also required to post conspicuous notices in the workplace informing employees of their voting rights, which can differ by state and municipality.
You can find the California notice here.
You can find the New York notice here.
You can find the Washington DC notice here.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services have extended the expiration date of the latest updated version of the I9 form issued on August 1, 2023. I-9 forms are used for employment eligibility verification.
The expiration date for these forms has now been extended to May 31, 2027, but forms listed with the previous expiration date of July 31 2026 must be used or updated by the date of expiration listed on the form.
You can read more about the I-9 form expiration date extension here.
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