Automatic Enrollment Implementation
Is automatic enrollment permissible under law?
Partially
Explanation:
State employees hired after July 1, 2019 are automatically enrolled in the state plan. Employees of political subdivisions cannot be automatically enrolled in any plan due to state law.
Relevant State Laws – Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 18A.250, § 337.060
“each full-time employee of the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of Kentucky state government hired on or after July 1, 2019, shall be automatically enrolled in the 401(k) plan established pursuant to this section, and the employee’s compensation shall be reduced by thirty dollars ($30) per month and contributed as a pre-tax deferral to the 401(k) plan unless and until the employee makes a deferral under the terms of the 401(k) plan.” Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 18A.250
Kentucky’s general wage withholding statute prohibits employers from withholding wages, unless the employer is authorized to do so by local, state, or federal law or “when a deduction is expressly authorized in writing by the employee to cover insurance premiums, hospital and medical dues, or other deductions not amounting to a rebate or deduction from the standard wage arrived at by collective bargaining or pursuant to wage agreement or statute . . .” Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 337.060