Automatic Enrollment Implementation
Is automatic enrollment permissible under law?
Partially
Explanation:
Public employees must provide written authorization for wage deferrals, preventing automatic enrollment in voluntary retirement plans. However, new employees of the state are probationary upon hire, and are therefore exempt from the wage deferral laws. This allows new state employees to be automatically enrolled, but does not apply to political subdivisions.
Relevant State Laws – N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 275:48
State statute prohibits employers from withholding an employee’s wages unless: “(a) The employer is required or empowered to do so by state or federal law, including payroll taxes; (b) The employer has a written authorization by the employee for deductions for a lawful purpose accruing to the benefit of the employee as provided in regulations issued by the commissioner, as provided in subparagraph (d) or for any of the following: . . . (2) Health, welfare pension, and apprenticeship fund contributions; . . .or (12) For any purpose on which the employer and employee mutually agree that does not grant financial advantage to the employer, when the employee has given his or her written authorization and deductions are duly recorded.”