NHRS has had the statutory authority to assess penalties to employers for late or incorrect reporting of monthly member contribution data and annual retiree data for many years, however, there was no recourse for the retirement system in other cases of delinquent reporting of information necessary to administer the plan.
Legislation enacted in 2022 (House Bill 1318, Chapter 191) authorizes NHRS to assess a penalty to employers who fail to timely submit other information required for the proper administration of the retirement system, including, but not limited to, termination forms; other information necessary to process a member’s retirement application; information relating to service credit purchases; and information necessary to perform employer audits and process record corrections.
Employers may be subject to a penalty of up to $200 per day for noncompliance.
Before a penalty is assessed, an employer will be notified in writing of the noncompliance, identifying the reasons for the finding of noncompliance, and requesting the employer to either provide the requested information or explain to the board in writing within 30 days of the notification why it is unable to comply. Upon expiration of the 30-day period, the board may impose all or a portion of the penalty unless there is a showing that the employer did not willfully, intentionally, through gross negligence, or through a pattern of negligence fail to file the data as required. Employers may appeal any penalty assessment.
The 30-day compliance deadline does not begin with the initial request for information from NHRS. The initial request will contain a reasonable time frame to respond (i.e. 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, etc.) based on the type and availability of the information requested. If no response is received within the initial deadline, a notice of noncompliance will be issued and the 30-day compliance deadline will commence.
HB 1318 took effect August 16, 2022.
Related:
NHRS Employer Reporting and Payment Penalties: https://www.nhrs.org/employers/employer-resources/reporting-and-payment-penalties
Text of HB 1318:
http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_status/legacy/bs2016/billText.aspx?sy=2022&id=1356&txtFormat=html