Program details for employers

All Maine employers who have been in business for at least 2 years, have 5 or more employees, and don’t offer a qualified retirement plan for their employees are required by law to facilitate MERIT.

Register your business now

Employers with 15 or more employees

Your registration deadline is:

4/30/24

Employers with 5-14 employees

Your registration deadline is:

6/30/24

How do I get started?

You’ll be notified by MERIT when it’s time for your business to register. To begin, you’ll need:

  • Your Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN)

  • The MERIT Access Code from your notification

Registration information

If you are unable to find the Access Code for your business, you can look it up online.

Look up Access code

Not sure if your plan qualifies for exemption?

A list of qualified retirement plans and other questions about eligibility can be found in our FAQ section.

Already offer a retirement plan?

MERIT was created for employers that don’t currently offer a qualified retirement savings plan for their employees. If you already offer one, you can simply certify your exemption here.

Certify your exemption

Your role in three simple steps

We know that running your business is your top priority. That’s why MERIT is easy to set up and requires only light account maintenance. The process takes just three quick steps. We’ll take care of the rest, at no cost to you.

  1. 1 Register
  2. 2 Send contributions
  3. 3 Maintenance

Set up your ID and password, answer questions about your company and payroll process, complete payment setup, and then add your employees.

You can even invite a payroll representative to help you facilitate this process. Your payroll representative can be an admin, a teammate, or even your bookkeeper or payroll administrator.

Once you have added employees, we will communicate directly with them to explain their options during the 30 days they have to opt out or customize their account. At the end of the 30-day period, you will record their choices, begin payroll deductions, and submit contribution information and funding for the employees who choose to stay in the program.

To stay in compliance, continue to send payroll contributions and maintain employee records, including updating contribution rate changes when needed, adding new employees, and marking former employees as terminated.

Onboard your company for MERIT

There are just a few steps you need to take to get started.  Take a look at this video to get you acclimated:

MERIT Onboarding
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Resources

Registration

Contributions

Maintenance

Things you will NOT be responsible for

As an employer, you’ll have a limited role in facilitating MERIT so you can stay focused on running your business.

You will not be responsible for:

  • Enrolling employees into their MERIT Roth IRA.

  • Answering questions about MERIT and its investment portfolios, or helping employees choose investments.

  • Processing distributions from employee investment accounts.

  • Managing MERIT investment options and processing employee investment change requests.

  • Managing employee investment account changes. Your employees will be responsible for maintaining their account information and settings if enrolled.