Developing an Education Program for Your Employees

Developing an Education Program for Your Employees

Develop Education Programs

Implementing an employee education program is an important way of encouraging employees to enroll in and get the most out of their retirement plan.  As a plan sponsor, you can use an Education Policy Statement (EPS) to define, document and benchmark your employee education initiatives. While not required, an EPS gives your education plan structure, helps you set goals and establishes responsibilities.

Sound Design

Adhering to a well-designed education policy may:

• Assist with effective and consistent communications
• Lead to better employee understanding
• Guide better employee decisions
• Encourage employee engagement
• Result in greater levels of participation
• Meet certain 404(c) requirements

If you adopt an EPS, be sure to follow the guidelines and processes as outlined in the statement. There may be adverse consequences to plan fiduciaries when policy statements and/or processes get adopted but then aren’t followed or regularly reviewed.

Elements of an Education Policy Statement

Our EPS Guide can help you with what to include in your statement. The appropriate contents for your EPS will depend on the specific needs of your plan and how it is administered. Typically, an EPS includes:

• Purpose
• Objectives
• Goals
• Plans
• Strategies
• Results measurement
• Roles and responsibilities.

Sample EPS

Review our sample EPS  which can further help you define and document your process.  Using these tools, you can effectively educate employees and plan committee members on an ongoing basis.