Whether you must provide retirement plan support in a foreign language depends on how many participants you have in your plan and how many of those participants are literate only in the same non-English language. Note that for this purpose, participants include current employees eligible to participate in the plan as well as former employees who still have an account balance in the plan.
When is foreign language support required?
Large plans
If your plan has 100 or more participants on the first day of the plan year, you must provide foreign language assistance if (a) 10% of all participants or (b) 500 participants (whichever is less) are all literate only in the same non-English language.
Small plans
If your plan has fewer than 100 participants on the first day of the plan year, you must provide foreign language assistance if 25% or more of your participants are literate only in the same non-English language.
What type of foreign language support is required?
If your plan is subject to the foreign language requirement, you must provide participants with a reasonable opportunity to be informed of their rights and obligations under the plan. This means providing contact information for a representative that is fluent in the non-English language who can provide accurate information about the plan.
Do I have to provide any written materials in a foreign language?
Generally, you do not have to provide information (including the summary plan description and required participant notices) in any foreign language. The one exception is that if your plan is subject to the foreign language support requirement you must provide a statement with your summary plan description that informs the participants of the availability of the foreign language assistance.
This statement must be translated into the required foreign language. The Department of Labor has provided the following sample text as meeting the requirements. Please note that this verbiage can be customized to include important information, like an email address or the phone number for an interpretation service.
This booklet contains a summary, in English, of your plan rights and benefits under [Plan Name]. If you have difficulty understanding any part of this booklet, contact [Contact Person], [Title of Contact Person], at [Address or Location of Contact Person]. Office hours are from _____ to _____ Monday through Friday. You may also call the plan administrator's office at [Telephone Number] for assistance.
Does Guideline provide foreign language support?
We’re happy to share that some of our most important resources are available in Spanish:
Welcome guide - Shares essential information and how participants can start their retirement journey with a Guideline 401(k)
Spanish library - Includes our translated Help Center of important articles and FAQs
Video library - Hosts educational videos on 401(k) basics, how to get started, and account features, available from within participants' accounts
Additionally, we offer Spanish-speaking customer support for participants who contact us.