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The Mandate Monitor

Delaware EARNS: what employers must do

In effectChecked November 7, 2026Run by Delaware Office of the State Treasurer

Short answer

Delaware requires private employers, including nonprofits, with 5 or more W-2 employees that don’t offer a qualified retirement plan to register for Delaware EARNS, a state-run Roth individual retirement account (IRA) program, or certify an exemption by the deadline in their notice. The first statewide deadline was October 15, 2024; employers that become eligible later get their own notice and deadline. Noncompliant employers can be fined up to $250 per employee per year, capped at $5,000 a year.

Does your payroll handle Delaware EARNS? See the free state route and the 5 payroll systems with help docs that cover it.

Delaware EARNS deadlines

No future dates on file. Past dates are listed below.

Dates already passed (5)
  • : Registration or exemption deadline for newly eligible businesses notified in 2026. Businesses notified before January 1, 2026 are already past their deadline. (5+ employees)
  • : EARNS Program Board disbanded by this date; its duties, including enforcement, pass to the Plans Management Board.
  • : Registration or exemption deadline for employers notified in 2025. (5+ employees)
  • : First statewide deadline to register or certify an exemption, for employers with 5 or more W-2 employees.
  • : Delaware EARNS launched statewide and opened for employer registration.

What employers have to do

  1. Register (or certify an exemption) at earnsdelaware.vestwell.com with your Employer Identification Number (EIN) and Access Code by the deadline in your notice.
  2. Upload information for every covered employee who has been employed at least 120 days.
  3. EARNS contacts employees directly; they have 30 days to opt out or customize their account.
  4. After the 30 days, start payroll deductions and remit contributions within 14 days of the end of each payroll period.
  5. Keep records current: register new covered employees once they reach 120 days of employment, mark terminated employees, and apply rate changes.
  6. If you later adopt a qualified plan, give EARNS at least 60 days’ notice and give enrolled employees at least 30 days’ notice before deductions stop.

Handling Delaware EARNS in payroll

The free route: register directly with the state

You can register and report on your own through Delaware Office of the State Treasurer. You’ll still need your payroll to send the employee contributions each pay period.

Payroll systems with a help document covering Delaware EARNS

SystemWhat the documentation saysLink
ADP RUNThe Delaware EARNS help center lists a 360-degree integration for ADP Run that runs through Payroll Integrations, a third party that charges employers a monthly fee. Read the program’s help doc, Nov 7, 2026See plans for ADP RUN
GustoGusto’s auto-IRA help article lists Delaware EARNS among the state programs that integrate with Gusto through Vestwell, which adds a "Vestwell State IRA" deduction to payroll. Read their help doc, Nov 8, 2026See plans for Gusto
Paychex FlexThe Delaware EARNS help center describes a 360-degree integration with Paychex Flex (Select and Pro) that receives contributions from payroll and sends employees’ savings-rate changes back. Read the program’s help doc, Nov 7, 2026See plans for Paychex Flex
QuickBooks PayrollThe Delaware EARNS help center describes a 360-degree integration with QuickBooks Online Payroll (a QuickBooks Online plus Payroll subscription) that receives contributions from payroll and sends employees’ savings-rate changes back. That help center lists QuickBooks Online Payroll as supported and doesn’t mention Workforce plans. Read the program’s help doc, Nov 7, 2026See plans for QuickBooks Payroll
Square PayrollThe Delaware EARNS help center lists a 360-degree integration with Square Payroll; employers request it by emailing their Square Payroll representative. Read the program’s help doc, Nov 7, 2026See plans for Square Payroll

Listed alphabetically. We may earn a commission from these links; it never decides who’s listed.

How Delaware EARNS works

Default 5% of gross pay into a Roth individual retirement account (IRA), deducted after tax. The rate rises automatically by 1 percentage point each January once the saver has been enrolled at least six months, up to 10%. Savers can opt out of increases, change the rate (1% to 100%) or opt out entirely.

No cost to employers. Employers are not permitted to contribute or match, and are not fiduciaries of the program (19 Del. C. § 3804(2)–(3)).

Questions employers ask

Who has to follow Delaware EARNS?

Delaware employers that employ, and during the previous calendar year employed, at least 5 covered employees (W-2 employees age 18 or older with Delaware wages, full- or part-time), that were in business in Delaware for at least 6 months of the preceding calendar year (in business since July 1 of the prior year), and that don’t maintain a 401(a), 401(k), 403(b), Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) or SIMPLE individual retirement account (IRA) plan. Government employers are excluded.

How do employers get an exemption from Delaware EARNS?

Employers that offer a qualified plan (401(a), 401(k), 403(b), Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) 408(k) or SIMPLE individual retirement account (IRA) 408(p), or an automatic-enrollment payroll deduction IRA covering all covered employees that meets the program’s rules) or that have fewer than 5 employees certify their exemption online at earnsdelaware.vestwell.com/register/employer, the same portal used to register, with their Employer Identification Number (EIN) and the Access Code from their notice. An employer with a qualified plan that never receives a notice doesn’t need to do anything.

What happens if an employer doesn’t comply?

After notice of noncompliance, an employer has 90 days to comply. Enforcement cannot begin until 1 year after the employer’s first required compliance date. In a final order the Board may impose administrative penalties of up to $250 per employee per year, capped at $5,000 per year, appealable within 30 days (19 Del. C. § 3805; 1 Del. Admin. Code 1701 § 6.3).

Everything employers in Delaware must do ·Retirement mandates in every state

Sources

  1. 19 Del. C. ch. 38 (§§ 3801–3805); 1 Del. Admin. Code 1701
  2. Employer program details, eligibility and next deadline, Delaware EARNS (read Nov 7, 2026)
  3. Employers (exemption for qualified plans, no matching), Delaware EARNS (read Nov 7, 2026)
  4. Contributions: default rate and annual increase, Delaware EARNS (read Nov 7, 2026)
  5. EARNS: who is legally required to facilitate, Delaware Office of the State Treasurer (read Nov 7, 2026)
  6. Delaware EARNS registration deadline approaching (Oct. 2, 2024), Delaware Office of the State Treasurer (news.delaware.gov) (read Nov 7, 2026)
  7. October 15 deadline approaching for employers to register (Oct. 1, 2025), Delaware Office of the State Treasurer (news.delaware.gov) (read Nov 7, 2026)
  8. Delaware EARNS Program Board (transfer to Plans Management Board), Delaware Office of the State Treasurer (read Nov 7, 2026)
  9. 1 Del. Admin. Code 1701, EARNS Program regulations, Delaware Register of Regulations (read Nov 7, 2026)