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The Mandate Monitor

My Illinois Savings (formerly Illinois Secure Choice): what employers must do

In effectChecked November 8, 2026Run by Illinois Secure Choice Savings Board, administered by the Illinois State Treasurer’s Office

Short answer

Illinois requires private employers that had at least 5 Illinois employees in every quarter of the prior year, have been in business at least 2 years, and don’t offer a qualified retirement plan to join the state’s automatic individual retirement account (auto-IRA) program and run payroll deductions for employees who don’t opt out. The program was renamed My Illinois Savings (formerly Illinois Secure Choice) on June 15, 2026, when it moved to a new Vestwell platform; the employer eligibility rules stayed the same. All size-based waves closed by November 1, 2023, and newly covered businesses are now notified each year (the latest new-business deadline was November 1, 2026).

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

My Illinois Savings deadlines

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

Dates already passed (9)
  • : Registration deadline for newly covered businesses notified in 2026 (businesses notified before January 1, 2026 are already past due). (5+ employees)
  • : Illinois Secure Choice is renamed My Illinois Savings and moves to a new Vestwell recordkeeping platform; employers must retrieve their accounts in the new portal.
  • : Registration deadline for employers with 5–15 employees, the last size-based wave.
  • : Beginning February 2023, the Illinois Department of Revenue starts issuing penalty notices to employers referred for noncompliance.
  • : Registration deadline for employers with 16–24 employees.
  • : 2021 law takes effect, expanding the mandate to employers with 5 or more employees and adding default annual auto-escalation.
  • : Registration deadline for employers with 25–99 employees.
  • : Registration deadline for employers with 100–499 employees.
  • : Registration deadline for employers with 500 or more employees.

What employers have to do

  1. Register at myilsavings.com with your FEIN and the Access Code from your notice, or certify an exemption, by your deadline.
  2. Within 30 days of registering, upload your eligible employee roster (manually, with the template, or through a connected payroll provider).
  3. After employees’ 30-day opt-out window, start payroll deductions on the next payday for those who stay enrolled.
  4. Submit contributions within 7 days of deducting them from paychecks.
  5. Enroll new hires as soon as practicable and no later than 120 days after their start date; mark departing employees inactive and apply employees’ rate changes.
  6. Don’t advise employees on whether to participate; the program answers their questions.

Handling My Illinois Savings in payroll

The free route: register directly with the state

You can register and report on your own through Illinois Secure Choice Savings Board, administered by the Illinois State Treasurer’s Office. You’ll still need your payroll to send the employee contributions each pay period.

Payroll systems with a help document covering My Illinois Savings

SystemWhat the documentation saysLink
ADP RUNThe My Illinois Savings (formerly Illinois Secure Choice) 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
GustoThe My Illinois Savings (formerly Illinois Secure Choice) help center describes a 360-degree integration with Gusto (Simple, Plus or Premium) that receives contributions from payroll and sends employees’ savings-rate changes back to Gusto. Read the program’s help doc, Nov 7, 2026See plans for Gusto
Paychex FlexThe My Illinois Savings (formerly Illinois Secure Choice) 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 My Illinois Savings (formerly Illinois Secure Choice) 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 My Illinois Savings (formerly Illinois Secure Choice) 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 My Illinois Savings works

Default 5% of gross pay into a Roth individual retirement account (IRA) (after-tax), invested by default in an age-based target-date fund. Default auto-escalation raises the rate 1 percentage point each January (once the saver has been enrolled at least six months) until it reaches 10%. Savers can change their rate (1% to 100%, within IRS limits), skip an increase, or opt out at any time.

No employer fees. Employers don’t contribute (employer contributions aren’t permitted) and aren’t plan fiduciaries.

Questions employers ask

Who has to follow My Illinois Savings?

Private-sector employers, for-profit or nonprofit, that employed at least 5 employees in Illinois during every quarter of the previous calendar year, have been in business at least 2 years, and do not offer or contribute to a qualified retirement plan. Government employers are excluded. The program notifies covered employers by letter or email with an Access Code. Smaller or newer businesses may join voluntarily.

How do employers get an exemption from My Illinois Savings?

If you sponsor or contribute to a qualified plan (such as a 401(k), 403(b), Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) individual retirement account (IRA), SIMPLE IRA, or a qualified union plan for member employees), you don’t have to participate, but you still need to certify your exemption online with your FEIN and the Access Code from your notice so the program stops contacting you. An approved exemption also clears a pending Department of Revenue proposed penalty.

What happens if an employer doesn’t comply?

Under 820 ILCS 80/85, an employer that fails without reasonable cause to enroll employees on time owes $250 per employee for the first calendar year of noncompliance and $500 per employee for each later year (the years need not be consecutive). The Illinois Department of Revenue enforces it. It counts employees from the Schedule P withholding data on your IL-941 and issues a Notice of Proposed Assessment (IDOR-2P-NT). Registering or certifying an exemption within 120 days of that notice removes the proposed penalty. Paying the penalty does not make you compliant, and unpaid assessments can lead to liens and levies.

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

Sources

  1. 820 ILCS 80 (Illinois Secure Choice Savings Program Act)
  2. Employer program details: eligibility, deadlines and steps, My Illinois Savings (read Nov 8, 2026)
  3. Employer information, My Illinois Savings (read Nov 7, 2026)
  4. Contribution rates and default annual increase, My Illinois Savings (read Nov 7, 2026)
  5. About My Illinois Savings, Illinois State Treasurer (read Nov 7, 2026)
  6. Treasurer relaunches state retirement program with lower fees and new name (May 6, 2026), Illinois State Treasurer (read Nov 8, 2026)
  7. Illinois Secure Choice FY2024 Annual Report, Illinois State Treasurer (read Nov 8, 2026)
  8. Illinois Secure Choice succeeds in fighting the retirement crisis (November 18, 2019; first three wave deadlines), Illinois State Treasurer (read Nov 8, 2026)
  9. Secure Choice passes $90 million threshold (October 12, 2022; wave four deadline November 1, 2022), Illinois State Treasurer (read Nov 8, 2026)
  10. Illinois Secure Choice key deadline for small businesses (September 25, 2023; wave five deadline November 1, 2023), Illinois State Treasurer (read Nov 8, 2026)
  11. Informational Bulletin FY 2023-09: Enforcement of the Illinois Secure Choice Savings Program Act, Illinois Department of Revenue (read Nov 7, 2026)
  12. Secure Choice Program Enforcement, Illinois Department of Revenue (read Nov 7, 2026)