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The Mandate Monitor

PhillySaves: what employers must do

Signed into lawChecked November 7, 2026Run by Philadelphia Retirement Savings Board (City of Philadelphia)

Short answer

Philadelphia is setting up PhillySaves, a city-run auto-enroll individual retirement account (IRA) program; City Council says it is the first of its kind for a U.S. city. An ordinance signed January 20, 2026 will require Philadelphia employers with at least one covered employee, in business in the city for at least 24 months and without a qualified retirement plan, to offer payroll deductions into the program. Employers have nothing to do yet: the new Philadelphia Retirement Savings Board must open the program so workers can contribute by July 1, 2027, and no registration dates, program rules or penalties have been published.

Next date: July 1, 2027: Ordinance deadline for the board to open PhillySaves so workers can begin contributing (Philadelphia Code § 19-4710). Employer registration dates have not been announced.

Does your payroll handle PhillySaves? See your options and how payroll handles it.

What changed recently

  1. · New law

    Philadelphia voters approve the board that will run PhillySaves

    Voters approved a Home Rule Charter amendment creating the Philadelphia Retirement Savings Board. The board must open PhillySaves so workers can contribute by July 1, 2027, and will set the employer registration dates.

  2. · New law

    Philadelphia creates PhillySaves, a city retirement savings program

    Mayor Cherelle L. Parker signed the PhillySaves ordinance (Bill No. 250651-A, Philadelphia Code chapter 19-4700). Once the program opens, Philadelphia employers in business in the city for at least 24 months that don’t offer a qualified retirement plan will have to offer payroll deductions into an auto-enroll individual retirement account (IRA). No employer deadlines have been set yet.

Every change, newest first

PhillySaves deadlines

  1. · Retirement mandate

    Ordinance deadline for the board to open PhillySaves so workers can begin contributing (Philadelphia Code § 19-4710)

    Employer registration dates have not been announced.

Dates already passed (3)
  • : Philadelphia voters approved the Home Rule Charter amendment creating the Philadelphia Retirement Savings Board to oversee the program.
  • : Mayor Cherelle L. Parker signed the PhillySaves ordinance (Bill No. 250651-A, Philadelphia Code chapter 19-4700), effective immediately.
  • : Philadelphia City Council passed Bill No. 250651-A, creating the Philadelphia Retirement Savings Program, 17 to 0.

What employers have to do

  1. Nothing to do yet. The program isn’t open, and no program rules or registration dates have been published.
  2. Once the program opens, covered employers without a qualified plan must let covered employees contribute through payroll deduction; employees are enrolled automatically and can opt out (Philadelphia Code § 19-4704).
  3. The board’s rules will set how employers enroll employees, withhold and send contributions, and show they aren’t covered (§ 19-4705).
  4. Employers may not contribute to employee accounts.

Handling PhillySaves in payroll

No employer sign-up yet: PhillySaves isn’t open

The program isn’t open, and no program rules or registration dates have been published. City Council says participation is free for employers. Details from Philadelphia Retirement Savings Board (City of Philadelphia). Once it starts, your payroll will have to send the employee contributions each pay period.

We list a payroll system here once a help document describes how it handles PhillySaves, whether the company’s own or the program’s, with the link and the date we read it. See how we make money.

How PhillySaves works

Not set yet. The ordinance requires automatic enrollment with a default contribution between 3% and 6% of wages, chosen by the board. The board may add automatic increases of 1% or 2% of pay no more than once a year, with the default capped at 10%. The default account will be a Roth individual retirement account (IRA); participants may choose a traditional IRA instead, or both, and may opt out.

City Council says participation is free for employers. The ordinance bars employer contributions and says the program must not impose duties on employers under the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

Questions employers ask

Who has to follow PhillySaves?

Businesses and nonprofits operating in Philadelphia that employ, and during the previous calendar year employed, at least one covered employee and have been in business in the city for at least 24 months. Employers that maintain a qualified retirement plan, such as a 401(k), 403(b), Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) plan or Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLE) plan, are not covered, and neither are government employers. Covered employees are 18 or older, have regular duties in the city and have wages allocable to Pennsylvania. Excluded: employees covered by the federal Railway Labor Act, employees for whom the employer contributes to a Taft-Hartley multiemployer pension plan, and anyone the board excludes by regulation. City Council says sole proprietors and self-employed people are excluded for now.

How do employers get an exemption from PhillySaves?

Employers that maintain a qualified retirement plan are not covered. The ordinance directs the board to adopt rules setting how an employer shows it isn’t covered (Philadelphia Code § 19-4705); no process exists yet. An employer may set up a qualified plan at any time and stop offering PhillySaves (§ 19-4704).

Is there a small-employer rule?

No size threshold: one covered employee is enough. The ordinance lets the board phase employers in, for example by employer size or payroll system.

What happens if an employer doesn’t comply?

None set. The ordinance authorizes the Philadelphia Retirement Savings Board to develop enforcement mechanisms as necessary (Philadelphia Code § 19-4705) but names no fines and no enforcing agency.

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

Sources

  1. Philadelphia Code chapter 19-4700, §§ 19-4701 to 19-4710 (Bill No. 250651-A); Home Rule Charter amendment creating the board (Bill No. 250950, approved by voters May 19, 2026)
  2. Bill No. 250651-A, certified copy (Philadelphia Code chapter 19-4700; passed December 11, 2025, signed January 20, 2026), Philadelphia City Council (read Nov 7, 2026)
  3. 2026 primary ballot questions: Question #1, Philadelphia Retirement Savings Board (Bill No. 250950, approved January 20, 2026), Philadelphia City Commissioners (read Nov 7, 2026)
  4. Philadelphia voters approve the creation of the PhillySaves program during the May 19 Pennsylvania primary (May 21, 2026), Philadelphia City Council (read Nov 7, 2026)
  5. Mayor Cherelle L. Parker signs legislation creating the Philadelphia Retirement Savings Program (January 22, 2026), Philadelphia City Council (read Nov 7, 2026)