401(k) Plan Notices: What You Need to Know

September 29, 2025

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401(k) plans come with a variety of required notices to keep you informed about your benefits, plan features, and fees. These notices ensure that both plan sponsors and participants understand their rights and responsibilities under the plan—and help maintain compliance with Department of Labor (DOL) and IRS regulations. Below is an overview of the most common plan notices, who receives them, when they are delivered, and what they cover.

Who Receives These Notices?

These notices apply to:

Plan Participants (Employees): Individuals who are eligible for or enrolled in the 401(k) plan.
Plan Sponsors (Employers): Companies or business owners who offer the 401(k) plan to employees.

Some notices must be delivered annually, while others are required only upon specific events such as plan entry, investment changes, or plan distributions.

Annual and Recurring Notices

These notices must be provided at least once per year if they apply to your plan. In some cases, the information in one notice may fulfill the disclosure requirements of another—so you may not see the same content repeated across multiple documents.

Deferral Election Forms / Digital Account Access

When: 30 days before eligibility or immediately upon hire if the plan allows for immediate entry
To Whom: New employees
How: Delivered online via Ubiquity's system
What it Covers: Provides employees with instructions on how to access their 401(k) account and make deferral elections. Includes a digital opt-in process for contributing to the plan.

If employees do not have access to their account online, the Plan Administrator is responsible for notifying the participant in writing of their eligibility to participate.

Mailed Notice of Electronic Disclosure

When: One month after plan entry
To Whom: All new plan participants
How: Mailed directly by Ubiquity
What it Covers: Notifies participants that future required disclosures will be delivered electronically. Includes information on how to access documents online and how to request paper copies if desired. There is a one-time $3 mailing fee billed associated with this notice.

Qualified Default Investment Alternative (QDIA) Notice

When: Upon plan entry and annually thereafter
To Whom: Participants whose accounts are invested in a default fund
How: Included in the employee welcome email and via annual delivery
What it Covers: Explains the plan’s default investment option and how participant funds will be invested if no investment election is made. Includes the participant’s right to redirect investments at any time.

Individual Benefit Statement (Account Statement)

When: Quarterly
To Whom: All plan participants
How: Available online through participant accounts
What it Covers: Shows each participant’s account balance, investment performance, and contributions for the quarter. Also includes vesting and loan details, if applicable.

408(b)(2) Plan Fee Disclosure

When: Upon plan start and annually
To Whom: Plan sponsors
How: Delivered via secure document sharing by Ubiquity
What it Covers: Outlines the services provided to the plan and the associated fees. Helps plan sponsors evaluate the reasonableness of service provider compensation.

404(a)(5) Participant Fee Disclosure

When: Upon hire and annually
To Whom: All plan participants
How: Delivered electronically or by mail
What it Covers: Details the fees charged to participant accounts, both administrative and investment-related. Also includes performance data and a comparative chart of available investment options.

Summary Plan Description (SPD) and Summary of Material Modifications (SMM)

When: Upon hire and when plan provisions change
To Whom: Plan sponsors and participants
How: Posted by Ubiquity to the:
- Employer portal under: 401(k) Plan > Documents > General and
- Employee portal under: 401(k) > Documents & Forms > General Resources
What it Covers: The SPD outlines how the plan works, including eligibility, vesting, contributions, and distributions. An SMM describes any updates or changes made to the plan’s provisions.

Summary Annual Report (SAR)

When: Annually, by September 30, or within 2 months of the extended Form 5500 filing deadline
To Whom: Plan sponsors and participants
How: Posted by Ubiquity to the:
- Employer portal under: 401(k) Plan > Documents > Annual Summary Reports and
- Employee portal under: 401(k) > Documents & Forms > General Resources
What it Covers: The SAR is a plain-English summary of your plan’s IRS Form 5500 filing. It includes key financial details such as total plan assets, liabilities, insurance coverage, and overall plan activity for the year.

Important Details:
You are required to provide all employees and beneficiaries with access to the SAR no later than September 30. If your plan filed for a Form 5500 extension, the SAR must be provided no later than two months after the extended deadline.
Ubiquity prepares and posts the SAR to the Documents + Forms section of your portal. If any employees or beneficiaries do not have internet access, you are responsible for distributing printed copies to them.

Safe Harbor Notice

When: Upon hire and annually (if the plan is a safe harbor plan)
To Whom: Plan sponsors and participants (excludes long-term part-time employees)
How: Provided by Ubiquity or with instructions for plan sponsor delivery
What it Covers: Describes the plan’s safe harbor contribution formula and vesting rules. Includes eligibility information and how to make or change deferral elections.

Automatic Enrollment Notice

When: Upon hire and annually (if the plan has automatic enrollment)
To Whom: Plan sponsors and participants (excludes long-term part-time employees)
How: Provided by Ubiquity or with instructions for plan sponsor delivery
What it Covers: Notifies employees that they will be automatically enrolled in the plan unless they opt out. Includes default deferral rate, investment selection, and instructions for making changes.

Event-Based Notices

These notices are triggered by specific plan activities or participant events.

402(f) Rollover Notice

When: Prior to a distribution
To Whom: Participants requesting a distribution
How: Delivered electronically during the distribution process
What it Covers: Explains tax consequences and rollover options for taking a distribution. Helps participants understand how to avoid immediate taxation and penalties.

Blackout Period Notice

When: At least 30 days before a blackout period begins
To Whom: Plan participants (delivered by plan sponsor)
How: Ubiquity provides the notice to the plan sponsor
What it Covers: Informs participants of a temporary restriction on changes to their account, typically during a plan conversion or provider change. Includes start and end dates of the blackout and actions affected.

Fee Change Notice

When: As needed when there are material changes to fees
To Whom: Plan sponsors and participants
How: Often fulfilled by updated fee disclosures being posted
What it Covers: Notifies stakeholders of changes to plan administrative or investment fees. Typically addressed through an updated 404(a)(5) or 408(b)(2) disclosure.

Investment Fund Change Notice

When: Before investment changes take effect
To Whom: Participants affected by the change (delivered by plan sponsor)
How: Ubiquity provides the notice to the plan sponsor
What it Covers: Details upcoming changes to the plan’s investment options. May include fund closures, replacements, or changes to share classes or fees.

Matching Contribution Notice

When: No later than 60 days after the final discretionary match contribution for the year is made
To Whom: Participants who received the match
How: Prepared and distributed by the plan sponsor (Ubiquity does not provide this notice)
What it Covers: Confirms the employer’s discretionary matching contribution and how it was calculated. Helps participants understand the contributions credited to their account.

45-Day Notice of Corrective Action for Elective Deferral Failures

Qualified Nonelective Contribution (QNEC)

When: The notice requirement is triggered when a plan sponsor corrects an elective deferral error under a safe harbor correction method. This timing is critical—the 45-day clock starts once proper deferrals begin and missing this deadline could disqualify the plan from using the simplified correction method.
- This includes situations where:
- Eligible employees were excluded from making deferrals,
- Deferrals were not withheld correctly, or
Automatic contributions or escalation features were applied incorrectly.
To Whom: Affected participants
How: Delivered by the plan sponsor -
What it Covers: Describes the nature and time of the error, confirmation that deferrals have begun, discloses whether monetary corrections are required, informs participants of their option to increase deferrals, within IRS limits.

Important Reminders

Not all notices are automatically provided by Ubiquity. In some cases, we provide the language and instructions, and the plan sponsor is responsible for delivery.
Certain disclosures may appear in more than one notice. If a disclosure has already been fulfilled in one document, it may not be repeated in another.
Special rules apply to long-term part-time (LTPT) employees—they are generally excluded from Safe Harbor and Automatic Enrollment notice requirements.

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