There has been a dizzying array of major legislative programs passed by Congress over the last few years that have impacted small and midsize businesses, particularly in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

But one that seems to have gone under the radar — perhaps because it was passed pre-pandemic in Dec. 2019, and went into effect Jan. 1, 2020 — is the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement, or SECURE Act, which tries to help more American workers save for retirement.

The Act makes all sorts of changes to retirement plans — including increasing the required minimum distribution age to 72 from 70.5; repealing the maximum age for traditional IRA contributions; and allowing parents to withdraw up to $5,000 from retirement accounts, penalty-free, within a year of the birth or adoption of a child for qualified expenses — but also tries to incentivize small employers to offer retirement benefits to their workers.

Stacy Farber, a principal at UHY LLP in Farmington who is the Northeast region’s leader for the employee benefit plan practice, said she’s been bringing up the relatively new law with many of her clients.

Employee benefits have always been a big issue for employers, and many companies use such perks to try to attract top talent. Small businesses face the increased pressures of competing with larger companies with bigger budgets. Health insurance often gets a lot of the attention in terms of benefits demanded by workers, but retirement programs are increasingly in demand and can serve as a key differentiator, Farber said.

She recently participated in a Q&A with Hartford Business Journal to discuss the SECURE Act and trends she is seeing with employer retirement programs.

Q: First, let’s start off with the SECURE Act. What are the biggest benefits to small employers?

Small business owners will find it easier to join with other businesses to offer defined contribution retirement plans. Otherwise known as MEPs (multiple employer plans), they allow for unrelated employers to participate in joint retirement plans.

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