The Employer Benefits Compliance Calendar: Every Deadline in One Place
From 1095-C in January to SAR distribution — the recurring compliance dates every plan sponsor should calendar.
Benefits compliance isn’t hard because any single task is hard — it’s hard because deadlines scatter across the year and nothing reminds you until a penalty notice does. One calendar solves most of it.
The recurring dates
The rhythm: ACA reporting (1095-C to employees, 1094-C to the IRS) in Q1 for Applicable Large Employers; Form 5500 seven months after plan year-end for plans requiring it, with Summary Annual Reports after; Medicare Part D creditable-coverage notices before October 15; SPD distribution to new participants ongoing; and COBRA notices event-driven year-round. Build it once, or inherit ours — a maintained compliance calendar is part of what our compliance service delivers.
The compliance layer every plan carries
Offering benefits makes you a plan sponsor under ERISA, with obligations that apply regardless of company size: a plan document, a Summary Plan Description distributed to participants, fiduciary conduct, and — for larger plans — annual Form 5500 filings. ACA, COBRA, and Section 125 rules stack alongside.
None of it is difficult; all of it is mandatory, and most small employers are out of compliance somewhere without knowing it. An annual one-hour compliance review closes the gaps cheaply — which is exactly the service our compliance benefits team provides.
The employer mandate, condensed
At 50 full-time-equivalent employees, the ACA’s employer mandate attaches: offer minimum-value, affordable coverage to substantially all full-time employees or face per-employee penalties triggered when any full-timer takes subsidized Marketplace coverage instead.
The count is FTEs — part-time hours aggregate into equivalents — and the measurement rules for variable-hour staff are technical enough to warrant professional setup. Businesses approaching the threshold should start tracking a year before they expect to cross it; the mandate looks backward.
Continuation coverage duties
Federal COBRA applies to employers with 20+ employees, requiring election notices within strict deadlines when qualifying events end someone’s coverage; Texas state continuation extends similar rights below that threshold. Penalties for missed notices accrue daily, per beneficiary — and departures are exactly when paperwork slips.
The reliable fix is procedural: continuation notices as a standard offboarding step, or delegated to an administrator who fires them automatically. This is unglamorous work with real liability attached — the definition of something worth systematizing.
The administrative load, handled
A benefits program generates steady administrative work: enrollments, qualifying-event changes, terminations, carrier invoice reconciliation, employee questions, and the occasional claims fight. In most small businesses this lands on someone with a full-time job already.
Outsourced benefits administration exists precisely for this — it converts a recurring distraction into a handled function, with fewer errors and cleaner compliance. Our HR & administration service gives Houston businesses that back office without adding headcount.
This is exactly the kind of question we answer every day. Get in touch and we’ll review your specific situation together — free, local, and pressure-free.
Final thoughts
Whether you’re offering benefits for the first time or fixing a package that’s stopped working, the first step is the same: a census and a conversation. Explore our group benefits services or get a free review — no cost, no obligation, real numbers.