Universal Availability Defined

Q. What is universal availability?

A. Generally, “universal availability” means that if an employer permits one employee to defer salary into a 403(b) plan, the employer must extend this offer to all employees, other than those whom the law allows to be excluded.
 
Universal availability also requires the plan to give meaningful notice to employees of their right to make elective deferrals. The notice must notify the employees of:

• their right to make elective deferrals;
• when to make an election; and
• when and how often during the year they can change that election.

A 403(b) plan generally may not place conditions on an employee’s right to make elective deferrals. For example, the plan sponsor cannot require that an employee take out a certain level of health insurance before being allowed to make elective deferrals to the 403(b) plan.