I always say that the reason I don’t have employees is I was once an employee too. I was never totally happy with pay and benefits and I don’t know if I ever could be totally satisfied where I worked. I was a good employee, but a worse former employee. As a 401(k) plan sponsor, it’s the former employee who will complain the most.

A former employee of Generac Power Systems who was terminated in May is now part of a class-action lawsuit filed against them for excessive fees. While You may say that it won’t happen to you because your plan is small, I’ve represented so many plan sponsors that were under a Department of Labor investigation because of a complaint by a former employee. If you’re running a plan that isn’t totally on board, it will be the former employee who will sink you.