Introducing: The ABLE Employer Toolkit

Recruiting and retaining an inclusive, highly skilled and qualified workforce is essential for the health of your business.  That is why it is so important to include options that support your employees who experience disability (whether it is the employee or an employee’s family member) in your benefits packages.

At the ABLE National Resource Center (ABLE NRC), we make it easy for employers to share and contribute to the financial stability and prosperity of employees impacted by the additional and often significant expenses that can be associated with having a disability. We do this through our ABLE Employer Toolkit, available for download.

The following are strategies, tools and resources to introduce and explain basic information about ABLE accounts to all of your employees as part of orientation and onboarding and/or as an introduction to your existing workforce.

Let us help you help your employees save in an ABLE 529A tax-advantaged savings and/or investment account.

Things to consider

  • Distribute flyers and detailed fact sheets regarding ABLE accounts, with saving and financial planning guidance to new employees.
  • Incorporate ABLE information into your company’s materials to share how these accounts are part of your company’s benefits package.
  • Have your talent acquisition team use these materials and reference them when recruiting prospective employees.
  • Create an employee match program where, an as an employer, you will match a certain percentage of your employee’s savings into their ABLE account.
  • Provide information and access to free benefit counseling resources to employees with disabilities so that they may learn how working and saving interacts with benefits.

ABLE and College Savings Plans: Employer Support of a Value-Added Benefit

Employers face a very competitive marketplace to recruit and retain talented employees. To differentiate an employer’s attractiveness to prospective and current employees, there are several ways to utilize ABLE and college savings accounts that create a value-added benefit.

With the Gift of Independence/Gift of College At Work platform, employees can conveniently direct contributions from payroll to a desired 529 ABLE, 529 college savings or student loan account. In addition, an employer has the option to contribute or to match an employee’s contribution. This can be a simple, easy way to encourage savings and support employees to achieve desired outcomes. An employer could also utilize Gift of Independence and Gift of College gift cards as a way to reward employees for strong performance or to acknowledge milestones.

To learn more about these employer opportunities, read the Employer Gift Cards and Employer ABLE Payroll flyers.

What are the tools in the toolkit?

What is ABLE? – This page provides basic information on ABLE accounts for employers.

Roadmap to ABLE – This tool offers the basics on ABLE accounts, from preliminary work before opening an ABLE account to comparing ABLE programs in different states.

ABLE to Work Fact Sheet – This handout provides additional information for ABLE accounts owner who work.

Employee/Employer Flyers – The ABLE National Resource Center provides two flyers to post/distribute.

Sample Letter to Employees – This is a sample letter Human Resources departments can use to send to employees about ABLE accounts.