401k contributions not being made on time

[soil80]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? IL

Hi, this is my first post...never have had an attorney...never have been involved in any kind of serious legal argument. My employer began offering a non matching 401k through One America in 2008. Being relatively young (27 at the time) and knowing it was a good idea, I gladly signed up. My wife handles almost all the financials for our family (not a blame thing...just a note) and so I rarely if ever paid any attention to my quarterly statements. One of the employees (I'm in management) brought it to my attention back in February of 2011 that something didn't look right with his statement. Our local secretary touched base with corporate to find out more...no reply. So I went to check my own and noticed that money had been taken out of my paycheck but was not being entered into my retirement account. I pressed the comptroller on this and at that time, she admitted a "fracture in the payroll system affecting everyone [at my location]." She said she'd take care of it.
The details to this point: She began making contributions in April 2011 of money that was removed from our 401k's in March 2010.
At that point, I got in touch with her again with the statement, "Obviously if the money had been entered into my 401k when it was supposed to 1) I could've lost money or 2) I could've gained money...at a widely varying rate. Is that money gone or how is that problem reconciled?"
She said that the mutual fund company had a formula that showed what the market was doing at the time the money was supposed to be entered into the account and that they would calculate it and my account would reflect it as if the money were in there all the time." ***this sounds like absolute B.S. to me and made me suspicious she was trying in vain to cover her behind...after all, if I go to the bank and say, "I meant to put $100 a month in my savings account for the last year and forgot. Here's $1,200. Can you go ahead and give me the interest I was supposed to make on that as if it had been in there the whole time."
What do I do? Do I have a case or at least a reasonable complaint? I have an upcoming meeting with my county's assistant state's attorney (a friend). Is this the right move?

 

[swalsh411]

Have you been made whole at this point? Are the deposits being made timely now?

And yes there are methods to calculate what an employees deferral would have made if it had been deposited on time.

 

[soil80]

She did good April 19th - May 17th catching up...then she fell behind again and just made contributions on July 6th and 8th in conjunction with payroll deduction dates of 5/20 and 6/5 respectively. So yeah...kinda.

I understand it as the employer has 45 days max to put money they take out of your paycheck into your account. Is that correct?

I'm frustrated on several levels. I'm not interested in chasing a lawsuit or being "one of those people". Hopefully, my general handle on grammar reconfirms that. I'm very distrustful of my employer. I am aggravated at the idea that I as an employee have to keep my employer honest with my money. I'd like to say that if they're able to fix it, then that should be good enough. But I'm finding that I don't even trust them when they say this is how they're going to reconcile the problem.

I received a spreadsheet the other day with the supposed interest applied, but 1) it looks like it was hand-typed (by someone without a solid handle on Microsoft Excel which admittedly feeds my paranoia) and 2) I wouldn't know how to apply the information or have any confidence that it was correct and not just numbers that were plucked out of thin air.

Any other feedback?

 

[anteater]

The regulations require that participant contributions to a 401k be deposited to the plan on the earliest date that they can be reasonably segregated from the employer's general assets, but in no event later than the 15th business day of the month following the month in which the participant contributions are deducted from their pay. But waiting until the 15th business day is not some sort of safe harbor. If the Department of Labor begins an investigation, a statement of "But we have until the 15th business day of the following month" is not going to prevent the company from receiving a slap upside the head.

There is either a whole lot of incompetency or the company is having cash flow problems.

 

[soil80]

Thank you very much for taking the time to answer my questions.