401K Employer Match question

[CraigN]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New Mexico
I work for a contractor and am on a permanent contract to a federal agency. The particular contractor I work for is being forced off the contract and all employees on the contract are being told to accept a position with a new contractor or be unemployed.

The contractor I'm currently with offers a 401K plan which after the first year you are 100% vested. After my first year with the company I noticed my employer match wasn't showing up in my 401K account, when I asked my employer they said that they only paid out the matching funds once per year. You are required to still be with the company to receive these matching funds.

Now that we're being forced to take a job with a different contractor, I'm worried that I won't get paid out my matching funds for the last 6-8 months. Since I'm 100% vested, shouldn't the company be required to pay me the matching funds I earn after each paycheck? Can they legally not pay it out to me because I'm being forced to take a job with a different contractor?

I'm not really unhappy about going with a different contractor to be honest. Even my 401K funds take quite a while to be posted, they do it just before the "15th of the next month" rule all the time even though I'm sure they could do it concurrently with each paycheck. I think the law says "as soon as possible, but no later than the 15th of the month following each paycheck", so they push it right to the limit.

Any references you can point me to in order to answer these questions would be appreciated.

 

[Beth3]

All 401(k) Plans are different and nobody can answer your question for you without having read your employer's 401(k) Plan Document. Your employer must give you a copy of that upon request.

It's going to be like reading Greek but persevere - the answers to your questions about when the Company match is made is in there.

You are required to still be with the company to receive these matching funds.

I expect the Plan says you must still be an employee on the last day of the Plan Year in order to receive the match and have worked the requisite number of hours. That's entirely different than any requirement to still be an employee on the date the match is actually made.