401k - California - unsure of responsibility

[OgOm8]

Thank you all for responding. I feel better knowing that it's a difficult problem even for experts.

I won't be back in the office until next week, so I can't review the contract at the moment. But on the PEO company website they mention that their model is co-employment. So, back to the GM I go knowing that he's the most likely responsible person. That said, I've talked to him before about CalSavers, and he's not interested. He really, truly does not want to set up any kind of a 401k (he's anti-regulation in the extreme.)

It looks as though I will probably need to contact the DSLE or employment lawyer to get it sorted out. Thank you again for all your help!

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

@PayrollHRGuy if you're out there, you're better with PEO's than I am. Any thoughts?

California was way out of my zone of focus. In general, the PEO will only make available the products and services the client is willing to pay for.

 

[cbg]

Fair enough - thanks for checking in.

 

[OgOm8]

Hello again - had another talk with GM, and he said “it’s not going to happen”. So, as I get ready to act on this, I’m wondering who the co employer responsibilities belong to - the GM or to the international corp that he represents?
In other words, should I take it up the corporate chain first, or maybe just let the DIR/DLSE sort it out?

 

[cbg]

Most government agencies would prefer you to exhaust your internal resources before coming to them. So I would say try corporate first. You can always go to the DLSE later.

 

[OgOm8]

Good point. Thank you cbg.

 

[LdiJ]

Good point. Thank you cbg.

While I agree with cbg, I still think that you really need to find out for sure which company is legally responsible before you escalate anything. While the model is "co-employment" there can only be one legal entity that is your official employer, and I would think that that legal entity is the one responsible for providing a 401k. Which company issues your W2 at the end of the year? A consult with a local employment attorney is probably in your best interest. If you escalate things with the wrong company you could end up out of a job.