TPAJake

I like where this is going

Agreed that the Plan should dictate. Under $1000 is generally distributed in cash if the Participant is unresponsive, but if the Participant is "lost" & the notices are returned as undeliverable, you have a different situation. You cannot send the check to nowhere. In that case, the only way to get them out is with a Trustee agreement to an IRA provider that will accept accounts less than $1000. I know of only one provider that will accept an IRA rollover under $1000, Inspira.

That seems to match most of what I've found & the boss's opinion...Strike 2 I guess. Thanks All!

Client wants everyone either "in" for 7% or out at zero, nobody allowed to defer 1, 2,3,4,5 or 6%... Can't say I've ever had anyone ask me that before. Do-able? Thanks in advance!

We discussed 100% up to 3.5%, but that would still require auto-escalation of the deferrals--Match would not need to escalate though right? I guess that's not the end of the world since the asset carrier can track the deferral escalation for us... Or what about a 7% minimum deferral in the Plan Document? Then everyone is either in at 7% or out completely?

The client wants to avoid the pain of auto escalation, so that requires an initial auto-enrollment of at least 6%. They also want the match formula to be simpler than 100% of first 1%, followed by 50% of each add'l percent. Can we not just do a flat match of 50% up to 7% to get to the required QACA level of 3.5%?

Thanks for the link, I'll check that out. Good point about the definition being discriminatory, I didn't really think about the fact that the HCE's would not have any tips to exclude. I knew this Plan was going to be a challenge from the start, even before this comp issue. Multiple locations, citizenship issues, seasonal employees, high turnover, you name it. If anybody has any ideas/experience on how to streamline a Plan like this I'm all ears! All my favorite stories begin with "If I could start over again".

I see no way to accurately track tips in a restaurant environment of this size & we'd like to insulate the Plan from that variable. Does the exclusion of tips cause a problem with the compensation definition? How would you negotiate such a situation? They're already locked into the QACA structure unless the ERISA atty pulls a rabbit out of his hat...