eligibility for safe harbor 401(K)

[thepensionmaven]

Have a 10/1/99 effective date on a safe harbor 401(k). Min age 21, 12 months service. Employer tells me most of the employees are part time, work less than 16 hours per week, and were hired 5/98.

Problem is, I usually have effective dates of 1/1 on my plans, not 10/1.

Would the first 1000 hours for eligibilty run from 5/98 to 12/98 and if the hours were not met, they would not come into the plan on 10/1/99?

Or is the year measured from 5/98 to 5/99 and if they didnot have 1000 hours in that period, they would not come into the plan 10/1/99??

[Ervin Barham]

Check your plan document for overlapping eligibility and the measuring period for a year of service for eligibility. Most prototypes measure the initial year of service from hire date (in your case 5/98 to 5/99), then the 2nd measuring period switches to the plan year (10/1/98 to 9/30/99). Thereafter, you are checking the plan year for meeting the year of service.

Some documents will always measure the year based on hire date.

I hope this helps.