Eligibility Requirements for new 401k Plans

I have a plan that has a start date of 1/1/2022 with an effective date for deferrals of 11/1/2022, with an eligibility requirement of 6 months. If someone has been at the company for a year but has an "effective date" into the plan of 11/1/2022 does that mean they will have to work another 6 months before they are eligible to defer or since they have been at the company for a year they are eligible on the effective date? 

I have the same question for vesting. The company has a vesting schedule of 1 year, with a plan start date of 1/1/2022 and effective date of 11/1/2022. If an employee was hired on 1/1/2020 will they have to wait another 1 year to fully vest after the effective date? 

The plan has to have entry dates and they are written into the plan. Typically they are the first day of the plan year and six months following (ie 1/1 & 7/1) but can be more frequent. So assume your person was hired 10/10/21. They complete their 6 months eligibility 4/10/22. They would then enter the plan on 7/1/22 and be eligible to defer on 11/1/22. 

The 11/1/22 effective date for deferrals means that's when deferrals are first allowed in the plan. Not uncommon for a new plan to specify a date on or after the plan is signed in existence.

As to vesting, I'm going to give you the most common example and one exception. Your plan defines exactly how it is determined.

You just look at the plan year and ask "did the person work 1000 hours"? If the answer is yes, they get credit for 1 year of vesting service. Hire dates and termination dates don't matter for this measurement. The one exception is if the plan excludes service before the start date of the plan.

But, in my example, the plan year, the hours, etc could all be different.

Read the document.

Vesting always starts from date of hire with a few exceptions as to the years you can disregard.

Two somewhat common exceptions are the Plan may (but does not have to) disregard service prior to the effective date of the Plan and/or prior to the attainment of age 18 if so stated in the document.

So assuming the participant is over the age of 18, his vesting in the plan will either begin on his hire date of 1/1/2020 or the Plan effective date of 1/1/2022 depending on the plan terms.

Then vesting would either be under the 1000 hour rule or the elapsed time method depending on your document elections.

So as Bill says - Read the Document.

Broken record.  Read the document.  But more important, who should "read the document?"  I'm assuming that Dragondon is a recordkeeper.  If there's a plan interpretation question, then that question should be answered by the employer (or a designated fiduciary).  If the latter needs help, then they should be going back to the person who drafted the plan document for them for help with the proper interpretation.  The recordkeeper should keep hands off this question.