"Our TPA firm has just been engaged by our first client that makes employer contributions to their non-governmental Section 457(b) plan. (We have 5 other clients with non-governmental Section 457(b) plans, but none have employer contributions.) The plan also permits the participants to make deferrals from their salaries. I have a very basic question for which I have not been able to find the answer -- does the participant in this 457(b) plan need to make a deferral election with respect to the employer contribution? If so, must the election be made the month before that employer contribution is made to the Section 457(b) plan, just like deferrals from their paychecks?

The deferral form that this new client has been using does not seem to address a deferral election for the employer contribution because it requires the participant to elect either a dollar amount or a percentage of his/her compensation for each payroll period."