NRECA Employee Benefits Weekly

Verify Details of 401(k) Contributions in Early 2015

Posted on Posted in Compliance, Retirement Benefits

When you send 401(k) Pension Plan contributions from payrolls in early January this year, remember to compare the pay date shown in NRECA’s system to the one in your cooperative’s payroll system (usually the paycheck date). If they don’t match, adjust the pay date in NRECA’s system to match your pay date. Remember that your pay date may be different from your payroll end date.

Here are some examples:

  1. If the date on your paychecks was December 31, 2014, then the pay date for those contributions should be December 31, 2014.
  2. Contributions from paychecks dated on or after January 1, 2015 are for 2015. So, for example, if your pay period end date was December 31, 2014 but the paychecks are dated January 2, 2015, be sure that the pay date shown in NRECA’s system for those contributions is 2015. If it isn’t, change the pay date to January 2, 2015 before sending your contributions.

Consider 2014 deferral limits
As your co-op makes final contributions for 2014, remember the IRS deferral limits.

This is especially important for employees who terminated in 2014. Deferrals from their final paycheck count toward the 2014 limit. This is true even if the employee receives the final paycheck in 2015.

For example, an employee terminates on December 31, 2014 and receives her final paycheck on January 2, 2015. You would send her 401(k) Plan deferral along with the rest of the co-op’s January 3, 2014 contributions. The amount the employee defers from the final paycheck counts towards what she already deferred in 2014, and can’t exceed the 2014 limit. Remember this when you plan the final 401(k) Plan deferrals for terminating employees.

  • For more information about sending 401(k) Plan contributions, visit the Employee Benefits website.
  • For questions about how to send 401(k) Plan contributions or about your payroll dates, contact the Member Contact Center at 866.673.2299 or contactcenter@nreca.coop.
  • For questions about 401(k) Plan deferral limits or planning deferrals for your terminating employees, call the benefits compliance team at 866.673.2299, option 7 or email us at compliance@nreca.coop.
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