Need legal advice in regards to 401k contributions?

Ok...to answer your question....is it illegal? Yes, it violates ERISA law. What steps can you take to sue him and do you have a lawsuit? He is a fiduciary and in order to sue him you would have to have a class action lawsuit and that would be very very very expensive. You would not be able to get your attorney's fees paid for so not worth it to you...ERISA attorney's costs are extremely high as it's very specialized field. However, the DOL (mentioned in first response) can sue him. Gather up all of your paystubs and compare them to find out exactly which paychecks were not depsoited within 5 days of the payperiod. Then go to the EBSA website's online calculator and plug that information in. The loss date should be 5 days after the paydate. Make the recovery date 2 weeks from today. Put in every paydate that was late or missed. Once you get that entered you should send him a letter with a copy of that printout stating that you expect that amount to be deposited along with the corresponding interest. Do not threaten him with any legal action implied or otherwise...just ask him to deposit it as of that date that you used as the recovery date. Send your letter certified mail return reciept requested so that he can't claim he never got it. My guess is that once you provide that information and he knows you'll go to the DOL (it's on the printout that you got it from the DOL calculator) he'll put your money in. However, no guarantees that he'll do the same for the other employees. Up to you to decide whether you want to push on their behalf.

but you won't get any extra and there aren't any penalties. Basically if you go to the DOL it's the end of that plan...he'll have to put the money in, then terminate it, and not run any more 401ks. Not a whole lot more....unfortunately unless he refuses to pay or it's a significant amount of money (millions). But, if after 2 weeks he still hasn't deposited the money then immediately go to the DOL. they'll ask you to provide all your detail and they will begin making contact with him.

the boss is violating a lot of federal laws and will be in big trouble if he doesn't do what the written plan says - at least with the depositing of the employee contributions - try and find out which company is handling your 401k fund and call and talk to someone there - if you lost money from his non deposits - he will have to pay that into the fund - ask the mutual fund company or whoever oversees it to audit the fund. hold onto your paystubs to prove the withholds and compare them to your next qtrly statement - this will give you enough info to go after him - since you are already laid off - call the ex-boss and tell him you are reporting him to the IRS - maybe he wasn't depositing payroll taxes either - did you get approved for unemployment benefits yet? if they say you aren't in the system - you really have a case against him for not paying into teh unemployment tax system

Of course start with your payroll dept. If they do not have an answer give them one week to find the problem. You have covered this.

After one week, if they still can not answer, call the U. S. Dept. of Labor. 1.866.444.EBSA

It may take a little work to get to the proper person. They are very interested in 401k accounts that funds have not been deposited. They fixed a large problem for me.

See an employment lawyer. If the matching 401k is corporate policy, this is very illegal.

Get real legal help right now. And get copies of everything said in writing.

good luck

Yes, this is against the law. Please contact the Department of Labor immediately...they will investigate and probably bring him to court. The agency you want is the Employee Benefit Service Administration (www.dol.gov/ebsa)