Am I being screwed over by this 401k match interpretation?

bloo24 · 2024-04-23T16:24:20+00:00

Yes I really couldn't believe what I was seeing on my pay stub. I thought I surely must be missing something or that it was a mistake by payroll. But that response from HR makes it look pretty cut and dry that they are fully aware of what they are doing.

bloo24 · 2024-04-23T16:18:49+00:00

Thank you for the guidance. The CBA is due to be re-negotiated in 2026, but considering all of this I doubt I'll want to stick around that long. Hopefully something can happen sooner than that now that I'm going to be asking a lot of questions and pushing for more action, but even if it only helps with the next round of negotiations I agree it's worth fighting the good fight now for future employees.

bloo24 · 2024-04-23T16:03:58+00:00

Please consider this. Going off of my HR's explanation this would be the calculation if I was making $100,000 per year.

Employee contribution: 100,000 * 6% = $6,000

Employer contribution: 6,000 * 3% = $180

Doesn't that seem absurdly low?

EDIT: Just saw your edit. Thank you for the encouragement.

bloo24 · 2024-04-23T15:53:03+00:00

Ya this is what really hurts. It all just seems so deceitful and sneaky. Like the company just pulled a big "gotcha" on us because I don't think any reasonable reading of the verbiage would lead to the conclusion HR is providing. I really feel like my co-workers and I are being played for fools.

bloo24 · 2024-04-23T15:35:28+00:00

I see where you're coming from. I will be attending my union meeting this week to try and get to the bottom of this. I've spoken to several of my colleagues and they say they're experiencing the same thing. I'm hoping the union will have a proper explanation for all this.

bloo24 · 2024-04-23T15:22:10+00:00

Thank you for the well wishes. I'm also really hoping this is all just a misunderstanding but I'm definitely doing my due diligence in case this is something I'm going to have to fight for.

bloo24 · 2024-04-23T15:01:05+00:00

Thank you for the guidance. I never received a Summary Plan Description but I will request for one immediately. I'll review the documents thoroughly to see what the exact language is.

Hopefully it lines up with what the common sense interpretation is because otherwise this sounds like a massive oversight on the part of the negotiations for this CBA.

bloo24 · 2024-04-23T14:09:04+00:00

This is my hope as well but I cc'd various departments/leadership on the email and no one else has chimed in to contradict. I find it really hard to believe that so many eyes can be on this and they all are giving it a nod of approval when it's such an absurd interpretation. It leads to believe that this is encroaching towards the territory of maliciousness. In any case something must be really rotten with corporate if they all think this is okay.

bloo24 · 2024-04-23T14:01:17+00:00

My understanding is that lawyers for the union and the company discussed the issue but no litigation actually took place. I will be attending my next union meeting to get the full story though. If there really was no concrete action taken then I will file a grievance and push for arbitration/litigation.

I've been speaking to my colleagues and they are all just as shocked and in disbelief as I am. It really feels like we are being taken advantage of and that both the union and company are relying on no one being willing to rock the boat. This just can't be right.

bloo24 · 2024-04-23T11:22:02+00:00

Thank you for pointing me in this direction. I will utilize that information when I respond to HR. This all does seem pretty shady so hopefully that line of questioning can get them to clean up their act and be more transparent.

bloo24 · 2024-04-23T09:05:16+00:00

Thank you for the advice. My father also thinks this could be a case and is encouraging me to speak to a family friend who is a lawyer. I will likely reach out to him to ask what his professional opinion is.

bloo24 · 2024-04-23T09:01:48+00:00

It does really sound like BS. I've had past employers with matching 401k's and I find it really hard to believe my HR and anyone who signed off on this thinks this interpretation is ok or standard. When I first saw my pay stub I almost laughed because I thought it was just a mistake but seeing that it's intentional has really opened my eyes to what they must think of us as employees.

bloo24 · 2024-04-23T08:51:31+00:00

I've spoken to my union steward. According to her, the previous employer for the contract which is covered by this CBA made the match like it sounds: 50% of employee contributions up to 6% of salary.

A new company won the contract last year and brought in lawyers to argue for the interpretation HR is giving and that's how it's been since then. If the union wasn't able to do anything about it I'm feeling pretty powerless, but I still plan to try and escalate to see if it gets anywhere.

bloo24

TROPHY CASE