A company has until as soon as administratively feasible to deposit elective deferrals. Usually this means that the contribution needs to be made at the same time payroll is processed or shortly thereafter. A large company with companies in multiple locations may take longer depending on the reconciliation procedures they perform before submitting contributions. The Department of Labor offers a 7 day safe harbor to make contributions for plans with fewer than 100 participants.

Here is a link to the IRS fix-it guide for 401(k) plans and the section that deals with late deferrals: http://www.irs.gov/Retirement-Plans/401(...

I am not indicating that your employer is late because you didn't provide enough facts. If you can find the necessary information you can determine if the deferrals are being made late. It certainly is worth keeping an eye. If the company is experiencing financial difficulty they made be looking to hold on to cash as long as they can.

Cassi,

Great question and congrats on participating in your company's 401K, they are probably the best wealth builder for employees out there. I did some research and found a great site that will give you all the information to your question. Too long for an answer on here and this guy said it pretty well, good luck!

http://www.401khelpcenter.com/401k_educa...

Your employer may be holding on to your contribution because they have a cash flow problem. They need that money and it's cheaper to use your money that to try and borrow it. Many companies have underfunded their retirement plans when they get into money troubles.

I have had a 401k set up through my employer for almost two years now. I track my 401k balance daily. I noticed that the money removed from my paycheck on January 10th had yet to be contributed to my 401k account this week and contacted payroll with no immediate answer. I alerted other coworkers to my issue and they discovered that their 401k contributions from the January 10th paycheck had yet to be deposited into their accounts as well.

We called up our 401k company and were informed that some employers opt to deposit employee 401k contributions in order to collect interest on our money. We brought this information to payroll, who was unaware of the situation. Human resources was able to confirm that our company does opt to deposit our contributions for this reason. Payroll informed me that my 401k contribution should be deposited on Monday. It has been a full two weeks that my money has been held, and I am concerned that this policy of holding my funds will be the new norm.\

My question is: how long is my employer able to hold by 401k contribution before depositing it into my account? Is there a time limit or is it at their discretion?