FAQ 115: 410b--Which employees are included in 410b matching test

Problem: How does the matching 410b test determine who is eligible and benefitting?

Solution: The 410(b) program looks in the matching source specs (source 3) at the "Contrib: Groups Elig." and "Hours" fields to determine who is eligible and benefiting, since anyone that is eligible for a match is considered benefitting under 410(b) rules. For example, if just active employees that are employed on the last day of the plan year with 1000 hours are eligible for the match, the groups eligible would be "34" and the hours requirement would be "1000". If all employees are eligible for the match, groups would be "34678AB" and the hours requirement would be be "1".