What Changes With Your 401(k) as Your Company Approaches 100 Employees?

Your company had 30 employees.

Then 50.

Now you’re at 75 and hiring isn’t slowing down.

Suddenly, someone asks:

“Does anything change with our 401(k) when we hit 100 employees?”

Potentially, yes.

But 100 employees isn’t a magic number where everything changes overnight.

It’s better to think of it as a point where a growing company should start paying closer attention to whether its retirement plan is growing with it.

Your Company May Still Feel Small

This is something I see with growing businesses all the time.

You may have 75 or 80 employees, but culturally, you still feel like a small company.

The leadership team is accessible.

HR knows everyone.

Employees are incredibly important to the culture you’ve built.

That’s a great thing.

But behind the scenes, you’re becoming a larger organization.

And some of the systems that worked beautifully when you had 25 employees may start feeling very different at 75, 100 or 150.

Your 401(k) is one of them.

More Employees Means More Moving Pieces

As your workforce grows, so does your retirement plan.

There are simply more:

• Employees enrolling
• Contributions being processed
• Questions being asked
• People leaving and joining the company
• Plan assets
• Data
• Administrative responsibilities

That doesn’t mean your 401(k) should suddenly become difficult.

It does mean the support around it becomes increasingly important.

What About the 401(k) Audit?

This is one of the biggest questions employers have as they approach 100 employees.

And there’s an important distinction:

Having 100 employees does not automatically mean your 401(k) requires an audit.

The rules are more specific than simply counting the number of people on payroll.

We’ve already broken this down in detail here:

401(k) Audit Requirement: What to Know Before Reaching 100 Participants

If you’re approaching this size, it’s worth understanding the rules before you get there.

Your Current Providers May Still Be Perfect

Growth doesn’t automatically mean you need a new recordkeeper.

Or a new TPA.

Or a new advisor.

Sometimes the providers you already have are perfectly capable of growing with you.

Other times, you start noticing friction.

Things take longer.

HR spends more time answering retirement plan questions.

Employee education isn’t keeping up.

The service model that worked when you were smaller doesn’t feel quite as effective anymore.

Those are worth paying attention to.

Employee Expectations Grow Too

This part is easy to overlook.

As companies grow, benefits often become more important for recruiting and retaining employees.

Your employees don’t necessarily care which companies provide your retirement plan.

They care about questions like:

• Do I understand my benefits?
• Can I get help when I need it?
• Is someone looking out for this?
• Do I feel confident using my 401(k)?

A growing company needs retirement plan support that can scale without making the employee experience feel less personal.

Don’t Wait Until You Hit a Number

If you’re growing quickly, don’t wait until employee #100 walks through the door to start thinking about your retirement plan.

Look ahead.

Your company may be very different 12 or 18 months from now.

Your retirement plan should be prepared for the company you’re becoming.

Key Takeaway

Approaching 100 employees is exciting.

It means your business is growing.

But growth also creates new responsibilities, new expectations and new opportunities to make your benefits better.

You don’t necessarily need to change your 401(k).

You do need to make sure it can grow with you.

If you’re approaching 100 employees, now is a great time to have someone experienced take a look at your retirement plan before growth makes the decisions for you.

The goal isn’t to make your 401(k) more complicated; it’s to make sure managing it gets easier as your company gets bigger.