Part-time workers no longer banned from 401(k) plans

We have good news and bad news for part-time workers. Currently, part-time employees would have to put a minimum of 1000 hours before they can apply for health and retirement benefits.

This is set to change in December 2020, though realistically, rules will take longer to go into effect since the Department of Labour and the IRS need to work on regulations. This is less than ideal.

The good news is that the SECURE Act will ensure that part-time workers who want to join a 401(k) plan would only need to put in 500 hours a year for three consecutive years instead. Gone are the days of companies hiring legions of part-time workers in order to avoid offering full benefits.