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Who Are Highly Compensated and Key Employees?


Definition: highly compensated employee from 26 USC § 125(j)(3)

(ii) Qualified employee The term “qualified employee” means, with respect to a cafeteria plan, any employee who is not a highly compensated or key employee and ...

What is the FMLA key employee provision? - SHRM

Many employers are under the misconception that FMLA leave can be denied for highly compensated "key" employees; however, key employees do have the right to ...

401(k) Plan Compliance Testing: What Your Company Needs to Know

The Top-Heavy test targets key employees within an organization who contribute to qualified retirement plans. The IRS defines a key employee as ...

Highly Compensated Employee (HCE) | 401(k) Contribution Limits

When ranked according to their compensation, they are in the top 20% of employees, and the employer has chosen to classify them as an HCE. Get a ...

Highly Compensated Employee - Wall Street Oasis

... high compensation in a business is a highly compensated employee (HCE) ... highly compensated workers; therefore, who are key employees? An ...

Corrective Distributions: Upsetting your Key Employees

For purpose of clarity, an employee is considered a Highly Compensated Employee (HCE) if they made more than $125,000 per year (in 2019) OR own at least 5% of ...

How Does the New Overtime Rule Impact Highly Compensated ...

Additionally, the threshold for the “highly compensated employee” (HCE) exemption will rise, first to $132,964 on July 1, then to $151,164 on ...

Key employee Hours

Key employees include employees (or former ... the top-paid group of highly compensated employees ... The distinction between former key employee and non-key ...

"Cross-Testing" In Qualified Profit Sharing Plans - 2024

Remember that a Highly Compensated Employee (HCE) for a given year is generally defined as one who owns over 5% of the company (including spouses, sons, and ...

Who is a Highly Compensated Employee? | Benefits Law Update

A plan's definition of highly compensated employee can stop here. But for employers with more than 20 percent of their employees making than ...

Nondiscrimination Tests for Cafeteria Plans

*For purposes of determining who is a key employee, the employee's annual compensation for the prior plan year is generally used. If the ...

Retirement 101: A Comprehensive Glossary for 401(k ... - Finch

... highly and non-highly compensated employees. ... Non-Highly Compensated Employee (NHCE) ... key employees' compensation to their 401(k) accounts.

Highly Compensated Employee Identification

Because prior year compensation is used to identify HCEs, a new employee with a base salary of $500,000 is not an HCE in the first year of ...

Corrective Distributions for 401(k) Retirement Plans | Paychex

... paid employees ("non-highly compensated employees," or NHCEs). In ... employees in today's competitive job market and retaining key talent.

How to Attribute Family Ownership When 401(k) Plan Testing

The IRC section 318 Rules · Highly Compensated Employee (HCE) status for nondiscrimination testing · Key employee status for top heavy testing ...

What Is a Highly Compensated Employee? - The Balance

Key Takeaways · A highly compensated employee (HCE) is defined by the IRS. · An HCE may be someone who owns more than 5% of the company they work ...

News | Flores-Associates

For 2019 plans, the Key Employee salary criteria increased to $180,000, while the salary threshold for highly compensated criteria rose to $125,000. A highly ...

IRS Announces 2025 Retirement Plan Dollar Limits and Thresholds

HCE. The threshold for determining who is a “highly compensated employee” (HCE) will increase to $160,000 (up from $155,000). Code § 414(q)( ...

Non-Discrimination Testing - BambooHR

If key employees own more than 60% of all assets from the employer's benefit plan, it fails the NDT. When Is Non-Discrimination Test Correction Due? If ...

Who's Watching You! Identifying Highly Compensated Employees in ...

Unless your employer 401(k) plan wholly follows the safe harbor route, you'll need to determine who among your employees should be treated as a ...


Key employee

Key employee, in U.S. Internal Revenue Service terminology, is an employee classification used when determining if company-sponsored qualified retirement plans, including 401 defined benefit plans and 401s, are considered "top-heavy" or, in other words, weighted towards the company's more highly compensated individuals.