I have been searching the internet looking for help regarding a problem that i am having with my retirement benefits.

I am a new employee who was hired on 7/10/00. I had 31 days to select either one of two retirement plans: cash balanced pension type plan that included a 401k company match of 50% OR investor plan which is soley a 401k with a 100% company match. I had selected the investor plan on 7/14/00 by mailing in the forms.

On August 29th, I received a letter from my Employee Benefits group stating that I had been automatically enrolled in the pension plan since they have not heard from me. (NOTE: This benefit is a ONE-TIME enrollment.) Within in this letter, it states to call the employee infocenter hotline immediately if any information is incorrect. I called them the next business day and I was told that I had to send an "appeal " letter to my Employee Benefits Committee board and they will review the case, afterwhich they will render their decision which is binding and final!

I'm am really upset. I selected to work for this company because of the 401k investor plan. This is the most important benefit to me at this time in my life (I'm single and young).

My question is: Do you know of any websites/periodicals/references that I can use to write my appeal? Do I have strong enough case to win the appeal?

I don't know what to do. Should I contact a lawyer?

Also, please note that due to the nature of my job (telecommuter/home-based), my new employee orientation was conducted via teleconference in less that an hour! I strongly believe that if I had attended the orientation in person, all forms could have been collected on site and this issue would not have arisen.

Thank you so much for listening!!!

Teresa

You are in the unfortunate situation of closing the barn door after the horse has been stolen. You have no proof of what you did (registered mail, return receipt) on a very important item. You do not know if the Post Office lost the mail, the company lost it or what. You may not even have copies in your files. The automatic enrollment function covers the company and makes any appeal tougher on your side. Its a shame that such valuable lessons come at such a high price. And, proving the plans to be significantly different is hard because they had to be designed to be equivalent! Good Luck

Teresa,

why not assume the company means what it says when it offers you a chance to appeal.

write a letter, simply outlining what you did, and, if it seems both reasonable and plausible to the Employee Benefits Committee, your request will be granted.

But do not wait another month to write the appeal.

Remember, the company is providing a benefit to keep its employees happy - not to make enemies.