It depends on the reason you aren't allowed to contribute. New employees are not always allowed to contribute to a retirement plan until they have earned enough service (sometimes this is as much as one year, but more often it's a few months).

Another possible reason is that some job categories or types of workers are excluded from the plan. This is often because of IRS discrimination requirements, particularly if the excluded people are high-income workers.

Are you an independent contractor? If so, you might not legally be able to contribute to a 401(k) plan.

At any rate, ask your Human Resources department for a copy of the "Summary Plan Document". It's a required summary of the plan that contains this information, and is written for regular people, not attorneys.

Hope this helps!

If it is truly a 401k plan there would be a chance for a participant to contribute, but as noted by the previous answer you may not be eligible.

There are a few reasons you may not be eligible. One is your age. The plan may require you to be 18-21 years old before you contribute. If you are older than that it may be service. The plan can make you wait up to a year before you may contribute. If that is not the case you may be an excluded employee. Certain plans can avoid participation by some employees for certain reasons. The best way to know who your plan allows to contribute and how old or how much service you needs to participate is to read the Summary Plan Description which is due to you as a 401k participant.

There is another reason that you may not be able to participate. That is if this plan is actually not a 401k at all but is rather a Profit Sharing or Pension plan or an Employee Stock Option Plan. Such plans may not allow contributions by individuals like you at all but would still provide you with a benefit. If this is the case I would still expect you to get a statement at least annually to show you your accrued benefit, provided you are eligible.

With all of these questions, the best thing to do next is to speak to your plan administrator or HR department to have them explain what type of plan this really is and what your eligibility rules are.

Good luck!

Thank you, I will check this out.