Don't be surprised if your employer pauses its contributions to your 401(k) plan during the U.S. economic downturn. As the coronavirus pandemic wallops the economy, and businesses deal with dropping revenue and limited cash flow, employers are exploring how to trim their obligations to those plans without violating federal regulations. Companies commonly give to worker's accounts either through a match (up to a certain amount) or other contribution. Plan sponsors "have been calling regarding how they might legally reduce their contributions to plans to preserve their cash positions," said Marcia Wagner, founder of The Wagner Law Group, which has heard from both privately held and publicly traded companies. "Employers need to know their options to try to navigate through this crisis," Wagner said.

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Already, some larger companies have said they will scale back their contributions to workers' accounts, through suspending or delaying them until later this year. That includes Haverty Furniture Companies, La-Z-Boy, Amtrak and Marriott International. About 95% of employers offer either a company match or other type of contribution, according to 2019 data from Vanguard. Half of the plans it services provide a company match, while a third offer both a match and non-matching contribution (i.e., profit sharing), and 10% do only the latter. The average amount employers kick in is 4.3% of a participant's salary. In 2008-2009, the last time the U.S. economy hit the skids, about 18.5% of companies that offered a match pulled back, either through suspending or reducing the amount, according to a 2009 report from the Plan Sponsor Council of America. Of plans that offered non-matching contributions, 26% suspended or lowered those amounts. And, most companies that suspended their contributions saw a decrease in plan participation, the PSCA report says. More from Personal Finance:

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Which bills to pay during the coronavirus pandemic Of course, it also shows most companies made no pause or reduction to contributions — 4.5% actually increased them — during the last U.S. recession. This time, however, experts are concerned that this economic downturn could result in a greater share of companies needing to pause the practice until they're on sold financial footing.

"The crisis we have now is different … there's been a rapid pace of layoffs and furloughs, and companies have had to suddenly shut down," said Will Hansen, executive director of the PSCA. Hansen said that in locations where the coronavirus has been present longer — e.g., Seattle — some companies have sought advice on how to immediately stop contributions. Generally speaking, the plans seeking regulatory relief are so-called "safe harbor" plans — they agree to certain employer contribution requirements so they can escape certain other regulations. They are often favored by smaller companies. Under current law, those plans must give a 30-day notice to participants that the employer contributions will stop, Hansen said.