4 ms·

This article is technically right but practically speaking incorrect. You are 100% vested after 3 calendar years in which you have worked more than (I believe)

by delecti 11y ago

This article is technically right but practically speaking incorrect. You are 100% vested after 3 calendar years in which you have worked more than (I believe) 1000 hours. This means that if you start before about half-way through the year, you will have worked more than 1000 hours that year, then the next year, and will have reached 1000 hours approximately halfway through your third calendar year there. The end result is that practically speaking, a full-time employee will be 100% vested after no more than about 2.5 years, and possibly as soon as 2 years. Source: Am an Amazon employee and I've got 401k contribution confirmations wherein my "vested employee match" went from 0% to 100% after working there just over 2 years, having started in mid 2012.

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cameldrv 11y ago
Better check your math. Assuming you work 2000 hours per year, if you start in June, you vest after 2.5 years. If you start in July, you vest after 3.5 years. 3 years would be the average, and 2 years would be impossible.
- delecti 11y ago
  I started in July 2012, and I worked at least 1000 hours before the end of 2012, so that counted as a calendar year in which i worked at least 1000 hours. I easily hit 1000 hours in 2013, having worked there the entire year. I hit 1000 hours approximately halfway through 2014, becoming 100% vested after about 2 years of employment. Maybe my original post was misleading, if you can tell me what you misunderstood then I can edit it to clarify. Regardless, I assure you that I was 100% vested in mid 2014, after roughly 2 full years of employment spanning 3 calendar years.
  - what_ever 11y ago
    Do you have to wait till the end of the 3rd calendar year? Or is it counted as soon as you complete 1000 hours in the 3rd year?
    - delecti 11y ago
      As soon as the 1000 hours is complete. Or at least by the time I got my next 401k contribution confirmation.
jsolson 11y ago
> The end result is that practically speaking, a full-time employee will be 100% vested after no more than about 2.5 years, and possibly as soon as 2 years. edit: This is correct under very specific circumstances, which as I call out in my response below strike me as a bunch of horseshit. Either this is incorrect, has changed, or I got screwed when I left[0]. I worked at Amazon as a full-time software engineer (SDE2 then 3) for a bit over two years, starting January 3rd 2011 and leaving in mid-February 2013. When I left my entire 401k match was revoked. [0]: I left on good terms as regretted attrition; my manager, sr. manager, director, and VP all asked to be the first person I emailed when I decided to come back (which I doubt I'll ever do, as my new gig is better for me by basically every metric, but it was a nice gesture).
- giaour 11y ago
  If you left in mid-February 2013, then you did not work 1000 hours in 2013. You need to work at least 1000 hours in three separate calendar years.
  - jsolson 11y ago
    Ah. Fair enough; I misunderstood the original post. I will admit to not having paid any attention to the 401k policy while I was at Amazon other than ensuring my employee contribution maxed out each year. Also the parent's assertion that you might be vested after as little as two years seems completely off base. I didn't really care much as Amazon's match didn't amount to very much money (particularly compared to my current immediately vesting 50% match up to 100% of salary or the 18k limit). Regardless, it still feels like a good way to protect their downside losses by conditioning expected compensation payouts against probability of someone actually sticking around that long. edit: Oh, I see, if you join exactly mid year you might be able to accomplish this. Wow, what a pile of horseshit.
    - delecti 11y ago
      > edit: Oh, I see, if you join exactly mid year you might be able to accomplish this. Wow, what a pile of horseshit. Considering they promise 3 years, I fail to see any problems with being able to do it in 2.

by delecti 11y ago

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cameldrv 11y ago

Better check your math. Assuming you work 2000 hours per year, if you start in June, you vest after 2.5 years. If you start in July, you vest after 3.5 years. 3 years would be the average, and 2 years would be impossible.

delecti 11y ago
I started in July 2012, and I worked at least 1000 hours before the end of 2012, so that counted as a calendar year in which i worked at least 1000 hours. I easily hit 1000 hours in 2013, having worked there the entire year. I hit 1000 hours approximately halfway through 2014, becoming 100% vested after about 2 years of employment. Maybe my original post was misleading, if you can tell me what you misunderstood then I can edit it to clarify. Regardless, I assure you that I was 100% vested in mid 2014, after roughly 2 full years of employment spanning 3 calendar years.
- what_ever 11y ago
  Do you have to wait till the end of the 3rd calendar year? Or is it counted as soon as you complete 1000 hours in the 3rd year?
  - delecti 11y ago
    As soon as the 1000 hours is complete. Or at least by the time I got my next 401k contribution confirmation.

jsolson 11y ago

> The end result is that practically speaking, a full-time employee will be 100% vested after no more than about 2.5 years, and possibly as soon as 2 years. edit: This is correct under very specific circumstances, which as I call out in my response below strike me as a bunch of horseshit. Either this is incorrect, has changed, or I got screwed when I left[0]. I worked at Amazon as a full-time software engineer (SDE2 then 3) for a bit over two years, starting January 3rd 2011 and leaving in mid-February 2013. When I left my entire 401k match was revoked. [0]: I left on good terms as regretted attrition; my manager, sr. manager, director, and VP all asked to be the first person I emailed when I decided to come back (which I doubt I'll ever do, as my new gig is better for me by basically every metric, but it was a nice gesture).

giaour 11y ago
If you left in mid-February 2013, then you did not work 1000 hours in 2013. You need to work at least 1000 hours in three separate calendar years.
- jsolson 11y ago
  Ah. Fair enough; I misunderstood the original post. I will admit to not having paid any attention to the 401k policy while I was at Amazon other than ensuring my employee contribution maxed out each year. Also the parent's assertion that you might be vested after as little as two years seems completely off base. I didn't really care much as Amazon's match didn't amount to very much money (particularly compared to my current immediately vesting 50% match up to 100% of salary or the 18k limit). Regardless, it still feels like a good way to protect their downside losses by conditioning expected compensation payouts against probability of someone actually sticking around that long. edit: Oh, I see, if you join exactly mid year you might be able to accomplish this. Wow, what a pile of horseshit.
  - delecti 11y ago
    > edit: Oh, I see, if you join exactly mid year you might be able to accomplish this. Wow, what a pile of horseshit. Considering they promise 3 years, I fail to see any problems with being able to do it in 2.