See koolba's comment: >Companies auto enroll people into 401(k) programs because of participation requirements. For "highly paid employees" (i.e. executives) t

See koolba's comment: >Companies auto enroll people into 401(k) programs because of participation requirements. For "highly paid employees" (i.e. executives) to be allowed to contribute to a 401(k), there requires a minimum level of participation from the rest of the workforce at the company.