NOTE A - DESCRIPTION OF PLAN
The following description of the Unitil Corporation (“Unitil” or the “Company”) Tax Deferred Savings and Investment Plan (“Plan” or “401(k) Plan”) provides only general information. Participants should refer to the Plan Document for a more complete description of the Plan’s provisions.
General
The Plan is a defined contribution plan covering all employees of the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiaries Unitil Service Corp., Unitil Energy Systems, Inc., Fitchburg Gas and Electric Light Company, Northern Utilities, Inc., Bangor Natural Gas Company, Maine Natural Gas Corporation and Granite State Gas Transmission, Inc. (collectively, the “subsidiaries”), who satisfy the eligibility requirements. The Company has engaged John Hancock Trust Company LLC (“John Hancock” or “Trustee”) as the trustee of the Plan. The Plan is subject to the provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) and the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”).
The Plan’s effective date is July 1, 1985. The Plan was amended and restated effective January 1, 2021 to comply with current federal regulations and to incorporate all previous amendments.
Eligibility
Employees are eligible to participate in the Plan on the first of the month following:
(1) Attainment of age 18, and
(2) Completion of 1,000 hours of credited service for employees hired before 09/01/2024, as defined by the Plan Document.
Participant Contributions
Participants may contribute from 1% to 85% of their compensation, as defined by the Plan Document or as limited by the Code, on a pre-tax and/or after-tax basis. Participants may elect to apply the deferral percentage to either (1) base pay, as defined by the Plan Document, or (2) total pay including bonuses, commissions, incentive, overtime and all other forms of premium pay.
Participants who are age 50 or will turn age 50 by the end of the Plan year (December 31) may be eligible to make “catch-up” contributions, as defined by the Plan Document and the Code.
Participants may also make rollover contributions into the Plan from other qualified plans.
New employees are automatically enrolled in the 401(k) Plan, with the automatic employee contribution rate of 6%. This contribution rate will automatically increase by 1% on January 1st of each year until the employee’s contribution is 85% of pay. Employees may elect to opt-out of the automatic enrollment and/or automatic increase features provided by the enhanced Plan benefits.
The Plan has a Roth 401(k) option for participants. Contributions made by participants under the Roth 401(k) option are on an after-tax basis. Combined Roth 401(k) and pre-tax deferrals are subject to Code limits. In-plan Roth Rollovers and Roth Conversions will be allowed effective with the addition of the Roth 401(k) option.
Employer Contributions
The Company matches participant contributions on a dollar-for-dollar basis, up to the first 3% percent of their eligible compensation, as defined by the Plan Document, except as noted below. Overtime pay, commissions and other forms of premium pay are not included in the definition of compensation eligible for matching purposes.