Danaher Corporation 401(k) match: 4% max
Danaher Corporation & Subsidiaries Savings Plan · DHR · CIK 313616
Maximum employer match, as a share of pay
4%
Danaher Corporation matches 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 3% of pay, then 50% of the next 2% of pay, for a maximum employer match of 4% of pay.
From the Form 11-K filed June 16, 2026 ↗, covering the plan year ended December 31, 2025. Page data last updated July 28, 2026, when the Form 5500 bulk data was last refreshed. Why filings lag
On this page: what the employer actually paid in · the formula, word for word · when the money becomes yours · who can join · what the plan reports to the DOL · how it compares · what to do next
What Danaher puts in, and what the plan costs
What Danaher put into the plan, per active participant
$7,167
Danaher Corporation put $7,167 into this plan for each of its 23,252 active participants in plan year 2024. This is the whole employer side of the plan: matching money, profit sharing, non-elective and safe-harbor contributions, and reallocated forfeitures. The Form 5500 does not separate them, so this is what the employer put in and not the match.
Danaher put in more per active participant than 89% of plans with 5,000+ participants in industrial and materials manufacturing. The middle plan in that group of 178 reported $3,585. Industrial and materials manufacturing comes from business code 335900, which Danaher entered on its own Form 5500. Sponsors pick that code themselves, so a code that does not describe what the employer does ranks the plan against the wrong companies.
What this figure cannot separate: how much Danaher pays, and how much it puts in
This is dollars, not a rate. A Form 5500 carries no payroll, so the figure reflects both how much the employer puts in and how much the employer pays: two plans running the same formula report different amounts when one pays better. Crossing the peer group with industry holds most of that difference still, and none of it disappears.
This is one plan year, not an average. A true-up, a plan merger or a one-off contribution moves a single year on its own.
Source: DOL Form 5500 for the plan year ended December 31, 2024, EIN 591995548, plan 004 · DOL EFAST2 ↗
The $7,167 above is the Form 5500 figure for plan year 2024, and it counts every employer dollar on one line. Danaher Corporation also files a Form 11-K, which states the match formula for plan year 2025: the card below reads $1,980 a year at a $49,500 salary, and the same filing states employer contributions made outside the match. That second figure is what the formula pays one worker on that salary, and not an amount either filing reports. The two figures cover different plan years and measure different things, so neither one is the other one corrected.
What Danaher puts in
$1,980
a year, at a $49,500 salary.
The match paragraph, word for word
“The Company immediately matches 100% of each dollar contributed by participants (traditional pre-tax, Roth after-tax or a combination) on the first 3% of eligible pay plus 50% of each dollar contributed on the next 2% of eligible pay for employees not covered by collective bargaining agreements. These matching contributions are considered "safe harbor" matching contributions. Participants are fully vested in the value of the "safe harbor" matching contributions.”
What you contribute to collect all of it
Contribute at least 5% of your pay to collect the full match.
That is $2,475 a year at a $49,500 salary, and it scales with your own.
Vesting score
100 out of 100
How fast the employer’s money becomes yours. Higher than 48% of the 253 schedules we have scored.
It measures vesting speed and nothing else. It says nothing about the size of the match, what the plan charges, or the funds inside it.
Share of the employer's money that is the worker's at hire and at each of the first 6 anniversaries: 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%. The score is the average of those 7 readings.
Vesting, word for word
“Participants are fully vested in the value of the "safe harbor" matching contributions. In addition to the Company's matching contributions, after certain participants complete one year of continuous service, the Company may make additional retirement contributions on behalf of the participants. This discretionary Company retirement contribution may equal up to 2% of eligible participants' eligible pay and is contributed each payroll period to the Plan. In addition, for participants that are active on the last day of the Plan year and have annual earnings that exceed the Social Security wage base for the Plan year, an additional retirement contribution of up to 2% of annual eligible earnings above the Social Security wage base and below the maximum eligible wages as determined by the IRS each year may be contributed by the Company to participants' accounts subsequent to the Plan year end. The Company's discretionary retirement contributions are determined at the discretion of the Plan Sponsor. With respect to all discretionary retirement contributions, participants generally become fully vested on the earlier of the date of completion of three years of service, retirement at or after age 65, or complete disability or death.”
The match starts with the job. This is a filed term, and it does not move the score above.
Eligibility, word for word
“The Danaher Corporation & Subsidiaries Savings Plan (the "Plan") is a defined contribution plan established for eligible full-time and part-time U.S.-based employees, or employees outside of the U.S. as expatriates paid through U.S. payroll, of Danaher Corporation and its subsidiaries (the "Company"), effective November 30, 2002.”
The plan tops the match up after year end, so contributing unevenly through the year does not cost the worker part of it.
The same match paragraph, word for word
“The Company immediately matches 100% of each dollar contributed by participants (traditional pre-tax, Roth after-tax or a combination) on the first 3% of eligible pay plus 50% of each dollar contributed on the next 2% of eligible pay for employees not covered by collective bargaining agreements. These matching contributions are considered "safe harbor" matching contributions. Participants are fully vested in the value of the "safe harbor" matching contributions.”
The wait before the match starts and the year-end true-up appear above when the filing states them. Neither is part of the score, and a filing that is silent on one of them is not a plan without it.
What the plan costs, against plans of its size
69th percentile
$76.12 per participant in plan-paid administrative cost, more expensive than 69% of plans with 5,000+ participants.
What is Danaher's 401(k) match formula?
Danaher's 401(k) employer match tops out at 4% of pay. The match is deposited each payroll and the plan pays an annual true-up. What an annual true-up repays is the arithmetic behind that line: it matters most in a year when contributions land unevenly.
| Match formula | 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 3% of pay |
|---|---|
| then | 50% of the next 2% of pay |
| Maximum employer match | 4% of compensation |
| True-upA year-end recalculation that repays match lost to uneven contributions. | Yes, annual true-up |
| Deposited | Each payroll |
| Conditions | The stated formula applies to employees not covered by collective bargaining agreements. For the roughly 1% of participants covered by collective bargaining agreements, matching and unilateral contributions are determined at the discretion of the Plan Sponsor unless otherwise required by the applicable agreement. Since 2022 a year-end true-up removes the requirement to defer at least 5% of eligible pay each pay period to maximize the match. |
| Other employer contribution | Discretionary Company retirement contribution of up to 2% of eligible pay each payroll period for certain participants after one year of continuous service |
| Other employer contribution | Additional retirement contribution of up to 2% of annual eligible earnings above the Social Security wage base for participants active on the last day of the plan year, contributed after plan year end |
At a $45,000 salary, contributing 5% ($2,250) earns the full employer match of $1,800 for the year.
What the filing says, word for word
“The Company immediately matches 100% of each dollar contributed by participants (traditional pre-tax, Roth after-tax or a combination) on the first 3% of eligible pay plus 50% of each dollar contributed on the next 2% of eligible pay for employees not covered by collective bargaining agreements. These matching contributions are considered "safe harbor" matching contributions. Participants are fully vested in the value of the "safe harbor" matching contributions.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 16, 2026, SEC EDGAR, corroborated by the filing's inline-XBRL facts · SEC ↗
What is Danaher's 401(k) vesting schedule?
Danaher vests the employer match immediately: 100% is yours as soon as it is paid in. Nothing is forfeited when you leave, which is not true of the two schedules that vest over time.
| Employer match vesting | Immediate: employer match is 100% vested when contributed |
|---|---|
| Your own contributions | Immediate: always 100% yours |
| Other employer contributions | Discretionary retirement contributions generally become fully vested on the earlier of completion of three years of service, retirement at or after age 65, or complete disability or death |
Vesting, word for word
“Participants are fully vested in the value of the "safe harbor" matching contributions. In addition to the Company's matching contributions, after certain participants complete one year of continuous service, the Company may make additional retirement contributions on behalf of the participants. This discretionary Company retirement contribution may equal up to 2% of eligible participants' eligible pay and is contributed each payroll period to the Plan. In addition, for participants that are active on the last day of the Plan year and have annual earnings that exceed the Social Security wage base for the Plan year, an additional retirement contribution of up to 2% of annual eligible earnings above the Social Security wage base and below the maximum eligible wages as determined by the IRS each year may be contributed by the Company to participants' accounts subsequent to the Plan year end. The Company's discretionary retirement contributions are determined at the discretion of the Plan Sponsor. With respect to all discretionary retirement contributions, participants generally become fully vested on the earlier of the date of completion of three years of service, retirement at or after age 65, or complete disability or death.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 16, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
Who can join Danaher's 401(k), and is enrollment automatic?
Danaher enrolls new hires automatically; the filing does not state the default deferral rate.
| Plan entry | Eligible full-time and part-time U.S.-based employees, or employees outside of the U.S. as expatriates paid through U.S. payroll, of Danaher Corporation and its subsidiaries |
|---|---|
| Match eligibility | Employees are eligible for employer safe harbor contributions immediately upon participation in the Plan |
| Excluded groups | Employees whose employment is governed by a collective bargaining agreement may participate only to the extent authorized by the terms of that agreement (approximately 1% of plan participants) |
| Automatic enrollment | Yes: |
Eligibility, word for word
“The Danaher Corporation & Subsidiaries Savings Plan (the "Plan") is a defined contribution plan established for eligible full-time and part-time U.S.-based employees, or employees outside of the U.S. as expatriates paid through U.S. payroll, of Danaher Corporation and its subsidiaries (the "Company"), effective November 30, 2002.”
Automatic enrollment, word for word
“Effective January 1, 2015, the Plan was amended to include a Roth 401(k) feature, automatic enrollment of new hires, rehires and those otherwise newly eligible (e.g. through acquisitions), automatic annual re-enrollment and annual auto-increase of deferral rates.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 16, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
What does the Danaher plan report on Form 5500?
The Danaher plan reported $6.5B in assets and 38,220 participants for plan year 2024.
| Total plan assets | $6,462,177,770 |
|---|---|
| Participants | 38,220 |
| Recordkeeper | Fidelity Inv Institutional Op Co In |
| Plan-paid admin cost per participant | $76.12 |
How that cost compares
This plan pays $76.12 per participant. The median across plans in industrial and materials manufacturing is $142.19, from the 5,709 of 6,008 whose Form 5500 yields a per-participant cost.
How does Danaher's 401(k) match compare?
Danaher Corporation's maximum 401(k) match of 4% of pay compares with a median of 4.5% across the 181 companies in our data with a computable formula.
Employers worth reading next
Of the six employers below, three file in industrial and materials manufacturing, two land near Danaher's maximum match and one vests on the same schedule.
Maximum match 3.5% of pay. Also in industrial and materials manufacturing.
Maximum match 4% of pay. Also in industrial and materials manufacturing.
Maximum match 3.5% of pay. Also in industrial and materials manufacturing.
Maximum match 4% of pay, level with Danaher.
Maximum match 4% of pay, level with Danaher.
Maximum match 5% of pay. Vests immediately too, like Danaher.
What can you do next?
Check your own balance and contribution rate at Fidelity NetBenefits ↗, the recordkeeper this plan reports.
- Read the Form 11-K on SEC EDGAR ↗
Form 11-K filed June 16, 2026, SEC EDGAR. Every match fact on this page comes from it.
- Changed jobs? Find an old 401(k) ↗
The Department of Labor's Retirement Savings Lost & Found, a free government database.
- This year's IRS contribution limits ↗
The official deferral and catch-up limits every formula operates under.
- Download this data (CSV)
Formula, vesting and source references for this company, one file.
Questions this filing answers
What is Danaher Corporation's 401(k) match?
Danaher Corporation matches 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 3% of pay, then 50% of the next 2% of pay, for a maximum employer match of 4% of compensation (plan year ended December 31, 2025).
When does the Danaher Corporation 401(k) match vest?
Immediate: employer match is 100% vested when contributed.
Does Danaher Corporation's 401(k) plan have automatic enrollment?
Yes: .
Cite: 401(k) Monitor, “Danaher Corporation 401(k) plan facts”, from SEC Form 11-K accession 0000313616-26-000153, plan year ended 2025-12-31.