Darden Restaurants, Inc. 401(k) match: fully vested after 6 years
Darden Savings Plan · DRI · CIK 940944
The 401(k) employer match
Only part of the formula is filed
Darden Restaurants, Inc. discloses only part of its 401(k) match terms: it matches a rate set at the sponsor's discretion on the first 6% of pay.
From the Form 11-K filed October 16, 2025 ↗, covering the plan year ended April 30, 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 Darden Restaurants puts in, and what the plan costs
What Darden Restaurants put into the plan, per active participant
$222
Darden Restaurants, Inc. put $222 into this plan for each of its 197,946 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.
Darden Restaurants put in less per active participant than 57% of plans with 5,000+ participants at hotels and restaurants. The middle plan in that group of 89 reported $323. Hotels and restaurants comes from business code 722511, which Darden Restaurants 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 Darden Restaurants 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 April 30, 2025, EIN 593305930, plan 044 · DOL EFAST2 ↗
What Darden Restaurants puts in
Not stated in the filing
Only part of the match formula is disclosed in the filing, so the yearly dollars cannot be computed from it.
The Form 5500 for this plan reports what Darden Restaurants actually paid in: the figure and its peer comparison are above. It is the whole employer side of the plan on one line, so it answers what went in rather than what the formula promises.
Two places state the terms in full: your plan’s Summary Plan Description, which your employer must provide on request, and your recordkeeper’s site, which for this plan is Principal ↗.
What you contribute to collect all of it
Not stated in the filing
The filing does not state the contribution rate that collects the full employer contribution.
Vesting score
Not scored
The filing states the vesting schedule in quarters, and this score reads a schedule at whole-year anniversaries.
A schedule this cannot read at whole-year anniversaries is left without a number rather than given a middle one.
The filing states the vesting schedule in quarters, and this score reads a schedule at whole-year anniversaries.
Vesting, word for word
“Each participant is 100% vested in all employee contributions to the Plan and DSP Advantage Allocations, including earnings on all such amounts. Company Matching Contributions and RPC allocations are vested at a rate of 5% for each fiscal quarter beginning with the participant’s fifth quarter of service. An employee is fully vested after completion of 24 fiscal quarters of vesting service (except in the event of retirement, severance, divestiture or death where full vesting may apply as prescribed by the Plan) based on a participant’s years of service and is forfeited if a participant leaves prior to completing such vesting service requirements.”
A worker hired today collects no match for 1 year. This is a filed term, and it does not move the score above.
Eligibility, word for word
“Qualified employees in the Plan are salaried or hourly employees who receive earnable compensation from Darden. A qualified employee does not include any individual who is a highly compensated employee as defined under the Code. Employee Contributions Qualified employees who are at least 18 years of age may immediately begin making before-tax and after-tax contributions to the Plan upon commencement of employment. Generally, qualified employees may contribute 1% to 75% of eligible compensation to the Plan. Plan participants age 50 or older, who make maximum before-tax contributions to the Plan, may generally make an additional catch-up contribution, up to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) limits. Employer Contributions During the 2023 calendar year, the Plan was amended to lower match eligibility to age 18 effective May 1, 2022. There were also clarification provisions in the amendment which have no material impact to participant accounts. Generally, qualified employees who are at least age 18 and complete a year of service are eligible for Company Matching Contributions. Salaried qualified employees who are at least age 21 and complete a year of service are also generally eligible for DSP Retirement Plus 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
5th percentile
$8.05 per participant in plan-paid administrative cost, cheaper than 95% of plans with 5,000+ participants.
What is Darden Restaurants' 401(k) match formula?
Darden Restaurants discloses only part of its 401(k) match terms in this filing. The match is deposited quarterly. One rate up to one limit is the commonest of the four shapes a match formula takes.
| Match formula | A rate set at the sponsor's discretion on the first 6% of pay |
|---|---|
| Rate actually paid this plan yearAs reported in the filing. | For the calendar quarters ended June 30, 2024, September 30, 2024, December 31, 2024, and March 31, 2025, the Company made matching contributions of 65%, 25%, 80%, and 65%, respectively, of an employee's contributions, up to the first 6% of eligible compensation; for the calendar quarter ended June 30, 2025 the match was 80% |
| Deposited | Quarterly |
| Paid in company stock | No, paid in cash or per your investment elections |
| Conditions | The Company Matching Contribution is determined separately each calendar quarter at the Company's discretion and can range from a minimum of 0% to a maximum of 120% of an employee's contributions, up to the first 6% of eligible compensation contributed to the Plan |
| Other employer contribution | DSP Retirement Plus Contribution (RPC): discretionary, may equal 0% up to and including 1.5% of eligible compensation per calendar quarter; during plan year 2025 the RPC equaled 1.5% of eligible compensation; no employee contribution required |
| Other employer contribution | DSP Advantage Bonus and DSP Advantage Allocations (made prior to January 1, 2009 to certain employees with at least five years of service; historical, in Darden common stock through the ESOP portion of the Plan) |
Darden Restaurants appears in our match-change tracker. We keep a dated page for it: Darden Restaurants cut its 401(k) match, effective July 1, 2024.
What the filing says, word for word
“For the calendar quarters ended June 30, 2024, September 30, 2024, December 31, 2024, and March 31, 2025, the Company made matching contributions of 65%, 25%, 80%, and 65%, respectively, of an employee’s contributions, up to the first 6% of eligible compensation contributed to the Plan. For the calendar quarter ended June 30, 2025, the Company made a matching contribution of 80% of an employee's contributions, up to the first 6% of eligible compensation contributed to the Plan. Effective for calendar quarters beginning on or after April 1, 2020, the Company Matching Contribution is determined separately each calendar quarter at the Company's discretion and can range from a minimum of 0% to a maximum of 120% of an employee's contributions, up to the first 6% of eligible compensation contributed to the Plan. Company Matching Contributions are generally contributed to the Plan on a calendar quarter basis.”
Source: Form 11-K filed October 16, 2025, SEC EDGAR, corroborated by the filing's inline-XBRL facts · SEC ↗
What is Darden Restaurants' 401(k) vesting schedule?
Darden Restaurants vests the employer match on a graded schedule: 5% after 1.25 years, rising to 100% after six. Each step is money that leaves with you that year, which is how a graded schedule differs from a cliff.
| Employer match vesting | Graded: 5% at 1.25 yr, 100% at 6 yr |
|---|---|
| Your own contributions | Immediate: always 100% yours |
| Year of service | Vesting accrues at 5% for each fiscal quarter beginning with the participant's fifth quarter of service; fully vested after completion of 24 fiscal quarters of vesting service |
| Accelerated vesting | Full vesting may apply in the event of retirement, severance, divestiture or death as prescribed by the Plan |
| Other employer contributions | Company Matching Contributions and RPC allocations vest on the same schedule (5% per fiscal quarter from the fifth quarter of service, fully vested after 24 fiscal quarters); DSP Advantage Allocations are 100% vested; Chuy's Opco, Inc. 401(k) Plan balances merged into the Plan at 100% vesting |
Vesting, word for word
“Each participant is 100% vested in all employee contributions to the Plan and DSP Advantage Allocations, including earnings on all such amounts. Company Matching Contributions and RPC allocations are vested at a rate of 5% for each fiscal quarter beginning with the participant’s fifth quarter of service. An employee is fully vested after completion of 24 fiscal quarters of vesting service (except in the event of retirement, severance, divestiture or death where full vesting may apply as prescribed by the Plan) based on a participant’s years of service and is forfeited if a participant leaves prior to completing such vesting service requirements.”
Source: Form 11-K filed October 16, 2025, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
Who can join Darden Restaurants' 401(k), and is enrollment automatic?
Darden Restaurants' filing does not mention automatic enrollment, which is not the same as the plan having none.
| Plan entry | Qualified employees who are at least 18 years of age may immediately begin making before-tax and after-tax contributions upon commencement of employment |
|---|---|
| Match eligibility | Qualified employees who are at least age 18 and complete a year of service are eligible for Company Matching Contributions; salaried qualified employees who are at least age 21 and complete a year of service are also eligible for DSP Retirement Plus Contributions |
| Excluded groups | A qualified employee does not include any individual who is a highly compensated employee as defined under the Code |
| Automatic enrollment | Not mentioned in the filing (not proof of absence) |
Eligibility, word for word
“Qualified employees in the Plan are salaried or hourly employees who receive earnable compensation from Darden. A qualified employee does not include any individual who is a highly compensated employee as defined under the Code. Employee Contributions Qualified employees who are at least 18 years of age may immediately begin making before-tax and after-tax contributions to the Plan upon commencement of employment. Generally, qualified employees may contribute 1% to 75% of eligible compensation to the Plan. Plan participants age 50 or older, who make maximum before-tax contributions to the Plan, may generally make an additional catch-up contribution, up to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) limits. Employer Contributions During the 2023 calendar year, the Plan was amended to lower match eligibility to age 18 effective May 1, 2022. There were also clarification provisions in the amendment which have no material impact to participant accounts. Generally, qualified employees who are at least age 18 and complete a year of service are eligible for Company Matching Contributions. Salaried qualified employees who are at least age 21 and complete a year of service are also generally eligible for DSP Retirement Plus Contributions.”
Source: Form 11-K filed October 16, 2025, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
What does the Darden Restaurants plan report on Form 5500?
The Darden Restaurants plan reported $1.6B in assets and 201,534 participants for plan year 2024.
| Total plan assets | $1,585,175,658 |
|---|---|
| Participants | 201,534 |
| Recordkeeper | Principal |
| Plan-paid admin cost per participant | $8.05 |
How that cost compares
This plan pays $8.05 per participant. The median across plans at hotels and restaurants is $54.65, from the 1,246 of 1,305 whose Form 5500 yields a per-participant cost.
The plan reports Principal as its recordkeeper, one of 5,239 plans it runs in the data we publish. Of those, the 5,230 with a computable fee have a median plan-paid cost of $170.05 per participant.
Darden Savings Plan on its Form 5500 filing: fees, providers and financials
How does Darden Restaurants' 401(k) match compare?
Darden Restaurants, Inc.'s filing does not state a maximum 401(k) match as a share of pay. Across the 181 companies in our data that do, the median is 4.5% of pay.
Employers worth reading next
Of the six employers below, three file at hotels and restaurants, two report the same recordkeeper and one vests on the same schedule.
Maximum match 6% of pay. Also at hotels and restaurants.
Maximum match 6% of pay. Also at hotels and restaurants.
Maximum match 2.8% of pay. Also at hotels and restaurants.
Employer match vests immediately. Same recordkeeper, Principal.
Match vests in steps, 100% after 5 years. Same recordkeeper, Principal.
Match vests in steps, 100% after 6 years. Also fully vested after 6 years, like Darden Restaurants.
Compare Darden Restaurants, Inc. with any company, side by side
What can you do next?
Check your own balance and contribution rate at Principal ↗, the recordkeeper this plan reports.
- Read the Form 11-K on SEC EDGAR ↗
Form 11-K filed October 16, 2025, 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 Darden Restaurants, Inc.'s 401(k) match?
Darden Restaurants, Inc. discloses only part of its match terms in the 11-K for the plan year ended April 30, 2025. Darden Restaurants, Inc.'s Form 5500 for plan year 2024 reports $222 of employer money per active participant. 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.
When does the Darden Restaurants, Inc. 401(k) match vest?
Graded: 5% at 1.25 yr, 100% at 6 yr.
Does Darden Restaurants, Inc.'s 401(k) plan have automatic enrollment?
Not mentioned in the filing (not proof of absence).
Cite: 401(k) Monitor, “Darden Restaurants, Inc. 401(k) plan facts”, from SEC Form 11-K accession 0000940944-25-000061, plan year ended 2025-04-30.