FRANKLIN ELECTRIC CO INC 401(k) match: 3.5% max
Franklin Electric Co., Inc. Retirement Program · FELE · CIK 38725
Principal is the recordkeeper named on the Form 5500 filed for this plan, the company that keeps the account records. Where to log in, and what the filing says.
Matched to this employer by sponsor name, not by an identifier stated in the filing.
Maximum employer match, as a share of pay
3.5%
FRANKLIN ELECTRIC CO INC matches 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 2% of pay, then 50% of the next 3% of pay, for a maximum employer match of 3.5% of pay.
FRANKLIN ELECTRIC's Form 11-K filings for plan year 2025 describe two separate 401(k) plans. The terms on this page are read from the Franklin Electric Co., Inc. Retirement Program. Both state the same maximum match.
From the Form 11-K filed June 26, 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: which plan you are in · what the employer actually paid in · the formula, word for word · when the money becomes yours · who can join · who holds your account · what the plan reports to the DOL · how it compares · what to do next
Which FRANKLIN ELECTRIC 401(k) plan are you in?
FRANKLIN ELECTRIC's Form 11-K filings for this plan year describe two plans and all of them state the same maximum employer match. The group each plan covers still differs, and so can the vesting and enrollment terms further down this page, which are read from the Franklin Electric Co., Inc. Retirement Program.
Franklin Electric Co., Inc. Retirement Program (the plan this page answers for)
The filing states no limit on who this plan covers · Form 11-K ↗
3.5% of pay, at most
Headwater Companies, LLC 401(k) Plan
Headwater employees · Form 11-K ↗
3.5% of pay, at most
One row per plan, taken from the two Form 11-K reports this site has read for the plan year ended December 31, 2025. Each maximum comes from that plan’s own filing and describes only that plan.
What FRANKLIN ELECTRIC puts in, and what the plan costs
What FRANKLIN ELECTRIC put into the plan, per active participant
$5,852
FRANKLIN ELECTRIC CO INC put $5,852 into this plan for each of its 1,533 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.
FRANKLIN ELECTRIC put in more per active participant than 88% of plans with 1,000–4,999 participants in industrial and materials manufacturing. The middle plan in that group of 766 reported $2,514. Industrial and materials manufacturing comes from business code 335900, which FRANKLIN ELECTRIC 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.
Matched to this employer by sponsor name, not by an identifier stated in the filing. This record could cover another plan of the same employer.
What this figure cannot separate: how much FRANKLIN ELECTRIC 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 350827455, plan 007 · DOL EFAST2 ↗
The $5,852 above is the Form 5500 figure for plan year 2024, and it counts every employer dollar on one line. FRANKLIN ELECTRIC CO INC also files a Form 11-K, which states the match formula for plan year 2025: the card below reads $1,733 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 FRANKLIN ELECTRIC puts in
$1,733
a year, at a $49,500 salary.
The match paragraph, word for word
“For eligible participants, the Company contributed an amount equal to 100 percent for the first 2 percent and 50 percent of the next 3 percent of the participant's total contributions, or up to 3.5 percent of each employee's eligible compensation.”
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 369 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 100 percent vested in both their own contributions and the employer match contribution at all times. Participants are 100 percent vested in the service contribution after completing three calendar years of service, with at least 1,000 hours of service completed within each calendar year.”
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
64th percentile
$107.39 per participant in plan-paid administrative cost, more expensive than 64% of plans with 1,000–4,999 participants.
What is FRANKLIN ELECTRIC's 401(k) match formula?
FRANKLIN ELECTRIC's 401(k) employer match tops out at 3.5% of pay. A tiered formula pays its best rate on the first slice of pay and less on the next, which is how the rate steps down.
| Match formula | 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 2% of pay |
|---|---|
| then | 50% of the next 3% of pay |
| Maximum employer match | 3.5% of compensation |
| Conditions | Company contributions to participant accounts are funded in the first quarter following the plan year. |
| Other employer contribution | Service-based contribution in the range of 3 percent to 9 percent of annual compensation depending on the number of years of service to the Company; for 2025 this was funded in February 2026 partly ("$5.6 million") from a suspense account holding $9.7 million of excess Pension Plan assets transferred to the Plan upon termination of the Franklin Electric Co., Inc. Pension Plan in 2025. |
At a $60,000 salary, contributing 5% ($3,000) earns the full employer match of $2,100 for the year.
What the filing says, word for word
“For eligible participants, the Company contributed an amount equal to 100 percent for the first 2 percent and 50 percent of the next 3 percent of the participant's total contributions, or up to 3.5 percent of each employee's eligible compensation.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 26, 2026, SEC EDGAR, corroborated by the filing's inline-XBRL facts · SEC ↗
What is FRANKLIN ELECTRIC's 401(k) vesting schedule?
FRANKLIN ELECTRIC 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 |
| Accelerated vesting | participants would become fully vested in their employer service contributions and earnings thereon upon Plan termination |
| Other employer contributions | Participants are 100 percent vested in the service contribution after completing three calendar years of service, with at least 1,000 hours of service completed within each calendar year. |
Vesting, word for word
“Participants are 100 percent vested in both their own contributions and the employer match contribution at all times. Participants are 100 percent vested in the service contribution after completing three calendar years of service, with at least 1,000 hours of service completed within each calendar year.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 26, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
Who can join FRANKLIN ELECTRIC's 401(k), and is enrollment automatic?
FRANKLIN ELECTRIC enrolls new hires automatically at 3% of pay, rising 1% a year to 6% of pay.
| Plan entry | Employees are automatically enrolled in the Plan at 3 percent contribution of wages upon employment with the Company |
|---|---|
| Automatic enrollment | Yes: default deferral 3% of pay; auto-escalation +1%/yr to 6% |
Eligibility, word for word
“Employees are automatically enrolled in the Plan at 3 percent contribution of wages upon employment with the Company, and automatically escalate 1 percent each year to a maximum of 6 percent unless otherwise specified by the employee.”
Automatic enrollment, word for word
“Employees are automatically enrolled in the Plan at 3 percent contribution of wages upon employment with the Company, and automatically escalate 1 percent each year to a maximum of 6 percent unless otherwise specified by the employee.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 26, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
Who holds your account
Schedule C of the Form 5500 filed for plan year 2024 reports Principal, filed as “PRINCIPAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY”. That is the company paid to keep the account records: what is in an account, what went into it, and usually the site a participant signs in to. The trustee that holds the plan’s assets can be a different company, and this filing does not name it.
Matched to this employer by sponsor name, not by an identifier stated in the filing. This record could cover another plan of the same employer.
5,239 plans on file name Principal as their recordkeeper. Of those, the 5,230 with a computable fee have a median plan-paid cost of $170.05 per participant.
Participants log in at Principal ↗. 401(k) Monitor is not affiliated with Principal or with any other recordkeeper, and takes nothing for this link. It is here because that is where the account is.
| Recordkeeper | Principal |
|---|---|
| Recordkeeper EIN | 420127290 |
What does the FRANKLIN ELECTRIC plan report on Form 5500?
The FRANKLIN ELECTRIC plan reported $258.0M in assets and 2,497 participants for plan year 2024.
Matched to this employer by sponsor name, not by an identifier stated in the filing. This record could cover another plan of the same employer.
| Plan named in the DOL record | Franklin Electric Co., Inc. Retirement Program |
|---|---|
| Total plan assets | $258,004,744 |
| Participants | 2,497 |
| Plan-paid admin cost per participant | $107.39 |
How that cost compares
This plan pays $107.39 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.
Read from the Form 5500 filing of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. Retirement Program, which has no page of its own here.
How does FRANKLIN ELECTRIC's 401(k) match compare?
FRANKLIN ELECTRIC CO INC's maximum 401(k) match of 3.5% of pay compares with a median of 4% across the 269 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 report the same recordkeeper and one vests on the same schedule.
Maximum match 3.5% of pay. Also in industrial and materials manufacturing.
Maximum match 3.5% of pay. Also in industrial and materials manufacturing.
Maximum match 3.5% of pay. Also in industrial and materials manufacturing.
Maximum match 3.5% of pay. Same recordkeeper, Principal.
Maximum match 3.5% of pay. Same recordkeeper, Principal.
Maximum match 6% of pay. Vests immediately too, like FRANKLIN ELECTRIC.
Compare FRANKLIN ELECTRIC CO INC with any company, side by side
What do FRANKLIN ELECTRIC's other 401(k) plans say?
Headwater Companies, LLC 401(k) Plan
Headwater employees
Franklin Electric Co Inc. discloses only part of its match terms in the 11-K for the plan year ended December 31, 2025; it contributes 3.5% of eligible pay for employees who contribute at least 1% themselves.
- Employer match vesting
- Immediate: employer match is 100% vested when contributed
- Automatic enrollment
- Yes: default deferral 3% of pay
What the filing says, word for word
“The Company may make a discretionary contribution or non-elective contribution to the Plan. Company contributions to the participant accounts are funded in the first quarter following the plan year. The Company made a discretionary contribution to the Plan in the first quarter of 2026 relating to 2025 employee contributions. The Company contributed 3.5 percent of qualifying earnings for participants contributing at least 1 percent of the participant's annual compensation.”
What can you do next?
- Read the Form 11-K on SEC EDGAR ↗
Form 11-K filed June 26, 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.
Questions this filing answers
What is FRANKLIN ELECTRIC CO INC's 401(k) match?
Franklin Electric Co., Inc. matches 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 2% of pay, then 50% of the next 3% of pay, for a maximum employer match of 3.5% of compensation (plan year ended December 31, 2025).
When does the FRANKLIN ELECTRIC CO INC 401(k) match vest?
Immediate: employer match is 100% vested when contributed.
Does FRANKLIN ELECTRIC CO INC's 401(k) plan have automatic enrollment?
Yes: default deferral 3% of pay; auto-escalation +1%/yr to 6%.
Who is the recordkeeper for FRANKLIN ELECTRIC CO INC's 401(k)?
Principal is named as the recordkeeper on the Form 5500 filed for Franklin Electric Co., Inc. Retirement Program for plan year 2024. That is the company paid to keep the account records: what is in an account, what went into it, and usually the site a participant signs in to. Matched to this employer by sponsor name, not by an identifier stated in the filing. This record could cover another plan of the same employer.
Source
The match formula, the vesting schedule and the enrollment rules on this page were read from one document: the Form 11-K annual report that FRANKLIN ELECTRIC CO INC filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for the plan year ended December 31, 2025. Each of those fields carries the filing sentence it was read from, expandable where the field appears. Nothing on this page was supplied by the employer to this site.
The plan assets, the participant counts, the plan-paid fees and the recordkeeper come from a different document, the plan’s DOL Form 5500 annual return, and the section that reports them links it. Comparisons with other employers are computed across the filings named in the section they appear in.
Read the filing on SEC EDGAR ↗
| Document | Form 11-K annual report |
|---|---|
| Filed with | US Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR) |
| Filed by | FRANKLIN ELECTRIC CO INC |
| SEC CIK | 38725 |
| Accession number | 0000038725-26-000047 |
| Plan | Franklin Electric Co., Inc. Retirement Program |
| Period of report | December 31, 2025 |
| Filed | June 26, 2026 |
401(k) Monitor is not affiliated with FRANKLIN ELECTRIC CO INC, with the Securities and Exchange Commission or with this plan’s recordkeeper, and publishes this page without their involvement. It republishes a public filing and says where it came from.
Cite this page
401(k) Monitor, “FRANKLIN ELECTRIC CO INC 401(k) plan facts”, from SEC Form 11-K accession 0000038725-26-000047, plan year ended December 31, 2025.
