Linde plc 401(k) match: 5% max
Linde Retirement Savings Plan · LIN · CIK 1707925
Maximum employer match, as a share of pay
5%
Linde plc matches 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 5% of pay.
Linde filed two Form 11-K reports for plan year 2025, of which one has been read. The other report has not, so this page cannot say what the plan it covers pays.
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 Linde puts in, and what the plan costs
What Linde put into the plan, per active participant
$4,205
Linde plc put $4,205 into this plan for each of its 11,323 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.
Linde put in less per active participant than 84% of plans with 5,000+ participants in pharmaceuticals and chemicals. The middle plan in that group of 63 reported $8,101. Pharmaceuticals and chemicals comes from business code 325100, which Linde 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 Linde 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 061249050, plan 334 · DOL EFAST2 ↗
The $4,205 above is the Form 5500 figure for plan year 2024, and it counts every employer dollar on one line. Linde plc also files a Form 11-K, which states the match formula for plan year 2025: the card below reads $2,475 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 Linde puts in
$2,475
a year, at a $49,500 salary.
The match paragraph, word for word
“For all Plan participants hired after April 30, 2002 and those Plan participants hired prior to May 1, 2002 who elected to be covered by the Account-Based Design feature of the Plan, the Plan provides for a Company matching contribution equal to 100% of the first 5% of compensation contributed by the participant. For Plan participants who were employees of the Company as of April 30, 2002, and elected to be covered under the Traditional Design feature of the Plan, the Plan provides for a Company matching contribution equal to 70% of the first 2.5% of the participant’s compensation contributed to the Plan and 40% of the next 5% of the participant’s compensation contributed to the Plan. The Company matching contributions are made in cash and immediately invested in accordance with the participant’s investment directions.”
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
“Except as provided below, participants are fully vested in their Plan account balances at all times. Participants employed by LG&E are at all times fully vested in their own contributions and rollover contributions. Participants employed by LG&E become fully vested in Company contributions after completing three years of service. Unvested Company contributions are forfeited following separation from the Company and may be used to reduce future Company contributions or for Plan expenses.”
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
39th percentile
$44.36 per participant in plan-paid administrative cost, cheaper than 61% of plans with 5,000+ participants.
What is Linde's 401(k) match formula?
Linde's 401(k) employer match tops out at 5% of pay. One rate up to one limit is the commonest of the four shapes a match formula takes.
| Match formula | 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 5% of pay |
|---|---|
| Maximum employer match | 5% of compensation |
| Paid in company stock | No, paid in cash or per your investment elections |
| Conditions | The 100% of first 5% formula applies to participants hired after April 30, 2002 and pre-May 1, 2002 hires who elected the Account-Based Design. Participants employed as of April 30, 2002 who elected the Traditional Design are matched 70% of the first 2.5% of compensation and 40% of the next 5%. LG&E business unit employees receive points-based Company contributions in lieu of the match |
| Other employer contribution | For LG&E employees, in lieu of matching contributions, Company contributions of 2.0% to 5.0% of compensation per pay period based on age and service points (2.0% under 30 points, 2.5% for 30-39, 3.0% for 40-49, 4.0% for 50-54, 5.0% for 55 or more points) |
At a $60,000 salary, contributing 5% ($3,000) earns the full employer match of $3,000 for the year.
What the filing says, word for word
“For all Plan participants hired after April 30, 2002 and those Plan participants hired prior to May 1, 2002 who elected to be covered by the Account-Based Design feature of the Plan, the Plan provides for a Company matching contribution equal to 100% of the first 5% of compensation contributed by the participant. For Plan participants who were employees of the Company as of April 30, 2002, and elected to be covered under the Traditional Design feature of the Plan, the Plan provides for a Company matching contribution equal to 70% of the first 2.5% of the participant’s compensation contributed to the Plan and 40% of the next 5% of the participant’s compensation contributed to the Plan. The Company matching contributions are made in cash and immediately invested in accordance with the participant’s investment directions.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 16, 2026, SEC EDGAR, corroborated by the filing's inline-XBRL facts · SEC ↗
What is Linde's 401(k) vesting schedule?
Linde 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 | Company contributions for LG&E-employed participants become fully vested after completing three years of service; unvested amounts are forfeited following separation |
Vesting, word for word
“Except as provided below, participants are fully vested in their Plan account balances at all times. Participants employed by LG&E are at all times fully vested in their own contributions and rollover contributions. Participants employed by LG&E become fully vested in Company contributions after completing three years of service. Unvested Company contributions are forfeited following separation from the Company and may be used to reduce future Company contributions or for Plan expenses.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 16, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
Who can join Linde's 401(k), and is enrollment automatic?
Linde enrolls new hires automatically at 5% of pay.
| Plan entry | All regular full-time employees of the Company and adopting affiliates are eligible; part-time employees are eligible following completion of certain minimum service requirements |
|---|---|
| Excluded groups | The Plan description does not apply to employees covered under a collective bargaining agreement, whose terms are set by their agreement |
| Automatic enrollment | Yes: default deferral 5% of pay |
Eligibility, word for word
“All regular full-time employees (as defined in the Plan) of the Company and any of its affiliates that have adopted the Plan are eligible to participate in the Plan. Part-time employees (as defined in the Plan) of the Company and its participating affiliates are eligible to participate in the Plan following their completion of certain minimum service requirements as set forth in the Plan.”
Automatic enrollment, word for word
“All newly hired eligible employees are automatically enrolled in the Plan at a pre-tax contribution rate of 5% of eligible compensation, unless the employee affirmatively elects not to participate in the Plan or elects to participate at a different rate. Prior to being automatically enrolled in the Plan, each newly hired eligible employee is provided a notice of the Plan’s automatic enrollment provisions and is given a period of time during which to opt out of Plan participation.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 16, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
What does the Linde plan report on Form 5500?
The Linde plan reported $2.9B in assets and 16,429 participants for plan year 2024.
| Total plan assets | $2,943,731,962 |
|---|---|
| Participants | 16,429 |
| Recordkeeper | Fidelity Investments |
| Plan-paid admin cost per participant | $44.36 |
How that cost compares
This plan pays $44.36 per participant. The median across plans in pharmaceuticals and chemicals is $128.47, from the 870 of 942 whose Form 5500 yields a per-participant cost.
The plan reports Fidelity Investments as its recordkeeper, one of 10,593 plans it runs in the data we publish. Of those, the 10,022 with a computable fee have a median plan-paid cost of $97.71 per participant.
Linde Retirement Savings Plan on its Form 5500 filing: fees, providers and financials
How does Linde's 401(k) match compare?
Linde plc's maximum 401(k) match of 5% 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 pharmaceuticals and chemicals, two report the same recordkeeper and one vests on the same schedule.
Maximum match 5% of pay. Also in pharmaceuticals and chemicals.
Maximum match 6% of pay. Also in pharmaceuticals and chemicals.
Maximum match 5% of pay. Also in pharmaceuticals and chemicals.
Maximum match 5% of pay. Same recordkeeper, Fidelity Investments.
Maximum match 5% of pay. Same recordkeeper, Fidelity Investments.
Maximum match 6% of pay. Vests immediately too, like Linde.
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 Linde plc's 401(k) match?
Linde plc matches 100% of employee contributions up to 5% of eligible pay (plan year ended December 31, 2025).
When does the Linde plc 401(k) match vest?
Immediate: employer match is 100% vested when contributed.
Does Linde plc's 401(k) plan have automatic enrollment?
Yes: default deferral 5% of pay.
Cite: 401(k) Monitor, “Linde plc 401(k) plan facts”, from SEC Form 11-K accession 0001628280-26-043550, plan year ended 2025-12-31.