YOUNGSTOWN Nursing-home workers worry about 401(k) plan

The nursing home says workers will receive retirement money despite a delay.
THE VINDICATOR
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
YOUNGSTOWN -- Workers at a Youngstown nursing home are angry that they haven't received money in a retirement savings plan even though they were told last fall that the plan was being canceled.
Workers at Carrington South Rehabilitation Health Care Center say they've been told for months that distribution of the funds is coming soon. The East Midlothian Boulevard home asked workers to set up their own retirement accounts by December and stopped deducting contributions from workers' checks in January.
It's been so long that workers wonder if something has happened to their money.
"Our biggest concern is that the money isn't even there," said Jackie Chambers, 49, a laundry worker who has $9,100 in her account.
Chambers said she has been calling Second National Bank, which administers the plan, at least once a week since March.
Jan Repula, 64, a licensed practical nurse, said she also has been frustrated in trying to learn the status of the plan. Nursing home and bank officials are blaming each other, she said.
Retiring soon
She said she plans to retire in a year and wants to be sure her $4,000 is in the 401(k) plan.
While the delay has been unexpected, workers shouldn't be worried about their money, said Shirley Smith, a lawyer for VanSickle Corp., which owns the nursing home. All of the employees' money is still in their accounts, she said.
Workers have money deducted from their paychecks and placed into the plan. The company doesn't match contributions.
Smith said ending the plan has taken much longer than expected.
"There's no question that it seems like this has taken forever," she said.
Smith said she isn't sure why Second National hasn't been able to wrap up matters more quickly.
At first, vacations seemed to be a problem, and then the Warren-based bank asked for more information, she said. That additional information has been at the bank since May, she said.
VanSickle recently wrote a letter to the bank asking what options the company has and what exactly needs to be done, she said. The two sides even have talked about continuing the plan, but Smith said she isn't sure participants would want that because of the uncertainty the past few months.
Bank won't comment
Joe Mielecki, a bank vice president, declined to comment.
He and Smith spoke by phone with Chambers, the laundry worker, Monday and said she could have about $1,500 from her account. Chambers, who had asked previously about a loan from her account to pay bills, said the partial payment won't satisfy her.
She said she still wants to know when the rest of the money will be distributed.
Smith said she wasn't sure how many people were in the 401(k) plan, but the company was canceling it because it didn't have much participation. The plan also didn't provide workers with enough flexibility in savings options, she said.
shilling@vindy.com