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I wanted to ask the recruiter some questions about 401k plans, health savings plan..etc.

He told me I would be able to ask these questions during my first day in orientation, I then asked him for HR contact info.

He said "You will have access to those contacts on your first day of orientation!"

Is that normal? I just want to know more specific information about the plan before I start the job.

I have already accepted the offer.

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    Why can't you wait until your first day on the job? Specifically, why can't you accept waiting until your first day on the job?
    – Vietnhi Phuvan
    Dec 23, 2016 at 21:40
  • @VietnhiPhuvan I am trying to make a budget for my income, I'm starting my job in 8 months from today. Having all of these unkowns in my spreadsheets is making it hard for me to know my financial position next year.
    – bubakazouba
    Dec 23, 2016 at 22:52
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    @VietnhiPhuvan What's the benefit to the company in making him wait? All I see here is a down side, which is a new hire that arrives suspicious of why the information is being kept a big secret.
    – Blrfl
    Dec 24, 2016 at 12:45
  • @bubakazouba Have you explained your reason to the recruiter, or have you just asked for the contact info without explanation?
    – David K
    Dec 24, 2016 at 20:02
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    @VietnhiPhuvan I'm just puzzled about the behavior, which is uncharacteristic of the HR departments I've run into in the last 30 years. If it's an at-will situation, the employee can go someplace that will answer his questions, and it sounds like he's got the time to do it. The economics of the employer losing its investment in getting an offer signed vs. five minutes of HR's time to answer a question seem to favor the latter, which doesn't sound like HR is considering. OP's mistake was signing the offer before his questions were answered, which lost him the leverage to make it happen.
    – Blrfl
    Dec 26, 2016 at 15:04

2 Answers 2

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I have a copy of the employer's benefits. I just have more detailed question. For example, what options do I have to invest my Roth 401k money in?

It's not atypical that they wouldn't send you this kind of detailed information. You had an overview of the benefits package and you accepted the offer. Any questions that fall on the implementation and operation side of things will be covered once you've started the job.

I just want to know more specific information about the plan before I start the job. I have already accepted the offer.

Well if you need to know more information then you shouldn't have accepted the job. If you just want the information then it's reasonable to ask but not reasonable to make a big thing out of it before you've even started. Presumably anything you do learn now will not change your mind about the job anyway. From HR's perspective all this can wait until you've actually started, especially since they have an entire orientation planned that covers this exact stuff.

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He said "You will have access to those contacts on your first day of orientation!"

Is that normal? I just want to know more specific information about the plan before I start the job.

I have already accepted the offer.

It seems odd to me. Perhaps the recruiter just doesn't want to be bothered getting in the middle of benefits discussions.

I'm not sure why you feel the need to go through the recruiter anyway.

Check out the company's website. Start calling. Within a few calls, you should be able to reach HR.

Or, call you future boss and work from there.

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