Okay, I just confirmed with one of the company accountants and she said that the company makes sure you don't put more than the allowed limit into the 401k.
Next question is, can you have an IRA in addition to the 401k? Follow up question, as I understand it, if you make a certain amount of money, contributions to the IRA are only partially deductible. Is the figure that is used to calculate full deduction or partial deduction based on gross wages, i.e., amount of money made regardless of deductions like contributions to 401k, etc.?