"My company has no measures in place to prevent EE from setting the contribution amount too high or stop more money from going into the 401(k) once EE has contributed the maximum." That leaves the plan open to potential disqualification by allowing at that single employer contributions in excess of the annual limit.
https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/consequences-to-a-participant-who-makes-excess-deferrals-to-a-4...
The IRS page linked above describes the "gap period" as the period "between the close of calendar year in which the excess contribution was made and the time of the corrective distribution." If you obtain the corrective distribution by the end of 2023, it seems that there would be no gap period. Still, if the box is labeled simply "EARNINGS" and not "EARNINS DURING THE GAP PERIOD", that leaves it open the question as to whether or not the earnings in 2023 would be distributed as required by the tax code when the corrective distribution is made (in which case it would probably not qualify as a proper corrective distribution). (I can't imagine that the plan would not include in the corrective distribution the attributable earnings that happened during the taxable year since failing to include those earnings would likely again open the plan up to possible disqualification.)
