Archive policy not applied to folders

Archive policy not applied to folders

In setting up the users on a domain, I noticed the following problem:

When I create an archive rule or simply apply the default (archive after 3 months), the rule has not effect. I have used "apply to all folders" and when I return to that setting, it is set correctly, yet older mail that should be archived is not.  Is this a bug or how does one apply an archive setting to all folders automatically?