PIck Up Contributions for past service

[JJRetirement]

Town DB plan with employer pickup contributions (yes - formal action was taken when implemented).  Town is amending plan to retroactively include position that was previously excluded.  Employee will need to make up contributions for period of credited service she will be granted (and she will start contributing prospectively for future service as well).  Do the contributions for the period of past service need to be made on an after-tax basis or is there some way to draft the plan so that these contributions are picked up by the employer as they would have been  if she had been included all along.  I know she can't be given a choice, but can the plan specify that payment of the past contributions will be paid over a certain period and will be picked up by the employer? 

I have the same question for making up contributions after returning from a leave of absence.  If the plan bridges service and requires the participant to contribute for period of leave, can these be picked up?

[Luke Bailey]

I am going to think out loud here, i.e., no research or review of the guidance. I would think that if the make-up contributions are truly and completely nonelective (I.e., the municipal ordinance does not give the employee the option whether he/she wants the retroactive coverage or not, or how far it goes back, and the employee had no role in negotiating the change), then these could be pre-tax pickups.