I have several clients who operate staffing firms and they offer short eligibility to entice workers who might have other employment options. One plan has an eligibility provision of three months of service (no hours required) and age 21 with entry on the first day of the month following attainment. We're getting beat up on the ADP and ACP tests and I want to apply Otherwise Excludable (a/k/a Early Participation) rules to test the "short service" partcipants separately. (We have no Otherwise Excludable HCEs.) If I'm allowed to apply a statutory requirement of one year and age 21, can I exclude people who have worked for the company for three years but never acheived 1,000 hours?
The intent of the Otherwise Excludable and Early Participation rules was to prevent employers who are generous with eligibility from being negatively impacted. I feel as though I should be allowed to exclude employees who work 20-100 hours per year but I cannot find a citation to support this anywhere.
Help?