Prior Service Wording before age 30

[Guest efstreet]

Is the following wording, PRIOR SERVICE WORDING: " Members of the plan shall be entitled to a monthly annuity credit of $1.00 a month for each year of the nearest integral number of years of continuous service immediately prior to membership provided that no credit shall be given for any period the member was a participant in another pension plan of the company. The maximum monthly annuity credit under this provision shall be $10.00."

Is this considered to be credit for PARTICIPATING SERVICE, prior to age 30?

[Blinky the 3-eyed Fish]

I am not sure why you read it is crediting service before 30. To me it seems to credit up to 10 years of service before entering the plan, although I don't know if the membership term has a different meaning. Granting more than 5 years of past service cannot discriminate in favor of HCE's.

[david rigby]

I read a different emphasis in the question: 415 phase-in, although that probably is not relevant. My read of the facts leads me to answer NO to the original question: awarding any past service for benefit purposes does not "award" past participating service.

[Guest efstreet]

This wording was contained in a pension plan that was "in effect" prior to ERISA being enacted. Since, it was mandated that participants be 30 years old to become an active plan participant, I used age 30. If you became employed at age 26, (pre-1974), you became a member of the plan at age 30, and was given credit for three years prior to age 30, along with a monthly annuity of $1 per month. The $1 annuity was equal to a monthly compensation of less than $100. Again, could this be prior service wording, prior to ERISA, because when ERISA was enacted, this wording was deleted from the SPD, effective, 12/31/75. The new SPD was issued on 1/1/76, prior to that the SPD was actually a booklet that each employee was issued, along with a certificate of membership in the plan.

[Blinky the 3-eyed Fish]

Again, could this be prior service wording, prior to ERISA, because when ERISA was enacted, this wording was deleted from the SPD, effective, 12/31/75.

Yes?

If you are asking if the plan credited service before entering the plan at age 30 way back when, then based on the language you provided, yes. Seems a person could earn up to 10 years of credit before entering the plan at age 30. Of course your original question left out some important details.

May I ask what the purpose of the question is?