Top paid group election and union employees

[Earl]

Copying from the Pension Answer Book, I see that, from the denominator, you can exclude union employees only if 90% of all employees are covered by the CBA.

My question is, "How do you determine the total # of employees?" Would it be all individuals that performed an hour of service during the plan year?

6. Employees who are covered by a collective bargaining agreement. This exclusion applies, however, only if 90 percent or more of the employees are covered under collective bargaining agreements and the plan does not benefit employees covered under such agreements.

Thanks

[jquazza]

I would use the rule that excludes the employees w/ less than six months of service, under 21, who do not work at least 17.5 hours/week etc...

Keep in mind you can only exclude the CBA employees if they don't benefit under the plan.

[Guest Harry O]

The IRS wrote the regs to really put it to you if you have union employees. Union employees essentially are counted to inflate your top-paid group number but these same employees don't count for nondiscrimination purposes.