Eligibility with Rehires

[Nate X]

I asked a similar question as this before, but I want to be clear.

Situation:

A plan defines a year of service as 1,000 hours & a break in service as less then 501 hours. The plan has a 9 month eligibility, no hours requirement, and semi-annual entry. The plan does not require the participant to work a consecutive 9 months of service. A participant is hired on 2/15/05, terminates 5 days later on 2/20/05, and is rehired on 12/20/05. Does the employee enter the plan on 1/1/06 if he/she is still employed?

[E as in ERISA]

Under the elapsed time method, you usually span service when the period of severance is less than twelve months. So, generally, yes.