Multiple Employer Plan

[pmacduff]

Participant terminates from Employer #1 within a multiple employer plan & goes to work for Employer #2 who also participates in the same plan.

Plan doc references that all dates, service, vesting, etc. will carry from Employer to Employer within the group - no problem.

However nothing I can find in plan doc references distribution in this instance, doc just contains standard "distribution as soon as administratively feasible following termination.."

is this participant entitled to a distribution of his account from Employer #1?

[Below Ground]

No. Person did not terminate service under the Plan since there is no "break in service" with respect to all employers that adopt the plan. From the plan's perspective there has been no service termination.

To better understand this consider that the person's date of hire and date of entry for plan purposes is the emploment date and entry date from service with Employer #1. This carries over to participation related to employment with Employer #2. Also consider that while the person no longer has service with Employer #1, the person still is credited under the Plan with service earned from working for both Employer #1 and Employer #2. These provisons are normally found in the section of the plan document that allows for unrelated employers to adopt the plan for their employees.

Hope this helps.

[pmacduff]

BG - thank you for your reply, that is what I believed to be true.

I did check the section where unrelated employers can adopt in the doc, but it is fairly brief (participating employers can join the plan by signing an agreement...blah, blah blah). This is a Corble Multiple Employer Doc.

thanks again for the info....