Years of Service

[Guest Sara H]

If a year of service is defined as a 12 month period in which an employee works at least 1000 hours -- is one half a year of service a 6 month period in which an employee works at least 500 hours? I am trying to figure eligibility for one of our clients and the only requirements are that the employees are 21 years old and have 1/2 year of service. (The employee is part-time with less than 500 hours per year). I also cannot find anything in the adoption agreement that excludes part-time employees.

[Ervin Barham]

No. If you have a less than 1 year eligibility provision, then you cannot have any hour of service requirement for eligibility. Thus, your part-time employee would be eligible if they have worked 6 months, but check your plan document.

[MWeddell]

A 6-month period with 500 hours of service eligibility requirement is legally permitted because it's impossible for someone to meet the 410(a) maximum eligibility period of 1 year with 1,000 requirement without meeting a 6-month with 500 hours requirement.

Whether 1/2 year of service in your plan really means 500 hours or just 6 months of elapsed time depends entirely on how one interprets your plan document. I'd be hesitant to imply that "1/2 year of service" also requires 500 hours of service during that 1/2 year, but it'll be hard for anyone to tell you the answer without looking over your plan document.