Any effect of a break-in-service for a 100% vested employee who remain

[John A]

A 401(k) plan participant that is 100% vested reduces hours of service to 200 hours per year. The plan does not have any hours requirement for the match. If I am correct that termination of employment is not part of the definition of a break-in-service, then the participant does have a break-in-service. Can the participant continue to defer and receive the match indefinitely, despite having a break-in-service each year? Does the reduction to 200 hours affect the plan participant in any way?

[Guest]

what if no one knows?

(You are correct that break in svc has nothing to do with termination)

I will quote from the ERISA Outline Book

"Some pension professionals feel that the one-year holdout rue cannot apply to a 401(K) arrangement because of the impossibility of granting retroactive re-entry. At some employee benefit conferences, certain IRS personal have expreseed a similar view, but there has been no official guidance from IRS or DOL on this issue. If the document specifically applies the break in service rule to the 401(k) arrangement, and then makes arranegements for when the employee is re-eligible to make deferrals under the arrangement, the employer should be able to rely on the IRS determination letter issued in the plan document."

Basically, what I have heard from others,don't have a one-yaer break in service rule in a 401(k) plan.