eligibility for a rehired employee

[EBDI]

This plan's eligiblity is 1000 hours, age 21, 1 YOS. The Eligibility Computation Period uses the Hours of Service Method, a 12 consecutive month period beginning with an Employee's Employment Commencement Date and each anniversary thereof. It does not switch to the plan year as do all of my other plans. An employee is hired 6/1/2005, terminates 6/1/2007. He never works 1000 hours and does not enter the plan. He rehires on 4/8/2011. What do I use for his anniversary date to determine if he has met the 1000 hour requirement? His original hire date of 6/1 or the most recent hire date of 4/8?

[ETA Consulting LLC]

You're going to have to read your plan (perhaps the basic plan document) on this one. First, you'd want to see how they treat a rehired employee who has never met eligibility in the plan. If there is a reference to the break in service rules, you'd have to see how those apply. Typically, when a plan has eligibility requirements, you will lose all service prior to meeting those eligibility requirements when you incur a one-year break in service. For instance, a plan requires two years of service to enter (you get one year but not another). As long as you don't incur a one-year break in service, you keep your 1st year until you get your 2nd. The plan "may be written" to restart the clock in all instances where 1) you fail to meet initial eligibility and 2) you incur a one-year break in service.

You should trace this language within your plan to see how it is written.

Good Luck!

[Mike Preston]

I would be shocked if the result, after following ETK's good advice, is not that you use the new hire date.

[Guest 410b]

If "has met" means the question is referring back to the original 2 year term of employment, I think the correct date would be 6/1 and the other information in the post suggests that the poster already has the answer to that question.

If the question becomes "when he will meet", then I agree that the new hire date is most likely the correct answer.

[EBDI]

By "has met" I mean going forward now. Sorry I used the wrong tense. He didn't meet the 1000 hours requirement in 2005 to 2007. After reading the section on rehire and the 5 year break in service rules, I believe we will use the new rehire date of 4/8 for his anniversary. Thanks for the responses.