RMDs and Rehire

If a non-owner participant terminates employment after age 72 (or 70-1/2, as the case may be), but is later rehired within the same calendar year, are RMDs triggered?  There doesn’t appear to be any guidance on this. 

Where the rehire occurs in a later calendar year, and RMDs have already started, there is at least informal guidance stating that they must continue.  (See ERISA Outline Book and 2010 ASPPA IRS Q&As.)  However, I've found nothing addressing termination and rehire in the same calendar year prior to starting RMDs.

 I would think no because they are still employed.

ARA actually asked for clarification on this question (re-hire prior to RBD) in their comment letter on the recently-proposed RMD regulations. It remains to be seen if it will be addressed in the final regulations.

The safest thing to do would be to make the distribution anyway, since the penalty is so steep.

Thank you both. 

C.B., your point is well-taken regarding the "safest approach" issue.  In this particular instance, I'm trying to justify a historical situation where RMDs did not commence, so I'm just trying to establish that it was a defensible position.  Given the lack of clarity/authority at this point (pending potential clarification in the final regs), I'm getting pretty comfortable that it was a reasonable, good faith interpretation of 401(a)(9)(C).

When an employee retires from the employer maintaining the plan is determined based on all the facts and circumstances at the time the determination is made. If this person is re-employed within the same calendar year before any distributions were required, then no RMD would be due for that distribution calendar year.  

I don't think that paying a distribution is necessarily "safer" if the plan wouldn't allow in-service distribution if the participant is still employed.