FAQ 131: Eligibility--Entry date incorrect for employee working less than 1000 hours

Problem: We have a plan that has a participant who didn't work 1000 hours in either 2002 or 2003. In 2004 they did work 1000 hours but the system is putting there entry date in for 1/1/04 not 1/1/05?

Solution: Generally this is caused by the system using an eligibility computation period from date of hire to anniversary of date of hire. Almost all the standard pension documents have this language, where an employee gets in the plan based on his hire year. The system prorates the plan year hours to calculate eligibility year hours, as noted in the following example: A participant hired on 9/1 in calendar year plan has no hours input for the initial 12/31 year. in the next calendar year he works 600 hours. The system computes his hours for eligibility as follows: Initial year: 2080 hours/12 months * 4 months worked = 693 hours Second plan year: 600/hours/12 months * 8 months (1/1 to 9/1) = 400 hours 693 + 400 = 1093 hours; therefore he is eligible