§4318 Employee pension benefit plans

Summary

When a worker leaves a job to serve in the uniformed services and then returns, their pension rights under any employee pension plan (including plans covered by ERISA or laws for government pensions) must be figured under these rules. The Thrift Savings Plan is different: a returning worker’s TSP rights are those in 5 U.S.C. 8432b. Periods of military service do not count as a break in service. Each period of service counts as time worked for deciding whether accrued benefits are protected and for how benefits grow. The employer who rehired the worker must cover the pension cost tied to the military service and must treat employer contributions the same as for other workers. Earnings and forfeitures are not counted when figuring that cost. For a pension shared by several employers, the plan sponsor decides who pays; if the sponsor does not decide, the last employer before the service pays, or the plan pays if that employer no longer exists. If benefits depend on employee contributions or deferrals, the returning worker may make up missed payments only up to what they could have contributed if they had stayed. Those payments must be made starting at reemployment and can be made for up to three times the length of the service, but not more than five years. Pay during the service is figured at the rate the worker would have earned, or if that is unclear, by the average pay in the 12 months before the service (or the shorter prior employment period). An employer who contributes to a shared-employer plan must tell the plan administrator in writing within 30 days after reemployment.