§4318 Employee Pension Benefit Plans

Summary

When a person returns to a job after serving in the uniformed services, their pension rights are decided under these rules for employee pension benefit plans (including plans described in ERISA sections 3(2) and 3(33)) or under any federal or state law for government pensions. The Thrift Savings Plan is different: the returned worker’s rights there are those in section 8432b of title 5; that rule does not change any other benefits under this chapter. The person’s military service is treated as continuous work for the employer. Each period of service counts as time with the employer when deciding whether pension benefits are vested and when benefits grow. The reemploying employer must fund any plan obligations for that service and must allocate employer contributions the same way it does for others during that time. For multiemployer plans, the plan sponsor decides the allocation or, if the sponsor does not, it goes to the last employer before the service or to the plan if that employer no longer functions. A returning employee can get benefits tied to employee contributions only if they make those payments up to the amount they would have been allowed or required to contribute had they stayed employed. They have to pay during a period that starts at reemployment and lasts three times the length of their service, but not more than five years. When figuring how much the employer owes or how much the employee must pay, pay is measured at the rate the employee would have received but for the service, or, if that is not clear, by the employee’s average pay in the prior 12-month period (or the shorter prior employment period). An employer who contributes to a multiemployer plan must tell the plan administrator in writing within 30 days after reemployment.