Vested Status

When a Participant is “vested,” his or her retirement benefits can never be taken away even if the Participant stops working in employment covered by this Plan and never returns before retiring.

Effective January 1, 1998, a Participant is fully vested when he or she has accrued five Qualified Years; provided, however, that Qualified Years forfeited prior to 1998 due to a permanent Break in Service shall not count. Participants who have fewer than five Qualified Years will be vested if they reach their Normal Retirement Date.

Normal Retirement Date is based on two factors: the Participant’s age and the number of years he or she has participated in the Plan. A Participant’s Normal Retirement Date is the first of the month coinciding with or next following the month in which he or she meets all of the following requirements:

1. Age 65 or older; and
2. either:
   1. Ten years have elapsed since participation in the Plan began and the participant has not experienced a permanent Break in Service; or
   2. Effective January 1, 2003, four years have elapsed since participation in the Plan began (ignoring participation before January 1, 1988), and the participant has not experienced a permanent Break in Service; or
   3. Effective January 1, 1998, has accumulated five Qualified Years (ignoring Qualified Years forfeited before 1998).

Example 1:

Writer A turns 65 on January 19, 1992. He began participating in the Plan in 1982 and earned eight Qualified Years without a permanent Break in Service. Since he participated in the Plan for ten years (1982 through 1991), his Normal Retirement Date is February 1, 1992: the first of the month following the date he has both reached age 65 and participated in the Plan for ten years, without a permanent Break in Service.

Example 2:

Writer B turns 65 on March 12, 1999. She began participating in the Plan in 1995 and earned three Qualified Years without a permanent Break in Service. Since she participated in the Plan for at least five years after January 1, 1988 (1995 through 1999), her Normal Retirement Date is January 1, 2000: the first of the month following completion of five years of participation and attainment of age 65.

See the next section “Break in Service” for more examples. Remember, Qualified Years or years of participation you earned prior to a permanent Break in Service that occurred before 1998 are not counted in determining your vested status under the Plan. For example, if you first worked in covered employment in 1992 and then did not work in covered employment from 1993 through 1997, you would incur a permanent Break in Service and your participation in the Plan would stop. If you later return to work in covered employment, you would be considered a new Participant and none of the years of participation in the Plan before the permanent Break in Service would be counted in determining your Normal Retirement Date.

If your employment is terminated before you are vested, you may lose your benefits under the Plan. This happens when you have a Break in Service and do not return to employment covered by the Plan within a certain period of time. The rules for the Break in Service are explained in the following section.