What is the significance of “entry date”?
For a defined benefit plan, several criteria are used to determine whether an employee is eligible to participate in the Plan: • An employee must not be a member of any excluded class of employees (e.g., union members); • The employee must, in most cases, satisfy an age and service requirement (e.g., age 21 and 1 year of service); and • The employee must be employed on an entry date as specified by the plan. Normally this is the anniversary date or the first day of the 7th month into the plan year (e.g., for a calendar year, these dates would be January 1 and July 1). An employee (e.g. spouse) does not become a participant in the plan until such time all eligibility requirements above have been met.
