Treasury Regulations · 26 CFR
§ 1.410(a)-8T. Year of service; break in service (temporary).
Regulation text, no changes From the eCFR, current as of October 15, 2026. The eCFR is an authoritative but unofficial editorial compilation of the Code of Federal Regulations; the official text is the annual CFR on govinfo. Compare it with this section on ecfr.gov (external site) or the official annual CFR on govinfo (external site).
Regulation under 26 U.S.C. § 410(a)
Cite as 26 CFR § 1.410(a)-8T
At a glance
Read from the text and its source citation. Not part of the regulation.
- Status
- In the current eCFR
- Issued
- January 6, 1988 by T.D. 8170
- Issued under
- 26 U.S.C. § 410(a)
- Length
- 474 words · about 2 min to read
- Cross-references
- cites 2 Code sections and 1 regulation; cited by 0
A qualified plan computing service by the actual counting of hours provides full and immediate vesting. The plan can not require as a condition of participation that an employee complete 2 consecutive years of service with the employer because the requirement as to consecutive years is not permitted under section 410(a)(5). However, such a plan can require 2 years without a break in service, i.e., 2 years with no intervening years in which the employee fails to complete more than 500 hours of service. Under a plan containing such a participation requirement, the following example illustrates when employees would become eligible to participate.
| Year | Hours of service completed | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Employee A | Employee B | Employee C | |
| 1 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| 2 | 1,000 | 700 | 500 |
| 3 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| 4 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 700 |
| 5 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
Employee A will have satisfied the plan's service requirement at the end of year 2, Employee B at the end of year 3, and Employee C at the end of year 5.
Employee A completes a year of service under a plan computing service by the actual counting of hours for the 12-month period ending December 31, 1989, and incurs a 1-year break in service for the 12-month period ending December 31, 1990. The plan does not contain the provisions permitted by section 410(a)(5)(B) (relating to 2-year 100 percent vesting) and section 410(a)(5)(D) (relating to nonvested participants). Thereafter, he does not complete a year of service. As of January 1, 1991, in computing his period of service under the plan his service prior to December 31, 1990, is not required to be taken into account for purposes of section 410(a)(1) and § 1.410(a)-3.
[T.D. 8170, 53 FR 239, Jan. 6, 1988]
Cross-references
Computed from the citations in the text of 26 CFR.
Code sections it cites
Regulations it cites
Amendment history
From the source citation at the end of the section, newest first. T.D. is a Treasury decision; FR is the Federal Register.
- Issued by T.D. 8170 (53 FR 239)
Where it sits in 26 CFR
- Subchapter A Income tax
- Part 1 Income taxes
- Pension, Profit-Sharing, Stock Bonus Plans, etc.
Nearby sections
- § 1.410(a)-5 Year of service; break in service.
- § 1.410(a)-6 Amendment of break in service rules; Transition period.
- § 1.410(a)-7 Elapsed time.
- § 1.410(a)-8 Five consecutive 1-year breaks in service, transitional rules under the Retirement Equity Act of 1984.
- § 1.410(a)-8T Year of service; break in service (temporary).
- § 1.410(a)-9 Maternity and paternity absence.
- § 1.410(a)-9T Elapsed time (temporary).
- § 1.410(b)-0 Table of contents.
- § 1.410(b)-2 Minimum coverage requirements (after 1993).