Unique Eligibility Cases | YMCA Retirement Fund

Employees with previous y service

If an employee was previously enrolled in the 401(a) Retirement Plan and returns to Y employment (at the same or another participating Y), enrollment in the 401(a) Retirement Plan depends on their vesting status.

For employees vested in employer contributions, the rule is easy: they resume participation immediately upon their return regardless of how long they have been gone.
For employees who were previously enrolled but not vested in employer contributions, the rules vary. The employee resumes participation immediately if they were away less than six years. If they were away more than six years, they will be treated as a new hire, and prior service will not count towards eligibility.

Employees who have a Personal Account and/or an Additional Y Account are always vested in them, regardless of who made the contributions originally. Therefore, employees who worked for a Y that made contributions to their Personal Account on their behalf or to an Additional Y Account must resume participation immediately upon their return, regardless of the length of their period of severance from Y employment.

If an employee was never previously enrolled in the 401(a) Retirement Plan, enrollment depends on two factors: a) how long the employee was away, and b) the extent to which the employee met eligibility prior to leaving the Y.

If an employee was away longer than six years, they will be treated as a new hire and prior service will not count towards eligibility.
If an employee returns to a participating Y within six years, any previous 12-month periods wherein the employee completed 1,000 hours of service will count towards eligibility. See the Enrollment and Eligibility fact sheet for rules and examples.

If your Y requires employees to make contributions to the Retirement Plan, then all employees enrolling in the Plan need to complete an Application to Participate in the YMCA Retirement Plan regardless of whether the employee previously worked for another Y.

Enrollment is mandatory for eligible employees, except in cases wherein an employee meets the criteria to waive participation and elects to do so. See Waiving Participation in the Retirement Plan under Eligibility & Enrollment.

If you have any doubt about a person’s eligibility, read the Enrollment and Eligibility fact sheet, or contact the Customer Service Department via Live Chat or call us directly at 800-RET-YMCA (800-738-9622), Monday through Friday from 9:00am to 5:00pm ET.

Employees with previous y service and rehires

Generally speaking, the following descriptions provide insight on how an employee with previous Y service, or rehires, regardless of full-time or part-time status should be treated with regard to participation in the 401(a) Retirement Plan. If you have questions or are unsure about a particular employee’s status, please contact us.

Employee Description	Retirement Plan Participation
Employee who previously participated in the 401(a) Retirement Plan and was vested	Participation resumes immediately, even if the participant took a withdrawal or is already receiving an annuity.
Employee who previously participated in the 401(a) Retirement Plan but was not vested in employer contributions	If the employee returns to work within six years of termination, participation resumes immediately, even if they took a withdrawal or are already receiving an annuity. If the employee returns to work six years after termination, treat as if newly hired. They must meet the eligibility requirements again.
Employee who previously worked for a participating Y but never participated in the 401(a) Retirement Plan	If the employee returns to work within six years of termination, contact the previous employing Y for starting employment date, termination date, and total hours worked. The Local Plan Administrator Lookup feature in the Home tab section of YERDI will provide the contact information. Any previous 12-month period wherein the employee completed 1,000 hours of service will count towards eligibility, and any months worked will count toward vesting. If the employee returns to work six years or more after termination, treat as if newly hired. They must meet eligibility requirements again for the Y in which they are now employed.
Employee who worked for a non-participating Y	Service acquired while working for a non-participating Y is not used to determine eligibility or vesting.

Employee Description

Retirement Plan Participation

Employee who previously participated in the 401(a) Retirement Plan and was vested

Participation resumes immediately, even if the participant took a withdrawal or is already receiving an annuity.

Employee who previously participated in the 401(a) Retirement Plan but was not vested in employer contributions

If the employee returns to work within six years of termination, participation resumes immediately, even if they took a withdrawal or are already receiving an annuity.
If the employee returns to work six years after termination, treat as if newly hired. They must meet the eligibility requirements again.

Employee who previously worked for a participating Y but never participated in the 401(a) Retirement Plan

If the employee returns to work within six years of termination, contact the previous employing Y for starting employment date, termination date, and total hours worked. The Local Plan Administrator Lookup feature in the Home tab section of YERDI will provide the contact information. Any previous 12-month period wherein the employee completed 1,000 hours of service will count towards eligibility, and any months worked will count toward vesting.
If the employee returns to work six years or more after termination, treat as if newly hired. They must meet eligibility requirements again for the Y in which they are now employed.

Employee who worked for a non-participating Y

Service acquired while working for a non-participating Y is not used to determine eligibility or vesting.

Other special cases

Employee Description	Retirement Plan Participation
Employees already working for a Y that newly adopts the Plan (hired prior to the effective date of a Y’s participation in the YMCA Retirement Fund) OR Employees of a Y which is acquired by or merged into a participating Y	The Y must treat the previous service of these employees as service for determining eligibility and vesting, and all eligible employees must be enrolled as a condition of employment.
Employees of a Y that discontinues participating in the Plan, and later rejoins	The Y must treat service during the period of the Y’s non-participation as service for determining eligibility and vesting.
Employees of an organization (other than a Y) which is acquired by or merged into a participating Y	Previous service hours of the acquired employees will not count towards eligibility and vesting in the 401(a) Retirement Plan. However, the Y can make a written request to the Benefits & Operations Committee of the Fund’s Board of Trustees if it would like to count those service hours toward eligibility and employment months toward vesting.
Leased Employees	Federal law and your Y’s agreement with the YMCA Retirement Fund govern whether union or leased employees are included. Contact the Fund for special rules.

Employee Description

Retirement Plan Participation

Employees already working for a Y that newly adopts the Plan (hired prior to the effective date of a Y’s participation in the YMCA Retirement Fund)

Employees of a Y which is acquired by or merged into a participating Y

The Y must treat the previous service of these employees as service for determining eligibility and vesting, and all eligible employees must be enrolled as a condition of employment.

Employees of a Y that discontinues participating in the Plan, and later rejoins

The Y must treat service during the period of the Y’s non-participation as service for determining eligibility and vesting.

Employees of an organization (other than a Y) which is acquired by or merged into a participating Y

Previous service hours of the acquired employees will not count towards eligibility and vesting in the 401(a) Retirement Plan. However, the Y can make a written request to the Benefits & Operations Committee of the Fund’s Board of Trustees if it would like to count those service hours toward eligibility and employment months toward vesting.

Leased Employees

Federal law and your Y’s agreement with the YMCA Retirement Fund govern whether union or leased employees are included. Contact the Fund for special rules.

Unvested Balances, Forfeitures, and Returning to Y Employment

There may be instances when a participant leaves Y employment before the balance in their YMCA Account vests.

Generally speaking, if an employee who previously participated in the 401(a) Retirement Plan left Y employment before the balance in their YMCA Account vested, and then returns to work within six years of termination, participation resumes immediately, even if they took a withdrawal or are already receiving an annuity. If the employee returns to work six years or more after termination, they would be treated as if newly hired, and they must meet the eligibility requirements again for the Y in which they are now employed because their unvested YMCA Account would have been forfeited after six years of separation.

Let’s look at a few potential scenarios that may impact eligibility and vesting:

Meet Terri: Terri, age 30, started working for the Anytown Y on January 10, 2024, and she achieved 1,000 service hours in her first year of employment. On July 1, 2025, the Anytown Y implemented the “1-3” eligibility option and Terri was immediately enrolled in the 401(a) Retirement Plan. Her Y made contributions to her account for her employment to July 20, 2025, when she terminated employment. During her employment, she achieved 19 months of vesting service*.

Example 1: Rehired within 12 months
Terri was rehired by that same Y on February 15, 2026. Since she was rehired within 12 months of terminating employment, vesting service is credited as if she never left. That means that December 2026 would be her 36th month of vesting service, and she would be 100% vested in her Y’s contributions and applicable interest credits on January 1, 2027.
Example 2: Return after more than 12 months but less than 6 years
Terri was rehired by Anytown Y on February 15, 2027 – almost 18 months after terminating employment. Because more than 12 months but less than six (6) years have passed since she left Y employment, Terri’s 401(a) Retirement Plan participation picks up where she left off. Anytown Y immediately begins making contributions again to her Y contribution account, and she starts with 19 months of vesting service. This means she only needs 17 additional months of service to reach the 36-month threshold to become vested – in this case, she needs to continue employment through June 2028 to be 100% vested in her Y’s contributions and applicable interest credits on July 1, 2028.
Example 3: Return after 6+ years
Terri was not rehired by Anytown Y or any other Y that participates in Y Retirement until July 1, 2033. Because more than six (6) years have passed between Terri leaving Y employment and then being rehired, the contributions made by Anytown Y to her 401(a) Retirement Plan in July 2025 are forfeited to the Y to offset future 401(a) Retirement Plan contributions. To be enrolled in the 401(a) Retirement Plan again, Terri would need to re-satisfy the eligibility service criteria applicable to other employees of her rehiring Y on July 1, 2033, and satisfy the vesting requirements in effect at the time that she is rehired.
Example 4: Rehired by another “1-3” Y
Upon leaving employment at Anytown Y on July 20, 2025, Terri immediately began employment at Any State Y, which also maintains the “1-3” eligibility option. Her 401(a) Retirement Plan balance follows her and the Any State Y immediately begins making contributions to her account. If Terri remains employed with Any State Y, December 2026 will be her 36th month of vesting service, and she will be 100% vested in her Anytown Y’s contributions and Any State Y’s contributions and applicable interest credits on January 1, 2027.
Example 5: Rehired by a “2-2” Y
Upon leaving employment at Anytown Y on July 20, 2025, Terri immediately began employment at Any Community Y, which maintains the “2-2” eligibility option. Her 401(a) Retirement Plan balance follows her and, even though Terri has not completed the two (2) 12-month periods of Y employment that other Any Community Y employees are required to satisfy, her prior participation at Anytown Y means that Any Community Y immediately begins making contributions to her account. If Terri remains employed with Any Community Y, December 2025 will be her 24th month of vesting service. Since Any Community Y has a two-year vesting schedule, Terri will be 100% vested in her Anytown Y’s contributions and Any Community Y’s contributions and applicable interest credits on January 1, 2026.

Retirees or terminated employees who return to work

While most individuals who receive annuity benefits from the YMCA Retirement Fund have retired from the Y, some retirees may decide to seek part-time employment opportunities with a Y while receiving retirement benefits. This post-retirement employment with a Y is allowed as long as the participant and the Y have not engaged in a pre-arranged strategy to collect retirement benefits from the Fund while still employed by the Y. Please click here to read examples of what is and is not permitted.