(a) Section 203 of the Act and section 411(a) of the Code contain
minimum vesting standards relating to certain employee pension benefit
plans. In general, a pension plan subject to section 203 of the Act of
section 411(a) of the Code must meet certain requirements relating to an
employee's nonforfeitable (``vested'') right to his or her normal
retirement benefit. One of these requirements specifies that an
employee's accrued benefit derived from employer contributions must be
vested in accordance with certain schedules. The schedules (or
alternative minimum vesting standards) are generally based on the
employee's number of years of service with the employer or employers
maintaining the plan. Section 2530.203-2 sets forth rules relating to
the computation periods used to determine whether an employee has
completed a year of service for vesting purposes (``vesting computation
periods'').
(b) For rules relating to service with the employer or employers
maintaining the plan, see Sec. 2530.210.
