SECTION V. VESTING AND BREAKS IN SERVICE

1. Effective on or after July 1, 1976, a Participant's interest in the Plan shall vest upon the completion of not less than ten (10) years of Credited Service under this Section, regardless of age, or on or after attainment of age 55, with not less than five (5) years of Credited Service under this Section. Effective July 1, 1989, a Participant's interest shall also vest upon completion of five years of Credited Service under the Plan exclusively for employment not covered under a Collective Bargaining Agreement.
2. Effective January 1, 1999, a Participant's interest shall also vest upon completion of five (5) years of vesting credit, but only if:
  1. he or she was a Participant on January 1, 1999, and performed one Covered Hour of Employment in the Plan Year commencing on that effective date; or
  2. he or she accrued a year of Credited Service under this Section after that effective date.
3. These rules shall apply to a Participant only with respect to credits not already lost due to a permanent break in service as of the rules' respective effective dates. A vested Participant shall be entitled, upon qualification for retirement benefits, to receive the benefits he or she earned prior to the date his or her active participation in the Plan terminated and subsequent to any permanent breaks in service.
1. A Participant whose interest in the Plan is not vested and who fails to be credited with at least one hundred sixty (160) hours of Credited Future Service in any one Plan Year shall suffer a one-year, temporary break in service. Once a temporary break in service has occurred, the employee will no longer be considered a "Participant" of this Plan. A break in service shall become permanent, and the employee's previously accumulated non-vested years of Credited Service shall not thereafter be taken into account, if his or her consecutive one-year breaks in service thereafter equal or exceed the greater of five (5) years or the aggregate number of years of non-vested service credited prior to the break.
2. The Credited Service of any employee who has suffered a temporary break in service shall be taken into account if the employee returns to Covered Employment before the break in service becomes permanent and thereafter earns an additional year of Credited Service without a further break in service. At this point, the employee will again become a Participant.
3. Years of service lost by reason of any prior permanent break in service shall not be taken into account in determining any break in service occurring thereafter.
4. The Plan Year during which the break in service would otherwise occur shall be extended for any period of time during which the Participant is continuously incapacitated by sickness or injury from working under a Collective Bargaining Agreement, or is in military service, provided further that the Participant shall have returned to Covered Employment within ninety (90) days after recovery from disability or release from military service, as the case may be.
5. No break in service commencing on or after January 1, 1985, shall occur during any Plan Year in which the employee is absent from work for one hundred sixty (160) or more hours by reason of pregnancy, birth of a child, adoption of a child, or caring for such child for a period beginning immediately after the birth or placement, when the employee would otherwise have been working on Covered Employment. Time so credited shall be counted in the Plan Year in which the absence from work begins only when necessary to prevent a break in service in that Plan Year, otherwise in the Plan Year next following. Time so credited shall be counted only for purposes of preventing a break in service and not for any other purpose.
6. If a Participant having suffered a break in service as above provided should fail to return to employment in time to preserve his or her prior credited service as above provided under the break in service rule applicable as of his or her last Covered Hour of Employment, such Participant shall be considered a new Participant, with a new participation date, and shall not be entitled to any benefits for service prior to his or her new participation date.