Compensation Glossary

Break in Service

The length of time between the date on which an employee leaves an organization and the date on which the employee resumes working for that firm. For pension and employee benefit plan purposes in the United States, a plan participant cannot be deprived of benefits that accumulate before a break in service, unless the break is longer than (1) five years or (2) the amount of time that the participant has been employed when the break commences.