October 22, 2021
The IRS issued two new sets of frequently asked questions (FAQs) to provide technical guidance to public and private employers who sponsor pension plans for employees by covering ways employers can still comply with the plan qualification rules if they rehire retirees or allow distributions of retirement benefits to current employees who reached 59 ½ or the plan's normal retirement age.
An employer can handle unexpected hiring needs by rehiring former employees even if they have already retired and begun receiving pension benefit payments, and if permitted under plan terms, they can keep receiving the benefits after they are rehired.
Employers can also make retirement distributions available to existing employees who reach age 59 ½ or the plan's normal retirement age to let employees otherwise eligible for retirement keep working.
Section 2202 of the CARES Act allows special distribution options and rollover rules for retirement plans and IRAs and expands permissible loans from certain retirement plans.
More details are in the FAQs: See Coronavirus-related relief for retirement plans and IRAs questions and answers