delay you from participating in the Plan, they will never cause you to lose any benefits to which you have already become entitled to. For eligibility purposes, you will have a Break in Service if you complete less than 501 Hours of Service during the computation period used to determine whether you have a Year of Service. However, if you are absent from work for certain leaves of absence such as maternity or paternity leave, you may be credited with Hours of Service. Five-year Break in Service rule. The five-year Break in Service rule applies only to totally nonvested (0% vested) participants. If you are totally nonvested in your benefits resulting from our contributions and you have five consecutive Breaks in Service (as defined above), all the service you earned before the 5-year period no longer counts for eligibility purposes. Thus, if you return to employment after incurring five consecutive Breaks in Service, you would have to resatisfy any minimum service requirements under the Plan. However, if you have benefits under the Plan resulting from our contributions which are vested, you do not lose any rights to those amounts under these rules. If you are a veteran and are reemployed under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994, your qualified military service may be considered service with us. For eligibility purposes, your Years of Service with the Cates Company, or with any of the 23 apartment properties managed by the Cates Company, which were merged into Mid-America Apartments, L.P. as a part of the initial formation of Mid-America Apartments, L.P. will be recognized. What happens if I’m a participant, terminate employment and then I’m rehired? If you are no longer a participant because you terminated employment, and are rehired, you will continue to participate in the Plan in the same manner as if your termination had not occurred but only if your service prior to your reemployment has not been lost under the eligibility Break in Service rules. If you are not eligible to participate because your service with us has been lost under the eligibility Break in Service rules, then you will again be required to meet the eligibility requirements to become a participant. However, as explained above, on December 30, 2010, the Plan was frozen by amendment. Accordingly, notwithstanding any provision in this SPD or the Plan documents, effective January 1, 2011, no additional employees who were not then eligible for the Plan shall become eligible for the Plan. ARTICLE II CONTRIBUTIONS What kind of Plan is this? This Plan is a type of retirement plan commonly referred to as an Employee Stock Ownership Plan. The purpose of the Plan is to enable you to participate in the growth and prosperity of the company by making you a stockholder. As a stockholder you are an owner of the company. Your efforts, added to the efforts of all other employees, contribute to the profitability and growth of the company and thereby increase the value of Company Stock and your benefits. Consequently, our contributions made to the Plan will be invested primarily in Company Stock. If we do well, and the value of the Company Stock increases, you will share in its improved performance. If you may be affected by this law, ask your Administrator for further details. Does my service with another Employer count for eligibility purposes?
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