Understanding Service Definition Types

Pension Administration provides pages for three types of service calculation: elapsed time, hours counting, and hours equivalence.

An elapsed time method calculates service by measuring the time between two dates—for example, the time between hire and termination dates. The timeline may be adjusted for leaves of absence and other statuses. The amount of service credited does not depend on the hours worked during a time period.

Alternatively, the hours methods determine service for each computation period based on the hours accumulated during that period. These methods require parameters for converting hours to service units. The hours counting methods use the number of hours worked in a computation period. They require hours data, which is provided by the hours consolidation process. An hours equivalence method credits employees with a predetermined number of hours per period.

Many of the service parameters are common to multiple definition types—for example, final adjustment parameters. Several pages, therefore, appear in multiple components.