SUMMARY PLAN DESCRIPTION
2002 EDITION
Returning to Work
How your pension benefit is affected when you leave Covered
Employment and subsequently return to work depends on whether or not you were
vested when you left Covered Employment and how long you were not working in
Covered Employment. If you were not vested before a Break in Service, refer to
the Leaving Work
section, which explains Break in Service rules. The way your pension
benefit is calculated may be different depending on when you incur a Break in
Service, based on the Plan provisions in effect when you incurred your Break in
Service.
If you are not vested and you return to work before you
incur a Permanent Break in Service, you will be credited with additional Years
of Service and Pension Credit upon completion of one Year of Service after your
return.
Once you retire and begin receiving monthly pension
payments, you will receive them for the rest of your life, provided you do not
work in Disqualifying Employment. Disqualifying Employment is defined
differently depending on your age and whether or not you are disabled. When you
retire, the Pension Benefits Department will give you a summary of the rules
governing suspension of benefits if you return to work.
If you are not sure whether particular employment would
cause your pension to be suspended, you should submit a written request to the
Pension Benefits Department for determination before you return to work. If the employment is the type that will
cause your pension to be suspended and you decide to work anyway, you must
notify the Pension Benefits Department immediately.
Disqualifying Employment
Disqualifying Employment before Normal Retirement
Age
If you have not yet reached Normal Retirement Age (normally
age 65), Disqualifying Employment means work:
§
With any Contributing Employer,
§
With any employer in the same or related business as any
Contributing Employer,
§
In the Sheet Metal Industry for at least one hour that is not
covered by a collective bargaining agreement,
§
In self-employment in the same or related business as any
Contributing Employer, or
§
In any business that is or may be under the trade jurisdiction of
the Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association.
Disqualifying Employment does not include work of 40 hours
or less per month for the Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association or
for a joint apprenticeship training committee that is affiliated with the Union.
If you are age 62 or older, Disqualifying Employment does
not include work in Covered Employment of 40 hours or less per month.
Disqualifying Employment at or after Normal
Retirement Age
If you have reached Normal Retirement Age (normally age
65), Disqualifying Employment means work or self-employment:
§
In an industry covered by the Plan when your pension payments
began,
§
In the geographic area covered by the Plan when your pension
payments began, and
§
In any trade or craft in which you worked at any time under the
Plan.
Notification
You are required to report to the Pension Benefits
Department in writing within 21 days of starting any work in Disqualifying
Employment. If you do not provide this notice, your benefits may be suspended for
an additional three months.
It is your responsibility to notify the Pension Benefits
Department in writing when you stop working in Disqualifying Employment. Your
pension benefits will remain suspended until you file this written notice.
Suspension of Pension Payments
If you are under Normal Retirement Age and you perform
Disqualifying Employment, your monthly pension benefit will be suspended for the
month or months in which you worked, plus
three additional months.
If you are age 65 or older and you perform Disqualifying
Employment, your monthly pension benefit will be suspended for any month or
months in which you work or are paid for more than 40 hours in Disqualifying
Employment.
If your benefits are suspended, the Pension Benefits
Department will notify you in writing of the reasons for the suspension. You may
file a written request for review of the suspension within 180 days of the
notice of suspension to you.
If you retired on a Disability Pension in 1994 or later,
you will become ineligible to receive payments if you become ineligible to
receive Social Security Disability benefits. If you retired on a Disability
Pension before 1994, you will become ineligible to receive payments if your
annual earnings, from any type of work, exceed $30,000.
Resuming Pension Payments
You must notify the Pension Benefits Department when you
stop working in Disqualifying Employment. Your benefits will then resume,
subject to any additional months of suspension. The monthly amount of your
benefits will be recomputed based on your age at the time benefits are resumed,
reduced by the number of months you previously received benefits.
You will be entitled to have your original benefit
increased by the amount of benefits you accrued during your period of
reemployment if you earned any. However, if you had a One-Year Break in Service
before you returned to Covered Employment, you must complete a Year of Service
following your return to Covered Employment to receive the additional credit.
If you do not have a one-year Break in Service between the
date you retired and the date you returned to Covered Employment, you will
accrue benefits based on your Contribution Hours following your return to work.
When you resume benefits after the suspension of benefits, your original monthly
benefit will be offset by the actuarial value of your additional pension
benefits earned following your return to Covered Employment.
If you return to Covered Employment and earn at least five
years of Future Service Pension Credit, your benefit amount will be completely
recomputed when you retire again, as though you had not previously received any
benefits.
Effect of Suspension on Husband-and-Wife Pensions
If you were receiving a Husband-and-Wife Pension before the
suspension of your benefits, it will remain effective if you die while your
benefits are suspended. However, if your pension began before you reached Normal
Retirement Age and if you are not married to the same spouse on the date of your
death as you were when your pension began, the additional benefits you earned
following your return to Covered Employment will be paid at your death:
§
To your current spouse as a Pre-Retirement Surviving Spouse
Annuity if you are married at the time of your death, or
§
As a Lump Sum Death Benefit if you are not married at the time of
your death.
If your pension began before you reached Normal Retirement
Age and you complete five years of Future Service upon your return to work, you
are entitled to a new election when you retire again as to:
§
The Husband-and-Wife Pension if you are married, or
§
The Lifetime Pension if you are not married.
If you do not complete five years of Future Service upon
your return to work, your new elections are limited to the additional benefits
you accrue between your return to work and your re-retirement.
If your pension began on or after Normal Retirement Age,
you will be entitled to a new election as to the form of pension payments when
your benefits resume only if you earned five years of Future Service upon your
return to work (and are thus entitled to a complete re-computation of your
benefits).
