If you return to work after you retire, your pension payments may be suspended if you work in Disqualifying Employment. The rules on what constitutes Disqualifying Employment differ depending upon your age at the time you are working.
Before Normal Retirement Age (Age 65)
Disqualifying Employment before Normal Retirement Age is
any work (paid or unpaid) that is:
- With a Contributing Employer;
- With an employer in the same or a related business as a Contributing Employer;
- In the Sheet Metal Industry (as defined by the Plan);
- Employment or self-employment in any business within the jurisdiction of the Union; or
- In self-employment in the same or related business as any Contributing Employer.
Check with the Fund Office, IN WRITING, before engaging in any employment or self-employment if that work might be considered Disqualifying Employment.
If you are under Normal Retirement Age, your monthly pension benefit will be suspended for each month you work in Disqualifying Employment, paid or unpaid. If at the time you return to work you have not reached age 62, your benefit is subject to a suspension of no less than three months.
In addition to any other applicable suspension periods, your pension will be suspended for an additional six months for every calendar quarter in which you work one hour or more in non-signatory employment.
After Normal Retirement Age (age 65)
Once you have reached Normal Retirement Age, work will
only be Disqualifying Employment if it is in:
- An
industry covered by the Plan when your pension payments began;
- The geographic
area covered by the Plan when your pension payments began; and
- Any
trade or craft in which you worked at any time under the Plan.
If you are 65 or older, 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.
After you have reached your Required Beginning Date, representing the April 1 of the following year that you attain age 70½, you may work in any occupation and your benefits will not be suspended.
Additional Information on Suspended Benefits
You should notify the Fund Office in writing within 21
days before you start any type of work that may be Disqualifying Employment,
regardless of the number of hours worked in a month.
You are not considered retired under the terms of the Plan document if you work in Disqualifying Employment. If you are working in Disqualifying Employment when you apply for retirement, you will not be eligible to receive a Plan benefit until such work ceases and you meet all other qualifications for a benefit.
Resuming Benefit Payments
You must notify the Fund Office in writing when you stop
working in Disqualifying Employment. Your benefits will then resume, subject to
any additional months of suspension. Your monthly benefit amount will be recalculated
based on your age at the time benefits resume, reduced by the number of months
you previously received benefits.
This page includes only highlights of the Plan’s rules for suspension of benefits. See the Details Tab for more information.
If you return to work after you retire, your pension payments may be suspended if you work in Disqualifying Employment. The rules on what constitutes Disqualifying Employment differ depending upon your age at the time you are working.
Before Normal Retirement Age (Age 65)
Disqualifying Employment before Normal Retirement Age is any work (paid or unpaid) that is:
- With a Contributing Employer;
- With an employer in the same or a related business as a Contributing Employer;
- In the Sheet Metal Industry (as defined by the Plan);
- Employment or self-employment in any business which is under the jurisdiction of the Union; or
- In self-employment in the same or related business as any Contributing Employer.
If you are under Normal Retirement Age, your monthly pension benefit will be suspended for each month you work in Disqualifying Employment, paid or unpaid. If at the time you return to work you have not reached age 62, your benefit is subject to a suspension of no less than three months.
NOTE: In addition to any other applicable suspension periods, your pension will be suspended for an additional six months for every calendar quarter in which you work one hour or more in Non-Signatory Employment.
After Normal Retirement Age (age 65)
Once you have reached Normal Retirement Age, work will only be Disqualifying Employment if it is in:
- An industry covered by the Plan when your pension payments began;
- The geographic area covered by the Plan when your pension payments began; and
- Any trade or craft in which you worked at any time under the Plan.
If you are 65 or older, 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.
After you have reached your Required Beginning Date, representing the April 1 of the following year that you attain age 70½, you may work in any occupation and your benefits will not be suspended.
There are some exceptions for Participants receiving an Early Retirement Pension or a Normal Retirement Pension. Specifically, Disqualifying Employment does not include work of 40 hours or less per month for any of the following:
- SMART (the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers);
- A joint apprenticeship training committee that is affiliated with the Union;
- Work performed as a picketer for the Union;
- For any Local on elections for officials within the Union;
- For work performed after March 7, 2017, but before January 1, 2021, as a teacher’s assistant in a high school within the Springfield Public School District (Springfield, Oregon) that has career technical education (including the sheet metal trade) as its main focus; provided that you retired before 2017;
- For work for, or on behalf of, a governmental entity in a position that primarily involves compliance with the requirements of any federal, state, county, or municipal law, regulation, rule, or ordinance pertaining to construction, building, or facilities codes or standards, or pertaining to the terms or conditions of employment, work, or labor; if it is performed on or after September 1, 2011, but before January 1, 2021; or
- For work as a Curriculum Construction Specialist (or substantially similar position) for the Cleveland Municipal School District (CMSD), provided the following conditions are satisfied: (i) the Participant is employed by the CMSD; (ii) the Participant was referred to the CMSD by the Cleveland Building and Construction Trades Council; and (iii) if it is performed on or after August 1, 2015, but before January 1, 2021.
Additional Information on Suspended Benefits
You should notify the Fund Office in writing within 21 days before you start any type of work that may be Disqualifying Employment, regardless of the number of hours worked in a month.
You are not considered retired under the terms of the Plan document if you work in Disqualifying Employment. If you are working in Disqualifying Employment when you apply for retirement, you will not be eligible to receive a Plan benefit until such work ceases and you meet all other qualifications for a benefit.
Resuming Benefit Payments
You must notify the Fund Office in writing when you stop working in Disqualifying Employment. Your benefits will then resume, subject to any additional months of suspension. Your monthly benefit amount will be recalculated based on your age at the time benefits resume, reduced by the number of months you previously received benefits.
You may have your original benefit increased by the amount of benefits you accrued during your period of reemployment, if any were earned. However, if you had a One-Year Break in Service (generally, less than 435 Hours of Work in Covered Employment during a calendar year) before you returned to Covered Employment, you must complete one Year of Service (generally 870 Hours of Work in Covered Employment during a calendar year) following your return to Covered Employment to receive the additional credit. See Breaks in Service.
If you do not have a One-Year Break in Service between the date you retired and the date you return 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 the additional pension benefits earned following your return to Covered Employment.
If your pension began before you reached Normal Retirement Age and you complete 60 months of Future Service Credit upon your return to work, you will be given the opportunity to make a new election when you retire again.
Pension Payment Options During Suspension
If you die while your benefits are suspended, all benefits, including the Joint and Survivor Annuity that had been in effect immediately before the suspension, will become effective again after your death. 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 may be paid at your death to your current spouse as a Pre-Retirement Surviving Spouse Annuity.