Logo

Summary Plan Description

Suspension of Benefits

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.

Download the Full PDF