Pension – Benefits

When You Are Eligible For Pension Benefits

This section describes the types of pensions available under the Plan and the service, age and other requirements for each. The amount of a monthly pension benefit will vary according to a number of factors, including: when your benefits were accrued, when you apply for pension benefits, whether your benefits are subject to a benefits freeze rule or the Rehabilitation Plan and which payments option you select. The Plan Office can tell you about your eligibility and explain various factors which should be considered when you are ready to think about retirement.

If you have any questions about your eligibility or benefits, please contact us at (800) 222-6298.

Normal Retirement Benefit

Eligibility Requirements

You are eligible to receive a Normal Retirement Benefit on the date:

  • You reach age 62 and you have achieved Vested status, or
  • You reach age 65 and the fifth anniversary of your Plan participation, provided you worked at least one Hour of Covered Service on or after July 1, 1988 while you were a Participant in this Plan; or
  • You have not worked at least one Hour of Covered Service on or after July 1, 1988, you reach age 65 and the tenth anniversary of your Plan participation.

Normal Retirement Benefit Amount

The amount of your monthly Normal Retirement Benefit depends on:

  • The number of Benefit Accrual Credits earned;
  • The amount payable for each Benefit Accrual Credit before July 1, 1974 (determined by your Weekly Contribution Rate and Work Jurisdiction); and
  • The percentage of the Qualifying Contributions required to be made with respect to your work after June 30, 1974.

For complete information, refer to the Summary Plan Description.

Early Retirement Benefit

Eligibility Requirements

You are eligible to receive an Early Retirement Benefit on the later of the date:

  • you achieve Vested status, and
  • you reach age 52, and
  • you have earned at least 1 1/2 Years of Future Service Benefit Accrual Credit.

Effective July 1, 2011, in order to receive an unreduced Service Pension, you must also have completed a minimum Hours of Service as described below and in the Summary Plan Description.

Early Retirement Benefit Amount

The amount of the Early Retirement Benefit is determined in the same manner as the Normal Retirement Benefit if you qualify under the Recommended Schedule Service Pension of the Rehabilitation Plan. Otherwise, the Early Retirement Benefit is reduced so that it is the actuarial equivalent of your Normal Retirement Benefit.

For complete information, refer to the Summary Plan Description.

Disability Retirement Benefit

Eligibility Requirements

If you become disabled, you are eligible for a Disability Retirement Benefit if:

  • You have 1 1/2 Years of Future Service Benefit Accrual Credits (this requirement may not apply if you worked in 1962 under certain collective bargaining agreements); and
  • You have a Disability Award from the Social Security Administration, or can establish that such an Award was unavailable solely because of the absence of enough quarters of coverage to qualify under the Social   Security Law; and
  • You earned at least 1/2 Year of Benefit Accrual Credit during the period which consists of the Plan Year in which your Social Security Disability Benefits began and the two preceding Plan Years. (Hours of Reciprocal   Service earned under another plan may be counted toward satisfying this eligibility requirement).

Proof of Disability

You are considered “Disabled” if you have a Social Security Disability Award. Evidence of this can be shown by submitting one of the following to the Plan Office:

  • A copy of your Social Security Disability Award; or
  • A letter from the Social Security Administration showing entitlement to a Social Security Disability Award. The letter must show the effective date of your Social Security disability payments.

If you cease to be “Disabled,” payment of your Disability Retirement Benefit will cease. Until you reach Normal Retirement Age (62), you will be required to provide proof each year that you continue to qualify for a Social Security Disability Award. Once you reach Normal Retirement Age, you will continue to receive pension payments – even if you recover from your disability.

Recovery by a Disability Pensioner Before Normal Retirement Age (62)

The Disability Retirement Benefit is payable for as long as you remain totally disabled. If you recover from your disability or learn that your Social Security disability benefits are being stopped, you should notify the Plan Office immediately after receiving notice from the Social Security Administration. Your Disability Retirement Benefit payments will then stop. The failure to do so may result in the overpayment of benefits which must be recovered by the Plan and may result in your pension being delayed when you again apply for retirement.

If you return to a job in Covered Service, you will begin to earn additional Service Credit and benefit accruals. When you retire again, your Retirement Benefits will not be affected by your earlier Disability Retirement Benefit payments – unless you owe the Plan for prior overpayments of Disability Retirement Benefits.

Recovery by a Disability Pensioner After Normal Retirement Age (62)

Once you reach Normal Retirement Age, your pension will continue even if you recover from your disability, as long as you remain retired.

When Disability Retirement Benefits Are Payable

Your Disability Retirement Benefit is payable beginning on the date you are entitled to Social Security Benefits. Generally, this is the sixth month after Social Security determines you to have been totally disabled. The Plan will make payments retroactive to that date, except that retroactive payments will not go back more than two years prior to the date your application for benefits is received by the Plan Office.

Benefits In The Event Of Your Death Before Retirement

This section describes the death benefits payable to your surviving spouse if you should die prior to receiving benefits from this Plan. If you are a married Participant, your surviving spouse may be eligible to receive a Pre-Retirement Marital Annuity.

Pre-Retirement Marital Annuity

If you are a married Participant, a Pre-Retirement Marital Annuity protects your spouse if you should die prior to receiving a pension benefit, if:

  • You have achieved Vested status; and
  • You and your spouse have been married during the twelve-month period prior to your death. The Pre- Retirement Marital Annuity is payable for your surviving spouse’s lifetime.

If you die after becoming eligible for Early Retirement Benefits, your surviving spouse will receive an amount equal to the survivor annuity that would have been payable had you retired the day prior to your death and elected a 100% Marital Annuity with your surviving spouse beginning to receive a lifetime monthly benefit beginning the first of the next month.

If you die prior to becoming eligible for Early Retirement Benefits, the amount payable to your surviving spouse will be equal to the survivor annuity that would have been payable had you retired on your earliest retirement date with a 100% Marital Annuity. Benefits to your spouse will begin on the first of the month following the month in which you would have become eligible for Early Retirement Benefits had you lived.

Exceptions:

Non-Covered Glazing Service: If your benefits are frozen as a result of work in Non-covered Glazing Service as of July 1, 1997, your benefits are subject to adjustment for early retirement (if you are younger than age 62 on your date of death) and your surviving spouse will then receive pre-retirement death benefits in accordance with the 50% Marital Annuity (including adjustment factors) that was in effect on the date of your benefit freeze.

Rehabilitation Plan – Recommended Schedule: Note that changes made to how Early Retirement Benefits are calculated under the Recommended Schedule will similarly affect how the Early Retirement Benefit portion of the Pre-Retirement Marital Annuity is calculated.

Benefit Accrual Credit for Periods of Military Service

Beginning December 12, 1994, you will receive Benefit Accrual Credits for the period of military service during which you retain reemployment rights under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994, provided you return to Covered Future Service following your release from active duty, within the applicable period specified by the Act. The amount of the Benefit Accrual Credits will be calculated in accordance with the pay rate you would have received had you continued to work in Covered Service, or if the rate is undeterminable, the average pay rate, hours, or compensation during the 12-month period immediately preceding the period of the military service will be used.