Northwestern Ohio Plumbers and Pipefitters

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Frequently Asked Pension Questions

Q.	If I die before retirement, are any benefits payable?
A.	If you die with a vested benefit, but BEFORE you have received any monthly benefits from the Plan, your surviving spouse will receive a monthly payment for the rest of his/her life. The amount of the monthly payment will be the amount your spouse would have received under the “joint and survivor” benefit (with a 50 percent survivor feature) – that Is, one-half of the amount you would have received if you were receiving the joint & 50% survivor benefit when you died. Monthly payments to your surviving spouse will begin as of the first day of the months after you die if you were eligible for the early retirement benefit when you die. However, if you were not eligible for the early retirement benefit when you died but you were vested, the monthly payment to your surviving spouse will begin with the month following the month in which you would have become age 55 if you had not died. The benefit will then be paid to your surviving spouse for life. (if your spouse dies in the meantime, no death benefit will be paid.) Even though your surviving spouse may be eligible for monthly payments for life—either beginning immediately or on a delayed basis—your surviving spouse may instead elect in writing to receive 60 monthly payments (5 Year Certain) of the benefit you had earned when you died, or 120 monthly payments (10 Year Certain) (reduced in amount so those payments have the same actuarial value as the 60 month payments). If your spouse elects to receive either 60 or 120 monthly payments (5 Year or 10 Year Certain), the value of the monthly payments for life that your spouse could have chosen will be reduced by the actuarial value of the 60 or 120 payments. If you die with a vested benefit, but before you have received any monthly benefits from the Plan, and are not married, your beneficiary may elect to receive either 60 monthly payments of the benefit you had earned when you died, or 120 monthly payments (reduced in amount so those payments have the same actuarial value as the 60 monthly payments).
Q.	What is a Plan Year?
A.	A Plan Year is a consecutive 12-month period running from January 1st to December 31st. The Fund uses Plan Years to determine many matters relating to the Plan.

Q.	How many hours per Plan Year constitute a full year of Vesting Service?
A.	Years of Vesting Service are used to determine whether or not you are entitled to a benefit from the Plan. Years of Vesting Service before August 1, 1976, for members of the bargaining unit represented by Local No. 50 are determined as follows: Before August 1, 1976: For service from July 1, 1940 through December 31, 1976, vesting service is your service from your most recent uninterrupted date of membership in the collective bargaining agreement until represented by Local Union No. 50 (as evidenced, for example, by membership in the Local), to the nearest one-tenth year. After July 31, 1976: Years of Vesting Service after July 31, 1976 are based on the number of hours you work in covered employment and in contiguous non-covered employment. (Contiguous non-covered employment means hours worked with the same employer in non-covered employment as long as there is no interruption in employment (such as a quit or discharge) between covered and non-covered employment.) You earn one Year of Vesting Service if you complete at least 435 hours of work with an employer during a plan year. (If you complete fewer than 435 hours of work during a plan year, no partial credit is given.) You will also receive one Year of Vesting Service for the year in which you become a participant, regardless of how many hours you have worked during that year. You may also be entitled to Years of Vesting Service for time spent on active duty in the military as long as you return to covered employment while your reemployment rights are guaranteed by law.

Q.	How many hours per Plan Year constitute a full year of Credited Service?
A.	Years of Credited Service are used in part to determine the amount of the benefit you will receive if you are vested. No more than one Year of Credited Service may be earned in any calendar year. Before August 1, 1976: Before August 1, 1976 there was no difference between Years of Vesting Service and Years of Credited Service. They were earned and lost in the same way. After July 31, 1976 and through December 31, 1988: After July 31, 1976, and through December 31, 1988, you earn one Year of Credited Service for each calendar year during which at least 1,500 hours of contributions are required to the Plan for you. If less than 1,500 hours of contributions are required during a calendar year, you will received one-tenth of a Year of Credited Service for each 150 hours of contributions. The excess hours will be carried forward to any of the next three years and credited to one or more of those years, if less than 1,500 hours of employer contributions were required during those years. Effective January 1, 1989 and thereafter: Effective January 1, 1989, the amount of your benefit is based on a percentage of contributions made to the Plan on your behalf for a calendar year, not on Years of Credited Service. You may also be entitled to Years of Credited Service for time spent on active duty in the military as long as you returned to covered employment which your reemployment rights were guaranteed by law. You will receive credited service for the period during which you were receiving worker’s compensation benefits or sickness and accident benefits from the Northwestern Ohio Plumbers and Pipefitters Health and Welfare Plan, up to a maximum of 1,500 in any calendar year.

Q.	What types of benefits does the plan provide?
A.	The Plan provides six types of benefits: normal retirement, unreduced early retirement, early retirement, disability retirement, deferred vested (normal) retirement and death.

Q.	When I am ready to retire, what procedure should I follow?
A.	Contact Tina, in the Benefit Office, at (419) 662-1388, extension: 130, approximately 45 – 60 days prior to your retirement date for an estimate of your benefit and the appropriate application. As part of your application, you will be required to provide the Benefit Office with a copy of your and your spouse’s birth certificates, your marriage certificate, and if you have ever been divorced, a complete copy of your divorce decree(s). Your benefit cannot begin until all required documents are received by the Fund. You are responsible for obtaining the required documents.

Q.	How can I find out what my benefit will be at retirement?
A.	Once per year, you will receive a statement of your accrued benefit. These statements are prepared and mailed after the final contributions are received for the prior Plan Year. The statement will reflect; Total Credited Service, Credited Contributions for the most recent Plan Year, Total Credited Contributions from the time you initially became a participant through the current Plan Year (for benefit purposes), Your accrued monthly benefits as of the most recent Plan Year and your Vesting Status .

Q.	What is a Forfeiture of Service?
A.	A forfeiture of Service means that you have consecutive Breaks in Service (less than 435 hours during a calendar year) that equal or exceed the number of Years of Vesting Service you had before the first Break in Service or if greater five. If you have a “Forfeiture of Service,” you lose all service for vesting and benefit purposes that you earned before the Forfeiture of Service. However, if you are vested in your benefit, you cannot have a “Forfeiture of Service.” Example: You have three Years of Vesting Service. If you have five consecutive Breaks in Service, all of your vesting and benefits will be forfeited (permanently lost), even if you later return to covered employment.

Q.	What happens if I leave covered employment or work less than the minimum hours required (435 hours per Plan Year) before I am vested in my accrued benefit?
A.	If you do not complete more than 435 hours with a contribution employer during a plan year (January 1 through December 31) in either covered employment or, effective January 1, 1976, in “contiguous non-covered employment” (defined below) you will have a Break in Service. Contiguous non-covered employment means work in non-covered employment with a contributing employer, as long as no quit, discharge or retirement occur between covered employment and on-covered employment. Contiguous non-covered employment counts for vesting service beginning January 1, 1976.

Q.	How do I become vested in my benefit and what does it mean to be vested?
A.	You are vested in your pension benefit if: You have five Years of Vesting Service, or You reach your Normal Retirement Date before you have a Forfeiture of Service. Note: Before January 1, 1997, vesting generally required 10 Years of Vesting Service.