Eligibility, Credits, and Vesting
Individuals working for employers that are signatory to a Collective Bargaining Agreement with Local 478 are eligible to receive contributions to the Pension Fund; individuals who are performing work described in the Collective Bargaining Agreement are eligible to have such contributions paid on their behalf.
Vesting
Once you have become vested, benefits you have earned and continue to earn cannot be lost via a break-in-service. This Plan employs two distinct types or breaks-in-service: Vesting Breaks and Pension Rate Breaks. Vesting Breaks are the more serious and involve two types: Temporary and Permanent.
Temporary Break
If you have not yet become vested in your benefit and you complete less than 140 hours of service in a Plan Year (300 hours for periods prior to October 1, 2001), you will be deemed to have incurred a temporary break-in-service as of the last day of that Plan Year. At that point, you will cease to be a Plan Participant.Permanent Break
This occurs when the number of Plan Years in which you complete less than 140 hours of service (300 hours for periods prior to October 1, 2001) equals or exceeds the greater of six, or the number of years of vesting service you earned prior to your temporary break. At that point, you will be deemed to have incurred a permanent break-in-service, and you will permanently lose any pension credits or years of vesting service you accumulated before the break-in-service.
Pension rate breaks
- You can demonstrate that you were actively seeking work in covered employment (including registering for work with the 478 Referral Office).
- You worked at least one 8-hour day in covered employment in at least one half of the Plan Years in which you failed to earn less than the 0.1 or 0.2 pension credit.
- And accrue an additional five pension credits after your return to Covered Employment.