Frequently Asked Questions

PENSION

1. How do I know if I am covered by the Plan?
2. What is an Hour of Employment?
3. What if I work for different Employers?
4. Are Plan benefits paid automatically if I retire?
5. What day of the month will I receive my monthly pension check?
6. What happens if I become disabled after I stop working in the industry?
7. Is there a lump sum payment option?
8. Is my spouse eligible for a survivor benefit?
9. Can a survivor benefit be paid from the Plan to someone other than a spouse?
10. If I retire, then return to employment, how will my pension benefit be calculated when I stop working and resume retirement?

WELFARE

1. What are my welfare benefits?
2. How do I qualify for welfare benefits?
3. Will I receive credited hours towards my eligibility if I am temporarily disabled?
4. When do my welfare benefits become effective?
5. When do temporary disability income benefits become payable?
6. What happens if I return to work after a disability and become disabled again?

VACATION AND HOLIDAY

1. What is counted in determining my Vacation and Holiday benefits?
2. When are benefit checks sent out?
3. How do I qualify for Vacation and Holiday benefits?
4. Who will receive my Vacation and Holiday benefits if I die?

Pension

1. How do I know if I am covered by the Plan?

If you qualify as an Employee and work at least 800 Hours of Employment within 12 months after you first begin work, you will automatically become a participant on the first day of the Plan Year following your first day of employment. Otherwise, you will automatically become a participant on the first day of the Plan Year in which you work at least 800 Hours of Employment. Enrollment is not necessary.

“Employee” has the meaning set forth in the DEFINITIONS section of theSummary Plan Descriptionbooklet, and generally includes longshoremen, employees in other ILA waterfront crafts, officials and employees of the local unions, regular employees of the Board, compliance investigators employed by the Royalty Escrow Account and employees of the International Union who live in the Geographical Area. [return to top]

2. What is an Hour of Employment?

Hour of Employment means, if you are a collectively bargained Employee, each hour for which you are paid or entitled to pay for doing your job that is covered by the Collective Bargaining Agreement. It also includes hours for certain periods during which you are not at work but are paid because of vacation, holiday, illness, incapacity or disability, layoff, jury duty, or leave of absence, not to exceed 800 hours for any single Plan Year. Hours of Employment may be credited for military duty or approved leaves of absence as long as you return to work for a contributing Employer within the required period under USERRA. If you are a non-collectively bargained Employee or a non-hourly paid Employee, your Hours of Employment will be credited on the basis of 40 hours per full week. [return to top]

3. What if I work for different Employers?

As long as you are working in the industry for an Employer who has signed one of the Collective Bargaining Agreements between MidGulf Association of Stevedores, Inc. and the ILA, or a Collective Bargaining Agreement between an Employer and the ILA, you will remain covered by the Plan. However, if you go to work for an Employer who has not signed a Collective Bargaining Agreement with the ILA, then hours worked for that Employer will not be covered by the Plan.

Employers who are signatory to the Collective Bargaining Agreements [return to top]

4. Are Plan benefits paid automatically if I retire?

No. You must complete a pension benefit application and file it with your Field Office. Benefits cannot begin until an application is received and the Board of Trustees approves your application. The Plan is required by law, however, to begin paying your benefits on April 1st in the calendar year following when you reach age 70 ½ even if you have not applied for your pension benefit. [return to top]

5. What day of the month will I receive my monthly pension check?

Your monthly pension check is paid on the first day of each month. If you have signed up for direct deposit, your pension payment is electronically transmitted and is deposited in your account on the first business day of the month. If the first day of the month is a weekend or a holiday, you may have to wait until the first business day of the month before your bank gives you access to the funds. No checks will be issued before the first day of the month. [return to top]

6. What happens if I become disabled after I stop working in the industry?

To be eligible for a Disability Retirement Pension benefit you must become disabled while you are employed in the longshore industry and meet all other requirements listed on pages 13 and 14 of the Summary Plan Descriptionbooklet. [return to top]

7. Is there a lump sum payment option?

No. Your pension benefit is paid in the form of a monthly annuity payment which means you receive equal monthly benefits payable over your lifetime. [return to top]

8. Is my spouse eligible for a survivor benefit?

If you are married on your Annuity Starting Date, the automatic form of payment for your pension benefit is a Qualified Joint and Survivor Annuity (QJSA). If you have been married for less than one year on your Annuity Starting Date, you and your spouse must remain married for at least one year in order to remain qualified for the QJSA. The term that is used to refer to a spouse who satisfies the one year marriage requirement is a Qualified Spouse (see the DEFINITIONS in theSummary Plan Descriptionbooklet). Under this form of payment, you receive equal monthly benefits payable for life, and at your death, your Qualified Spouse, if surviving, receives a monthly survivor benefit for life, in the amount of 50% of your lifetime monthly benefit.

If your Approved Retirement Date is on or after January 1, 1980 and your last year of Creditable Employment is for a Plan Year beginning on or after October 1, 1979, the cost of providing this 50% survivor benefit is subsidized (or absorbed) by the Plan. This means there is no actuarial reduction to the amount of your lifetime monthly benefit to reflect the fact that your benefit is payable over two lives. As a result, under a subsidized QJSA, your monthly benefit is the same amount that it would be under a Straight Life Annuity. If the QJSA is not subsidized, it is the Actuarial Equivalent of the Straight Life Annuity, which means that your lifetime monthly benefit is reduced to reflect the fact that your benefit is payable over two lives. If your approved retirement date is after October 1, 2009, the QJSA is not subsidized. [return to top]

9. Can a survivor benefit be paid from the Plan to someone other than a spouse?

If your Annuity Starting Date is on or after October 1, 2001 and you earn at least 500 Hours of Employment in the Plan Year in which you retire or in the preceding Plan Year, you may waive the automatic form of payment with your spouse’s consent and elect one of the four optional forms of payment described on pages 27 – 29 of the Summary Plan Descriptionbooklet. [return to top]

10. If I retire, then return to employment, how will my pension benefit be calculated when I stop working and resume retirement?

If you return to work in Disqualifying Employment prior to your Normal Retirement Age, which is age 62 if you worked after August 1, 1986, your benefits will be suspended until you stop working. If you return to work after your Normal Retirement Age, your benefits will be suspended for each calendar month in which you work at least 40 hours or more in Disqualifying Employment; however, there will be no suspension of benefits that are due for or after the month in which you attain age 70 ½. Your benefits will resume when you stop working and will be in the same form of payment and amount that you were receiving at the time of suspension, plus any increase needed to reflect additional benefits accrued during your return to Employment in the Industry. The resumption of your benefit payments will not be treated as a new retirement. For more information regarding suspension of benefits see pages 42 - 44 in your Summary Plan Descriptionbooklet. [return to top]

Welfare

1. What are my welfare benefits?

The local New Orleans Employers – ILA Welfare Plan provides life insurance benefits to eligible active and retired employees and their spouse as well as temporary disability income benefits to active employees. Medical, prescription, mental health, dental and vision benefits are provided by the national Management – International Longshoremen’s Association (MILA) Health Plan to active employees, retirees and eligible dependents.

For a schedule of benefits of your temporary disability income and life insurance benefits, please see the Summary Plan Descriptionbooklet. For a description of your medical, prescription, mental health, dental and vision benefits under the MILA Plan go towww.milamhctf.com. [return to top]

2. How do I qualify for welfare benefits?

There are three different benefit tiers of your welfare benefits. You must work at least 700 hours during the October 1st to September 30th Plan year in order to qualify for the lowest (core) benefit tier level, between 1,000 and 1,299 hours to qualify for the middle (basic) benefit tier level, and over 1,300 hours to qualify for the top (premier) benefit tier level. There are special eligibility rules for employees who have not earned their registration cards and who have a lower hourly contribution rate paid upon their behalf. Please see the Eligibility Section on pages 17 – 21 of theSummary Plan Descriptionbooklet for more information regarding your eligibility. [return to top]

3. Will I receive credited hours towards my eligibility if I am temporarily disabled?

If, after you become covered under the Plan, you become disabled prior to your termination of coverage under the Plan and you are receiving benefits under Worker’s Compensation or the Temporary Disability Income provision of this Plan, you will receive credited hours towards your eligibility as follows:

• 26 hours per week up to a maximum of 1,300 hours per Plan year, when you become disabled while covered under the Premier Plan level of benefits;
• 20 hours per week up to a maximum of 1,000 hours per Plan year, when you become disabled while covered under the Basic Plan level of benefits;
• 14 hours per week up to a maximum of 700 hours per Plan year, when you become disabled while covered under the Core Plan level of benefits;

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4. When do my welfare benefits become effective?

Your welfare benefits become effective on January 1st based upon the number of hours you earned during the previous October 1st to September 30th Plan year. Your life insurance initially becomes effective October 1st immediately following your initial October 1st to September 30th eligibility period. [return to top]

5. When do temporary disability income benefits become payable?

Payment will be made for each day of Total Disability beginning with the eighth day of such disability. Total Disability means you can perform no duty pertaining to your occupation as a result of non-occupational accidental bodily injuries, sickness or pregnancy. Payments will continue to be made while you remain continuously Totally Disabled, but not for more than 26 weeks for any one continuous period of Total Disability. Payments will not be issued during any period in which you are receiving unemployment benefits or Worker’s Compensation benefits or are Employed in the Industry as defined in the NOE – ILA Pension Plan. [return to top]

6. What happens if I return to work after a disability and become disabled again?

If you are Totally Disabled, return to work, and become Totally Disabled again due to the same or a related cause, the second disability will be considered a continuation of the first period of disability, as long as you had returned to work for less than seven calendar days. If your second disability is unrelated to the first, and you have returned to work, the second period of disability will be considered a separate claim and a new 8 day waiting period must be satisfied before benefits become payable. [return to top]

Vacation and Holiday

1. What is counted in determining my Vacation and Holiday benefits?

Worked hours are counted towards your Vacation and Holiday eligibility and benefits. No credit is given for disability leaves of absence however, credit is allowed for military leaves of absence. Also, hours worked at the casual or transitional hourly contribution rates are not counted towards your Vacation and Holiday eligibility or benefits. [return to top]

2. When are benefit checks sent out?

Annual Vacation and Holiday benefit checks are distributed at the ILA Local union halls in the first week of December. [return to top]

3. How do I qualify for Vacation and Holiday benefits?

The Board of Trustees determines the V&H benefit eligibility each year but historically you must earn at least 500 hours during the Plan year to qualify for a Vacation benefit and at least 700 hours during the Plan year to qualify for a Holiday benefit. Vacation benefits are paid up to 3,000 hours and Holiday benefits are paid up to 2,500 hours per Plan year [return to top]

4. Who will receive my Vacation and Holiday benefits if I die?

If there is a succession, your Vacation and Holiday benefits will be paid to the succession or and/or the Administrator of the succession. If there is no will or succession, your dependent spouse will be eligible to receive your V&H payments. If there is no succession or surviving spouse, your dependent children will be eligible to receive your V&H payments. If there is no succession, surviving spouse or children, your surviving parents or siblings will be eligible to receive your V&H payments. [return to top]