PENSION FUND MENU

Service Employees 32BJ North Pension Fund

North Pension Fund Summary Plan Description (SPD) >> Definitions

Certain words have specific meanings with respect to the Plan. These words are capitalized throughout this SPD.

Active Participant means a Participant on whose behalf Contributions are currently required to be made to the Fund.

Beneficiary means the person named by you on the applicable form provided by the Fund Office who is or may become entitled to benefits under the Plan.

Break in Service means any 12-month period during which you are not Vested and you fail to accrue at least 501 Hours of Service.

Code means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.

Contributing Employer means any employer in the building service industry that has entered into a collective bargaining agreement with the Union requiring Contributions to the Fund or has agreed to make Contributions to the Fund pursuant to another written agreement. Contributing Employer may also include the Union, the Fund, and the Service Employees 32BJ North Health Benefit Fund.

Contributions or Contribution means money paid or payable to the Fund by a Contributing Employer pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement or other written agreement.

Contribution Rate means the weighted average contribution rate a Contributing Employer is required to make for each Plan Year on behalf of its covered Employees.

Covered Employment means employment with a Contributing Employer for which Contributions to the Fund are required under a collective bargaining agreement or other written agreement.

Employee means an individual employed by a Contributing Employer and on whose behalf Contributions are required to be made to the Fund.

ERISA means the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended.

FMLA means the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993.

Fund means the Service Employees 32BJ North Pension Fund.

Hour of Service generally means:

  • an hour for which you are paid, or entitled to payment, for the performance of duties for a Contributing Employer;

  • an hour for which, although no duties were performed, you are paid, or entitled to payment, including vacation, holiday, illness, incapacity (including disability), layoff, jury duty, military duty or leave of absence; or

  • an hour for which back pay is awarded or agreed to by a Contributing Employer (if you receive credit for an Hour of Service under this paragraph, you may not receive credit for the same hour under the two paragraphs above).

Normal Retirement Age means the first day of the month following the later of the date you attain age 65 or the 5th anniversary of the date you commence participation in the Plan.

Participant means an Employee who meets the requirements of participation described in Section 2 of this SPD.

Pension Service means service credited to a Participant for the purpose of determining the amount of benefit the Participant will receive at Retirement and eligibility for a Disability Pension.

Pension Start Date means the first day of the first month for which an amount is paid from the Fund to the Participant.

Plan means the plan of benefits provided under the terms of the Service Employees 32BJ North Pension Plan.

Plan Year means the calendar year.

Qualified Domestic Relations Order or QDRO means a qualified domestic relations order within the meaning of Section 206(d)(3) of ERISA and Section 414(p) of the Code.

Retiree means a Participant who receives a pension benefit from the
Fund.

Retirement or Retired means termination of your employment with all Contributing Employers and becoming eligible for a distribution from the Fund under the Plan.

Spouse or Surviving Spouse means the person to whom you are legally married for at least a one-year period ending on the earlier of the Participant’s death or Pension Start Date. However, if the Participant is married on his or her Pension Start Date and the Participant and the Participant’s Spouse have been married for at least a one-year period ending on or before the date of the Participant’s death, the Participant and Spouse shall be treated as having been married throughout the one-year period ending on the Participant’s Pension Start Date. A spouse or former spouse will be treated as a Spouse to the extent provided in a QDRO.

Totally and Permanently Disabled means the Participant has received a determination of disability from the Social Security Administration, effective the month immediately following the last date the person was an Active Participant.
         ALERT: 06/10/10 NEW Click here for important benefit changes>>

Trustees mean the Board of Trustees of the Fund. The Trustees are the“plan administrator.”

Union means Service Employees International Union, Local 32BJ (“Local 32BJ”), and before the merger of Service Employees International Union, Local 32E (“Local 32E”), into Local 32BJ, it means Local 32E.

Vested means that you have satisfied the requirements of Section 5 of this SPD and you have earned a nonforfeitable right to your benefits under the Plan.

Vesting Service means the service credited to the Participant for purposes of becoming Vested.