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Insurance & Benefits
Introduction | Health & Welfare Fund | Pension Fund 'A' | Pension Fund 'B' A Word From Vanguard
Your BenefitsThe IBEW Local Union No. 22/NECA Health, Welfare, Pension and Vacation-Holiday Funds are jointly administered by a Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees consists of an equal number of Union Trustees and Employer Trustees. Benefits provided are as follows. Health and Welfare FundFor each hour worked, the contributing employer pays the rate in effect at the time the hours are worked. The Health and Welfare Fund provides coverage for the employee that consists of Life, Accidental Death and Dismemberment, Comprehensive Major Medical, Prescription Drug Discount Program and Accident and Sickness Weekly Disability Benefits. Coverage provided for the spouse and dependent children consists of Life, Comprehensive Major Medical and the Prescription Drug Discount Program. Eligibility for benefits will begin on the first (1st) day of the second calendar month following the month in which the employee’s credited hours of employment with one or more contributing employers total two hundred-eighty (280) hours or more within a three consecutive calendar month period or less. No medical examination is required in order to become covered under the Fund. To remain eligible, the employee must be credited with at least one hundred-forty (140) hours of employer contributions per month. Whenever an employee is credited with more than one hundred-forty (140) hours during a month (which is to furnish one month’s coverage), the excess hours will be added to the employee’s hour bank accumulation. In this connection, the employee will be allowed to accumulate excess hours in their hour bank up to a maximum of eight hundred-forty (840) hours. Eligibility will be terminated if the hour bank falls below a positive balance after the deduction of one hundred-forty (140) hours for the current month’s coverage. An employee may elect to continue coverage under the Self-Payment Provisions. Once the employee becomes eligible for coverage, a summary Plan Description Booklet, identification card and other pertinent information will be provided.
Pension Fund “A”For each hour worked, the contributing employer pays the rate in effect at the time the hours are worked. Pension Fund “A” is a defined benefit fund that provides eligible employees with monthly retirement benefits. Benefits are paid in the form of either normal retirement benefits, early retirement benefits, total and permanent disability benefits, or in the case of death of the employee – a surviving spouse benefit or a death benefit. The employee will become vested upon working 300 hours per calendar year for period of five years. Normal retirement age is 65 with less than ten years of vesting credits and age 62 with ten or more years of vesting credits. Pension Fund “B”For each hour worked, the contributing employer pays the rate in effect at the time the hours are worked. Pension Fund “B” is a defined contribution benefit fund that provides eligible employees with either a 50% joint and survivor annuity, a life annuity or a lump sum option. Benefits are paid in the form of either normal retirement benefits, early retirement benefits, total and permanent disability benefits, separation from service, or in the case of death of the employee – a death benefit. In the case of separation from service, distribution is made when no contributions have been made to the Fund for a period of at least one year prior to the date the application is signed, witnessed and approved by the Board of Trustees. Employer contributions are sent monthly to the Vanguard Group and are deposited directly into the employee’s self-directed account. The employee can then invest the contribution in the options made available through the Vanguard Group. Vacation FundCurrently, 6% of the employee’s gross wages are withheld and deposited into the employee’s Vacation Fund Account. The employee is paid interest monthly on the account balance. To make a withdrawal from the Vacation Fund, the employee must complete a vacation fund withdrawal form and return it to the Fund Office by no later than 12 o’clock noon on Thursday to receive a vacation check for that week. The checks are mailed on Friday. Vacation checks cannot be picked up in person, they must be mailed. (Note: If a holiday falls on a Thursday, the employee must complete a vacation fund withdrawal form and return it to the Fund Office by no later that 12 o'clock noon on Wednesday). The employee may receive three free vacation fund withdrawals each year (February 1 through January 31st). There will be a $20 service charge deducted from the employee’s Vacation Fund Account for any withdrawals after the three free withdrawals. An example of when vacation funds are available for withdrawal – if the employee works in May, vacation funds for May will not be available for withdrawal until July. Holiday FundCurrently, 2% of the employee’s gross wages are withheld and deposited into the employee’s Holiday Fund Account. The employee is paid interest monthly on the account balance. Holiday checks are mailed at the end of November of each year. The balance in the employee’s account at the end of October is the amount of the check that will be mailed to the employee at the end of November. Holiday checks will not be mailed any other time during the year, except if the employee retires. There are no other exceptions. Questions/DisclaimersIf you have any questions with regard to the above named Funds, please contact the Fund Office at:
IBEW Local Union No. 22/NECA
This notice contains only highlights of certain feature of the Funds represented. Full details are contained in the documents that establish the Fund provisions. If there is a discrepancy between the wording here and the documents that establish the Fund, the document language will govern. Claim FormsTo download claim forms directly from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska, please click here to go to their web site's Dowload Forms section. |
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