Health & Welfare » Retiree

Requirements

You are eligible for health and welfare benefits if you meet each of the following 5 requirements:

1. You must be in receipt of pension benefits from the Carpenters Pension Trust Fund for Northern California or a related plan that is based on 10 or more years of eligibility credit, based on Hours of Work or Qualified Military Service. You may use qualifying hours from any of the following plans to satisfy the 10 years of eligibility credit requirement:

   • Carpenters Pension Trust for Northern California
   • Carpenters Fund Administration Office Staff Plan
   • Any Lathers Plan merged into the Carpenters Pension Trust Fund for Northern California
   • OPEIU Local 3 or 29 (if service was with a Contributing Employer)
   • Industrial Carpenters Pension Plan
   • Any Pension Plan when required by a Collective Bargaining Agreement and/or Memorandum of Understanding negotiated by the Carpenters 46 Northern California Counties Conference Board and/or any of its affiliates

2. In each of the 2 calendar years immediately preceding the calendar year in which your pension effective date occurred, you worked at least 300 hours in covered employment for a Contributing Employer, during which time contributions were required to be paid into the Active Employees’ Plan A, Plan B, or Plan R.
   
   For purposes of the above 300-hour provision, you may count hours worked in the year of retirement even if you do not work a full calendar year. You may also count hours of disability credit granted under the provisions of the Active Employees’ Plan, hours of disability credit granted under the provisions of the Carpenters Pension Trust Fund for Northern California, and hours worked for a contributing employer in the Southwest Carpenters Health and Welfare Plan.

3. In 3 of the last 5 calendar years immediately preceding the calendar year in which your pension effective date occurred, you worked at least 400 hours per year in covered employment for a Contributing Employer, during which time contributions were required to be paid into the Active Employees’ Plan A, Plan B, or Plan R. For purposes of this 400-hour requirement, you can count hours worked in the year of retirement even if you do not work a full calendar year. Hours of disability credit may not be used to satisfy this requirement.

4. You did not engage in any hours of work for wages or profit in the Building and Construction Industry for an entity that was not a Contributing Employer to the Active Employees’ Plan, or not a contributing employer to a related plan that is signatory to the International Reciprocal Agreement for Carpenters Health and Welfare Funds (including self-employment) during the calendar year in which your pension effective date occurred, and in each of the two immediately preceding calendar years.

5. You make the required self-payments in the form and manner designated by the Board of Trustees. Your eligible Dependents will be enrolled in the same plan you choose for yourself. If you have reciprocal eligibility credits from the Southwest Carpenters Pension Trust, see also “Reciprocity with the Southwest Carpenters Health and Welfare Trust” on page 22 of the Summary Plan Description.

When Participation Begins

If you are a Retiree who meets the requirements discussed above, your participation in this Plan will begin the first day of the 4th month on the following your date of retirement or the first day of the month following exhaustion of eligibility provided by your Hour Bank under the Active Employees’ Plan, whichever is earlier.

For example: If you retired on March 1 and had an Active Hour Bank balance of 600 hours (6 months of Future Eligibility), your Retiree coverage would begin on June 1. (June 1 would be the first day of the fourth month following your date of retirement and would be earlier than the end of the 6 months of eligibility provided by your Active Hour Bank.)

If you retired on March 1 and had an Active Hour Bank balance of 200 hours (2 months of future eligibility), your Retiree coverage would begin on May 1. (The end of the 2 months of eligibility provided by your Active Hour Bank would be earlier than the first day of the fourth month following your date of retirement.)

Summary Plan Description (Retirees)