Future Service Eligibility Credit
Your Eligibility Credit is used to determine which Pension type you may qualify for. For example, a Service Pension requires 30 Eligibility Credits and a Regular Pension requires 10 Eligibility Credits. Eligibility Credit is based on hours worked in Covered Employment, hours of Qualified Military Service, absence from Covered Employment due to periods of temporary disability, or for work under certain alternate pension plans, subject to the rules of the Plan.
Disability Benefit Application
Hours Worked in Covered Employment
You will earn one full Future Service Eligibility Credit for 1,200 or more hours in Covered Employment in a Calendar Year. If you work fewer than 1,200 hours in Covered Employment in a Calendar Year, you receive one-twelfth of a Future Service Eligibility Credit for each 100 hours of such work, provided you work at least 300 hours in Covered Employment during the Calendar Year.
Qualified Military Service
You may earn Eligibility Credit for service in the Armed Forces of the U.S. during the period that you retain reemployment rights under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA). USERRA requires you to return to Covered Employment after your release from Qualified Military Service within a specified timeline, which in turn affects your ability to receive Eligibility Credit for the period of military service.
If your military service was less than 31 days, you must return by the first full workday after your release from military service, plus a reasonable time for safe transportation and an 8-hour rest period.
If your military service was 31 to 180 days in length, you must return within 14 days after your release from military service.
If your military service was 181 days or more, you must return within 90 days after release from military service.
Temporary Disability
You may earn Eligibility Credit due to an absence from Covered Employment if you are in receipt of benefits under State Disability Insurance, Workers’ Compensation, or Longshoremen’s and Harbor Workers’ Compensation.
In order to qualify for Eligibility Credit for periods of Disability, you must have at least 7 full Eligibility Credits based on Hours of Work in Northern California or based on Military Service (excluding any lost Credit(s) due to a Permanent Break in Service).
- Disability Credit Hours are provided at the rate of the lesser of 35 hours per week or the average number of hours worked, plus hours granted for Qualified Military Service by the Participant during the 24 full months preceding the period of disability.
- The maximum number of Disability Credit Hours is the greater of 20% of the total Hours of Work in Covered Employment plus hours in Qualified Military Service or Total Disability Hours credited for non-working periods as of January 1, 2015.
In order to receive Eligibility Credit Hours for periods of disability, you must provide written notice and proof of disability within 12 months of the onset of disability.
Stakeholders of the Plan are not eligible to receive Eligibility Credit based on periods of disability.