Frequently Asked Questions
Pension
It is a qualified defined benefit plan. A qualified plan is one that meets specific requirements of the Internal Revenue Code. Qualified plans are afforded tax advantages. For example, participants pay no tax until they retire and begin receiving benefits. Also, qualified plans contain an anti-assignment provision, which prevents pension benefits from being reached by creditors. In a defined benefit plan, benefits are specified amounts payable monthly for the participant's life, however long you may live in your retirement years.
All contributions to the Pension Fund are made by employers, pursuant to collective bargaining agreements. No contributions are required or permitted by participants.
Everyone's pension benefit is calculated individually. Depending on when you worked in covered employment, your benefit may be calculated based on credited service and/or the dollar amount of employer contributions. Your pension benefit is not related to your earnings.
| For work performed | Value of employer contributions |
|---|---|
| prior to 1/01/04 | converted to credited service, which is then multiplied by a specific value per credit when you last earned at least one-quarter year of credited service. |
| on or after 1/01/04 through 12/31/07 | multiplied by 0.0135 (not to exceed $66 per month for any given calendar year). |
| on or after 1/01/08 through 12/31/10 | multiplied by 0.0135 (not to exceed $75 per month for any given calendar year). |
| on or after 1/01/11 | multiplied by 0.01 (not to exceed $75 per month for any given calendar year). |
At retirement, your gross monthly benefit is equal to the sum of the above, increased by the single sum of $50. Upon request, you will be provided a detailed individualized pension statement showing your years of credited service along with a calculation of your gross monthly benefit and estimated survivor option amounts.
To be eligible for a disability pension benefit you must accrue at least ten (10) years of Vesting Service, be less than age 62, and suffer a partial or total disability. Partial disability is the inability to work as an operating engineer. A partial disability benefit is calculated in the same manner as a participant who has attained age 62, except that the benefit amount is reduced by one-quarter of one percent for each month by which your retirement date precedes your 62nd birthday. Total disability is the inability to engage in employment as determined by the Social Security Administration and evidenced by the granting of a Social Security Disability Award.
Generally, you should submit your application roughly two months prior to your retirement date. This allows time to review your documentation, calculate your benefit and send you your payment options. Prior to submitting your application, you must have determined your last date of employment and your retirement date. Retirement dates are the first of the month. Except for certain disability pensions, your retirement date can be no earlier than the first day of the first month following receipt of your application.
Yes, simply complete a direct deposit form and return to the Pension Department. However, please remember to keep the Pension Fund updated on any change of address even if you receive payment via direct deposit.
Your monthly pension benefit is taxable and a 1099-R will be issued to you following the end of a calendar year. You can elect to have taxes withheld from your pension payment. Consult with your tax advisor.
You cannot collect a pension benefit for any period you collect supplemental unemployment benefits from the SUB Fund or supplemental accident and sickness benefits from the Welfare Fund.
Profit Sharing
It is a qualified defined contribution plan. A qualified plan is one that meets specific requirements of the Internal Revenue Code. Qualified plans are afforded tax advantages, for example, participants pay no tax until they retire and begin receiving benefits. Also, qualified plans contain an anti-assignment provision, which prevents benefits from being reached by creditors. In a defined contribution plan, each participant has an account; at retirement, the benefit payable is equal to his or her account.
Contributions to the Profit Sharing Fund are made by employers pursuant to collective bargaining agreements. No contributions are required or permitted by participants, except for the direct rollover of other retirement plan assets from another qualified plan.
Contact Empower Retirement at 833-569-2433 or online at www.empowermyretirement.com.
You can receive money from your account via a loan or distribution.
Contact Empower Retirement at 833-569-2433 for a loan application. Empower can e-mail, fax or mail a loan application to you. Your completed application with original signature(s), along with supporting documentation, should be mailed to the Profit Sharing Fund at 65 Springfield Avenue, Second Floor, Springfield, NJ 07081, or faxed to 973-774-1305, or e-mailed to pension@825funds.org. The Profit Sharing Fund will review your application and, if approved, authorize Empower to process a loan.
To obtain approval for a loan, you must demonstrate that you have an "immediate and heavy financial need" due to one of the following reasons:
- Illness, accident or injury to yourself or family member not reimbursed by insurance
- Funeral expenses for your spouse, child or parent not covered by life insurance
- Costs directly related to purchase of your primary residence (not including mortgage payments)
- Tuition payments, room and board expense, and related educational fees for you, your spouse, your children or any of your dependents for post-secondary education or a school or institution for physically or mentally handicapped children
- Payments needed to prevent eviction from your principal residence or to prevent foreclosure
- Any other financial hardship approved by the Trustees on a nondiscriminatory basis.
The minimum amount you can borrow is $500. The maximum amount you can borrow is the lesser of: 50% of your entire account balance or $50,000 minus the highest outstanding balance of your total Plan loans during the 12-month period ending on the day before the loan is issued.
Contact Empower Retirement at 833-569-2433 to request a distribution over the phone or access your account at www.empowermyretirement.com to request a distribution online. Once your distribution request is in good order with Empower, the Profit Sharing Fund will review and, if eligible, authorize Empower to process a distribution.
You are eligible upon (1) retirement, (2) termination, (3) disability, (4) death. Eligibility for distribution due to termination occurs upon expiration of six consecutive months from your last day of work for a contributing employer.
Welfare: Precert/Case Management
By using an in-network provider in the Horizon PPO Blue Card network you will only be responsible for your applicable copayments on services covered under the Plan for that provider. For assistance in locating an in-network provider you can call Horizon’s Provider Locator at 800-810-2583 or log onto https://doctorfinder.horizonblue.com and choose Horizon PPO as your Plan.
For Hospital Services, Ambulatory Surgery Centers, Behavioral Health (Mental Health and Substance Abuse), Physicians, and other Medical Supplies and Services use your Horizon Blue Cross of New Jersey card effective April 1, 2018. *Please note there is no coverage for Ambulatory Surgery Centers who are not contracted as in-network providers with Horizon BCBSNJ.
For prescriptions, use your CVS/Caremark card.
For dental services, present your Fidelio card.
For retired members who have Medicare, effective 10/1/2016, present your Aetna Medicare Advantage card for hospital, physician services and prescriptions. Providers and members should call Aetna for network status, coverage questions or for precertification at 888-267-2637. Retired members should continue to use the Fidelio card for dental services.
There is no penalty for outpatient services, emergency room visits or admissions that result from an emergency at an out-of-network hospital. For planned admissions to a hospital that is out-of-network with Horizon BCBSNJ, you will be subject to a $500 deductible and 30% coinsurance. There is no out-of-network benefit for Ambulatory Surgery Centers that are not contracted with Horizon BCBSNJ and you are responsible for the full charges.
It is the member’s responsibility to check the status of an Ambulatory Surgery Center.
For simple x-rays other than CT Scans and MRIs, and what would be considered routine physician visits and laboratory tests you do not need to precertify these services. For ER Visits, In-Patient Admissions and Outpatient Surgeries call the Funds Precert Department at 800-677-3237 and choose prompt 7. For CT Scans and MRIs, your physician must call a division of Horizon known as Evicore at 866-241-6603.
Please call the Funds Precert Department at 800-677-3237 and choose prompt 7 for questions about precertifying services not listed above.
Savings
Please contact the Accounting Department 973-671-6800
You will be asked to submit written verification that you have not received a check and request that a stop payment be placed on the missing check. A stop payment will be placed immediately. Generally, within 48 hours of receipt of your written request a new check will be issued. If you then receive the missing check after a stop payment has been placed, you cannot deposit or cash that check. You will be responsible for any bank fees if you attempt to deposit or cash a check that has been "stopped."
If a participant should die during the benefit year, his or her account will be paid out at the same time distribution is made to all other Plan participants on or before the first week in December. Payment is made to a participant's surviving spouse or, in the absence of a spouse, to the participant's estate.
The annual distribution is issued on or before the first week in December each year and includes contributions for work periods October 1 through September 30 received by the Funds Office through September 30. If you worked for a contributing employer anytime during the month of September it is likely that your employer's contribution may not be received by the Funds Office until after the close of the benefit year September 30.
The Funds Office will issue a check once a month for all contributions which apply to work periods prior to September 30. These monthly payments are issued on or around the 15th of each month. Savings Benefit Statements are mailed monthly and indicate the amount of Savings contributions received on your behalf during a particular month. Your monthly Savings Benefit Statement issued just prior to the annual distribution reflects Savings contributions received from September 1 through September 30 only. Your Savings Benefit check stub will list total contributions received by month
SUB
You can work a total of twenty-four (24) regular hours and remain eligible. Overtime is counted as time-and-a-half so, for example, 22 regular hours and 2 overtime hours total 25 regular hours and makes you ineligible. You must send in your pay stub with your SUB application.
You can send in a copy of the Internet Certification Page or your Bank Statement showing deposit(s) from State Unemployment. The Bank Statement must have your name or last 4 digits of the account number present. If your name is not on the Bank Statement, then you would have to forward a copy of a Statement Page that has your name on it or a copy of a voided check to verify that this deposit belongs to the person that is applying for S.U.B. Benefits. If you do not have internet access, submit copies of ATM Card withdrawal receipts along with a copy of the front of the Bank Card.
No, checks are mailed or can be picked up at the Funds Office.
The drop off cutoff time to pick up an SUB check the same day is 11AM sharp unless otherwise indicated and is at the SUB department’s discretion.
All checks must be picked up between 2 and 2:30PM same day unless otherwise indicated by the SUB department.
You must work a minimum of five hundred (500) hours the previous benefit year to be eligible for SUB benefits. The benefit year runs from April 1 through March 31.
Eligible members can collect up to twenty-six (26) weeks of SUB from April 1 through March 31. Once you have been paid 26 weeks, you must wait until the next benefit year; and if eligibility requirements have been satisfied, you are again eligible to collect.
Send in your Paystubs for the last benefit year, so that your hours can be verified. If your hours still do not total at least 500 hours you will be notified in writing. If they do, your payment will be processed.
In order to receive Supplemental Unemployment Benefits Payments you have to be out of work and/or work for 24 hours or less. New Jersey members have to physically visit the local Unemployment Office and request a copy of their Payment History. The first page of the Payment History will reflect the date on which the claim has begun, when the claim has ended and when the new claim will begin. If you have worked 24 hours or less, then a paystub can be submitted. New York and Pennsylvania members can obtain a copy of their Payment History online.
In this Section
For more information
Call the Funds Office at (973) 671-6800.
