SPECIAL NEGOTIATED BENEFITS eligibility and the amount of a disability pension. See your prior Some lodges have negotiated an agreement with a contributing plan SPD for more information. employer for a voluntary early retirement incentive program. These For definitions of hours of service, credited service, and vesting ser- involve enhanced early retirement benefits funded by lump sum vice, see pages 7 and 8. or periodic payments by the employer, and they are not effective Definition of Total and Permanent Disability unless approved by the Trustees. You must be totally and permanently disabled for at least six All such programs must be voluntary. If you are affected, you will months before your disability pension can become effective. Total be notified by your employer and allowed to make an election. and permanent disability is determined by the Trustees and is based In addition, some lodges have negotiated agreements with em- upon the following criteria: ployers over the effects of the closing of a facility or other complete › Medical evidence must show that, because of injury or or partial cessation of a business. These agreements may involve disease, you cannot perform the normal and customary pension benefit enhancements funded by lump sum payments by duties of your job or any similar or related job for compen- the employer. Such benefit enhancements are not effective unless sation. approved by the Trustees. › The disability will be total and permanent for the rest of your life. The Trustees may require, as proof of your total and permanent disability, that you apply for a determination by the Social Security Administration that you are entitled to a Social Security disability benefit in connection with your Old-Age and Survivors Insurance coverage. If your application is denied by Social Security, you may be required to submit medical records and/or to an examination by a health professional selected by the Trustees. Once you are on a dis- ability pension, you may be required to be re-examined periodically and/or provide proof of continued eligibility for a Social Security dis- ability benefit. Amount of Disability Pension for Participants Covered Under the Preferred Schedule If you retire on a disability pension and are covered under the Pre- ferred Schedule your disability pension will be reduced based on the early retirement pension factors — which reduces your benefit DISABILITY PENSION based on age — as calculated on the ef fective date of your disability pension (see Table 13). If you retire early because of a total and permanent disability, you may become eligible to receive a disability pension at any age if you HERE’S AN EXAMPLE: are not yet age 65 and you meet all of the following requirements: › you become totally and permanently disabled while in Andrea becomes totally and permanently disabled while in cov- covered employment or within 12 months after leaving ered employment at age 50 with 15 years of credited service. If covered employment, and she were to retire at age 65, she would receive a Normal Pension › you have either at least 600 hours of service in the year benefit of $1,000 per month. 1999 or later or at least 1,200 hours of service, and Under the Preferred Schedule, if Andrea applies for a Disability › you have at least five years of credited service or five Pension at age 50 on or after her RP Schedule Effective Date, she › years of vesting service, including 600 hours of service in will not be eligible for a subsidized unreduced benefit. She will be 1998 or later. eligible to retire at age 50 with a benefit that is calculated by apply- If you do not have an hour of service on or after January 1, 1991, ing the early retirement reduction factor in Table Thirteen at age 50 or if you first became totally and permanently disabled before (.235) to her $1,000 benefit, resulting in a 76.5% reduction and a January 1, 1991, the terms of your prior plan determine both the monthly benefit of $235. SUMMARY PLAN DESCRIPTION 2023 // 17