Overview
What is the New England Health Care Employees Pension Fund?
The New England Health Care Employees Pension Fund is a Taft-Hartley defined benefit plan. The plan is administered by an equal number of management and union trustees who make up the Board of Trustees. Your benefit is defined by a formula which is based on your years of credited service and earnings during a specified period of time before you retire.
Participation in the Plan
How do I become a participant?
There are two requirements to become a participant of the Pension Plan
- You are in a covered job class with a contributing employer under an 1199 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)
- Your employer is required to contribute to the Fund on your behalf under the terms of the CBA.
Vesting
- Vesting Service – You earn one year of vesting credit if you work at least 1,000 hours in a calendar year for a contributing employer
Earning and Calculating Your Pension Benefit
Your pension benefit is determined by a formula that takes the sum of your earned Credited Future Service and your average earnings.
- Credited Future Service – Each month that you work the required number of hours per the CBA your Employer will make a contribution on your behalf. Each contribution will earn you a credit for that month (.0833 of credited service per monthly contribution)
- Average Earnings – The average of your highest five consecutive years of wages within a ten-year time frame in which you received a future service credit. The plan takes your highest five consecutive years of wages, divides them by the number of months that a contribution was received, and multiplies them by 12
- i.e., Total Wages in a five-year period = $171,593.27; total number months that a contribution was received = 59 months.
- $171,593.27 / 59 = $2,908.36 x 12 = $34,900.32 (your average earnings)
- i.e., Total Wages in a five-year period = $171,593.27; total number months that a contribution was received = 59 months.
- Pension Benefit Percentage Rate – A percentage that is determined by the Board of Trustees
Below is the formula that is used to determine your pension benefit:
Average Earnings x Total Credited Future Service x Pension Benefit Percentage Rate / 12= Your monthly pension benefit
Becoming 100% Vested in the Plan
- You become entitled to your pension benefit when you become 100% vested. You must meet one of the following requirements (plus have one additional month of credited future service) to become vested:
- 5 Years of Vesting Service (five years of 1000 hours or more) or
- 5 Years of Credited Future Service (60 future service credits) or
- Any combination of 5 calendar Years of Credited Service and Years of Vesting Service (the same period shall never be counted twice)
