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UFCW LOCAL 1776 and PARTICIPATING EMPLOYERS PENSION  FUND

Eligibility for Benefits

What happens if I become totally and permanently disabled? If you retire due to a total and permanent disability, you will be eligible to receive a Disability Retirement Pension, provided at the time you apply for a Disability Retirement Pension, you:    have at least ten years of Credited Service (at least two of which are Future Service), and    have been an active Participant in the Plan at some time during the twelve months immediately preceding the date on which you suffer the total and permanent disability. You will be determined to be "totally and permanently disabled" only if you have been awarded and continue to receive disability benefits from the Social Security Administration. The amount of your monthly Disability Benefit will be equal to the benefit you earned to the date of your Disability. Your monthly Disability Benefit, payable in the form of a Single Life Annuity, will be computed on the same basis as your Normal Retirement Pension. Disability Retirement Pensions commence on the later of:    the first day of the seventh month following the date your Disability begins, or    the month following the month in which your application is filed and approved by the Trustees. The Disability Benefit is payable until the earlier of (i) your death, (ii) the date on which you engage in other employment (except for employment determined by the Trustees to be for the primary purpose of rehabilitation), (iii) the date of your recovery as determined by the Trustees, based upon medical examination) such that you can resume employment with your Employer, or (iv) the date you otherwise fail to satisfy the meaning of suffering a “total and permanent disability” Upon recovery before your Normal Retirement Age, if you return to work for a Participating Employer, you will be reinstated in the Plan with full credit given for all of the Years of Credited Service you earned prior to your date of Disability. If you recover and you do not return to service with a Participating Employer, then it will be assumed that you terminated employment on your date of Disability, and you will be eligible for a Deferred Vested Pension at age 65 or earlier, if eligible. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU APPLY FOR DISABILITY BENEFITS FROM THE PLAN AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AFTER YOU APPLY TO SOCIAL SECURITY. OTHERWISE, THE DISABILITY BENEFIT PAYABLE FROM THE PLAN MAY BE DELAYED

Example  Jan, who is totally and permanently disabled, applies for Federal Social Security disability in January. The Social Security Administration awards her a disability pension in July. In order for Jan to begin receiving her Disability pension from the UFCW Local 1776 and Participating Employers Pension Fund coincident with her Social Security award, she must apply for her Disability pension from the Plan by June. Instead, Jan delays her application until August (after she is awarded her Federal Social Security disability pension). Her first Disability pension payment will commence in September, and she will not be able to receive retroactive payments from the UFCW Local 1776 and Participating Employers Pension Fund.