Other Plan Benefits and Fringes

Insurance benefits are available for active and retired employees, spouses of active or retired employees and dependent children. The benefit amount shown below will be paid to your designated beneficiary upon your death, from any cause at any time or place, provided you were eligible at the time of your death.

As long as you are covered by the plan, you and your dependents remain eligible for this benefit; however, please note that insurance benefits may not be eligible under certain continuation coverage, such as USERRA or COBRA continuation coverage.

This benefit ranges from $5,000 – $10,000 and is payable to your designated beneficiary in the event of your death, or to you in the event of a qualifying dismemberment loss if your death or loss is caused by an accidental injury while you are covered under the plan. Please see your plan booklet for full details and amounts.

AD&D benefits are available for active and retired employees. Spouses and dependent children are not eligible for this benefit. You remain eligible as long as you are covered by the Plan; however, death benefits may not be eligible under certain continuation coverage, such as USERRA or COBRA continuation coverage.

If you are an actively working employee and become disabled because of a non-occupational injury or sickness, and are unable to work in your normal job, you may be eligible for weekly disability income benefits. To qualify for benefits, your disability must start while you are eligible for this benefit, and you must be under continuous care and treatment of a physician or other provider. This benefit is not available to dependents.

Disability benefits begin on the first day of disability due to surgery, injury or hospitalization, and on the eighth day of disability due to illness. Benefits are paid for a maximum of 26 weeks of a continuous disability. The weekly disability income is 70% of the employees’ weekly earnings with a maximum of $800 per week, after FICA taxes have been withheld, and minus the total amount of benefits, if any, the employee receives or is entitled to receive for the same period of time from Federal Social Security Disability Benefits. Please note that you are not eligible for concurrent Weekly Disability and Maternity Leave Benefits. If you qualify for both, you will only be provided the Maternity Leave Benefit.

Please see your plan booklet for full details and exclusions. Contact the plan’s benefit administrator, BeneSys, for application forms and more information.

Vacation Benefits are part of the fringe benefits offered to Trust plan participants as part of your wage package and funded through employer contributions. These taxed funds are negotiated with employers and passed onto employees directly as part of regular monthly compensation.

The Trust has partnered with Waterfront Federal Credit Union (WFCU) to administer vacation benefits. Employers send contributions the Plan’s benefit administrator monthly. The funds are then forwarded to WFCU on your behalf. Upon your initial deposit, you will be sent a debit card from WFCU to access your earned vacation funds as necessary. As long as you remain eligible and employed by a participating employer you will continue to receive vacation funds.

If a vacation benefits account has not had any activity for the previous 18 months, WFCU will mark your account as Inactive. WFCU will notify you via a letter at 15 months to let you know that you are going to be charged a $5.00 fee per month if your account does not have activity before the 18-month date. The account will continue to be charged $5.00 a month fee until account activity is resumed. If your account does not have any activity within 36 months, you could forfeit your vacation benefit funds.

If you have any questions, contact WFCU at (206) 622-8415 or (800) 423-1071.

The Trust’s Maternity Leave Benefit is intended to reflect the physical demands of working in the construction trade and the health risks of engaging of this physically demanding work while pregnant. The Trustees want to ensure that pregnant workers can take care of their medical needs without jeopardizing their health, employment, or medical coverage.

The Maternity Leave Benefit provides income of up to $1,000 per week. Maternity Leave Benefits will be available starting 13 weeks prior to your due date and up to 13 weeks post-birth for a total of a maximum of 26 weeks. You must be eligible for benefits under the Trust in the month your leave begins.

Benefits will begin either 13 weeks prior to your due date or on the date you ceased to work, whichever is later, and will end on either the first date you return to work or 13 weeks post-birth, whichever is first. Benefits for partial weeks will be paid on a pro-rata basis for a seven-day week.

Maternity Leave Benefit checklist
Here is a general checklist to assist in you in completing the necessary steps:

Please see your plan booklet for full details and exclusions.

The plan provides benefits for a hearing exam by an MD, DO or other licensed provider acting within the scope of their license. The plan also provides a hearing aid benefit of up to $1,500 per ear, every 36 months. To be covered, hearing aids must be prescribed by a licensed provider to treat a certified hearing loss that will improve by use of the hearing aid. Hearing aid coverage includes the initial fitting of the hearing aid and the batteries, warranties or other ancillary equipment obtained at the time the hearing aid is purchased.

This benefit applies to participants in both the Plan’s PPO option and the Plan’s Kaiser option. For Kaiser participants this means that you can purchase your hearing aids at any provider and receive a benefit of $1,500 per ear, every 36 months. Hearing exams must still be performed by a Kaiser provider to be covered.

The plan will cover replacement of a hearing aid if you meet the above requirements, and 36 months have elapsed since you received your last hearing aid. Charges for a hearing aid prescribed and ordered prior to termination of your eligibility and delivered within 30 days following your date of termination will be covered. The following items would not be covered under the hearing aid benefit:

Please see your plan booklet for full details.