Covered Employment

Covered Employment is work in a position that requires your employer to contribute into the Pension Fund on your behalf.

Covered Employment may also include work before your employer first made contributions to the Pension Fund if your work was similar to work for which contributions are now required. For more information on Covered Employment before contributions were made, see Prior Service on the “People Often Ask About” page of this Web site.

There may be a waiting period after you start working but before your employer is first required to contribute on your behalf. Some of this waiting period may count towards Eligibility Service, but only under certain circumstances.

Waiting periods should not be confused with Prior Service because they are not treated the same way for service credit purposes. Contact the Pension Department at the Benefits Fund Office if you want further information on this subject.

You earn pension credit for each hour that you work in a position that requires your employer to contribute for you into the Pension Fund. You become a member of the Pension Plan on the earliest January 1st or July 1st after you complete 400 hours of covered employment.

Eligibility Service determines whether or not you are eligible for a pension. You must earn at least 5 years of Eligibility Service, without having a Break-in-Service, to be eligible for a pension at retirement age.

You earn one year of Eligibility Service for every calendar year in which you complete 400 hours or more of Covered Employment.

You may also receive Eligibility Service for periods when you were not working in Covered Employment:

• Non-Covered Employment with an Employer that Participates in this Pension Fund—Non-Covered Employment is work in a position that does not require the employer to contribute for you into this Pension Fund. If your non-Covered Employment comes immediately before or after a period of Covered Employment, you will receive a year of Eligibility Service for each year that you work at least 1,000 hours. See Transfer from Union to Management/Non-Union on the “People Often Ask About” page of this Web site.
• Qualified Military Service—You may receive a year of Eligibility Service for each year you serve in required military service in the armed forces of the United States. See Military Service Leave on the “People Often Ask About” page of this Web site.
• Employment with a Reciprocal Plan—You will receive a year of Eligibility Service for each year of service you earn under certain other UFCW plans. See Reciprocity (Service Under Other UFCW Plans) on the “People Often Ask About” page of this Web site.

Credited Service determines the amount of your pension.

There are two types of Credited Service, called Prior Service and Future Service. The difference is when you earned them:

• Prior Service is earned for work before the date an employer began participating in this Pension Fund. See the “People Often Ask About” page of this Web site under Prior Service for more information.
• Future Service is earned for work after the date an employer began participating in this Pension Fund and made contributions on your behalf.

Hours For Which Your Employer Contributed During a Calendar Year	Credited Service Earned	Eligibility Service Earned
Less than 400	.00 year	0 year
400	.25 year	1 year
600	.38 year	1 year
800	.50 year	1 year
1,000	.63 year	1 year
1,200	.75 year	1 year
1,400	.88 year	1 year
1,600	1.00 year	1 year

Beginning in 1988, you can receive more than 1 year of Credited Service in a calendar year if you work more than 1,600 hours of Covered Employment. This applies to you only if your employer’s contribution rate for you is at least 52¢. To determine how much Credited Service you earned, divide your total hours of Covered Employment for the year by 1,600. For example: If you worked 2,120 hours of Covered Employment in one calendar year, you would earn 1.33 years of Credited Service for that year.