After you commence to work for an employer who is signatory to a Collective Bargaining Agreement or Participation Agreement requiring an Annuity Plan contribution to be made on your behalf, you will become a Participant in the Plan upon completion of two hundred (200) hours of work or upon $200.00 in contributions credited to your Individual Account. At this point, you are entitled to the full value of your account upon retirement, disability, death, or separation from service.

The contributions to the Annuity Plan are contributed by employers who have signed a Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Laborers’ International Union of North America, an affiliated Local Union, or other entities (including a Local Union or any related Funds) who have signed other agreements that require contributions to the Plan. No employee contributions are permitted.

The entire cost of the Annuity Plan is paid for by employer contributions. The minimum employer contribution rate is defined within your employer’s collective bargaining agreement with the Union or participation agreement with the Annuity Plan.  No employee contributions are permitted.

The Plan is administered by its Board of Trustees. As Plan Administrator, the Trustees interpret the Plan to determine what benefits and when benefits are payable to the Participants if they retire, die, become disabled, suffer qualifying hardship or otherwise terminate employment. They are also responsible for keeping the Plan’s records and answering any questions you may have about the Plan, and your benefits and rights under the Plan.

The amount of the annuity benefit for each Participant is the amount in each Participant’s Individual Account at the time the Participant qualifies for payment of the annuity. Generally, it is the sum of all contributions made over the years to a Participant’s Individual Account, plus the interest earned, minus a charge for administration expenses.

In general, you are eligible to receive the amount in your Individual Account when:

1. You are receiving a pension from a LIUNA affiliated Pension Plan, or
2. You become totally and permanently disabled. If you become totally and permanently disabled, then you may apply to receive your total Account Balance regardless of your age. You will be considered to be totally and permanently disabled if the Trustees determine, on the basis of medical evidence, that you are permanently incapable of working due to a physical or mental disability. You must also have earned at least one year of service (at least 200 hours of service or $200.00 in contributions paid into the Fund on your behalf during any Plan Year prior to becoming disabled); or
3. You have had no employer contributions to the Annuity Plan made on your behalf for 12 consecutive months, or
4. You have left covered employment and entered the Armed Forces of the United States for a period of at least 90 days, or
5. You reach age 70 ½ regardless as to whether you are working in covered employment. (Federal law requires that the distribution begin by April 1 following the end of the year in which you reach age 70 ½.)
6. In the event of a financial hardship which makes a distribution necessary in light of a participant’s immediate and heavy financial need, a Participant may apply for an in-service withdrawal of a portion of the Participant’s Individual Account.