W E L F A R E
Who Is Eligible
The welfare plan includes vision, hearing, dental, life/accidental death and dismemberment and weekly disability coverage. You are eligible to participate in the welfare plan if you are:
- Employed by a participating employer, covered by the collective bargaining agreement between the employers and the union, and you work for a participating employer at least 700 credited hours during a union contract year;
- An elected officer or full-time office employee of any of the local unions of the International Longshoremen’s Association in the Savannah, Georgia district for whom contributions for at least 700 hours per union contract year are required and paid by the Local;
- An officer of the International Longshoremen’s Association (commonly referred to as the “International”) living in the Savannah, Georgia district and for whom the International makes contributions for at least 700 hours per union contract year;
- A full-time employee in the office of the Georgia Stevedore Association who works at least 40 hours per week and for whom the Georgia Stevedore Association makes the required contributions;
- A full-time salaried employee of the manager’s office or a Container Inspector who works at least 40 hours perweek.
If You Are Retired
If you are a retired participant receiving a pension from the Georgia Stevedore Association – International Longshoremen’s Association Pension Plan, you are eligible to participate in the welfare plan, which includes vision, hearing, dental and life insurance coverage. However, if you retire on or after January 1, 1993, you must retire with at least 10 years of credited service under the pension plan to be eligible for welfare plan coverage. If you retire with less than 10 years of credited service under the pension plan but you had at least 700 credited hours of service during the last union contract year you worked, welfare plan coverage will continue until the end of the calendar year that follows the union contract year in which you earned at least 700 credited hours of service.
Also, please keep in mind that:
- Retirees are not eligible for weekly disability benefits;
- Retiree life insurance coverage differs from active employee coverage;
- Retirees are not eligible for accidental death and dismemberment insurance coverage.
See the individual sections for detailed information on the different benefits available to retirees.
Your Eligible Dependents
Your dependents also may be eligible for benefits under the welfare plan. Your eligible dependents include your:
- Lawful spouse of the opposite sex
- Unmarried children up to age 19
- Unmarried children up to age 25 if they are registered as a full-time student in an accredited school and depend on you for financial support. To be eligible for coverage, your child must be a full-time student for at least five months each calendar year, unless he or she is unable to attend school because of injury or illness. For coverage to continue during vacation periods, full-time students
must be scheduled to enter school on the next enrollment date.
- Unmarried physically or mentally disabled children. Coverage for an unmarried child with a physical or mental disability who depends on you for support may
continue after coverage would normally end as long as the disability began before coverage would normally end. Coverage may be continued by providing proof of the child’s disability to the ILA Welfare Fund Office within 31
days of the child’s 19th or 25th birthday.
What Does the Term “Children” Mean?
The term “children” means your:
- Natural children;
- Legally adopted children;
- Step children;
- Children placed with you for adoption;
- Children legally placed in your home;
- Other children who live with you in a parent-child relationship and depend on you for support under a legal document or court order.
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| When Welfare Plan Coverage Begins |
Coverage for you and your eligible dependents begins... |
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Coverage for you and your eligible dependents begins ... |
January 1 following the union
contract year in which you work
700 or more credited hours of
service |
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On your date of employment |
If you are... |
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If you are... |
- An employee of the
participating employers,
covered by the collective
bargaining agreement
between the employers and
the union, and you work
700 credited hours during
the preceding union
contract year
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- An officer or employee of
the International
Longshoremen’s Association
locals for whom contributions are required from the Local for at least 700 credited hours per union contract year for you
- A full-time, salaried employee of the manager’s office or a Container Inspector
- The Executive Director or other full time employee of the Georgia Stevedore Association and the association makes the required contributions for you
- An officer of the International Longshoremen’s Association living in the Savannah, Georgia district and the International makes contributions for at least 700 hours per union contract year for you.
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Enrolling Yourself and Your Dependents In The Welfare Plan
To take part in the welfare plan, you must enroll yourself and any dependents you want to cover. You enroll by completing an enrollment card and an insurance application form and returning it to the Welfare Fund Office. You must also provide the Welfare Fund Office with copies of these documents:
- your birth certificate and Social Security card
- a marriage certificate if you’re married
- a divorce decree and/or death certificate showing dissolution of the marriage if either you or your spouse were previously married
- birth certificates for your spouse and all your eligible dependent children
- Social Security cards for your spouse and dependent children.
Special Enrollment Periods
If you decline medical coverage through the welfare plan for your spouse or your dependents since you have other medical coverage, or if you declined coverage in the past since you had other coverage, and you later lose that coverage
because:
- eligibility for the other coverage ends
- employer contributions for the other coverage end, or
- COBRA coverage available through the other coverage is completely used
then federal law (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) requires that you be able to enroll in the welfare plan as long as you complete an enrollment form and return it to the Welfare Fund Office within 30 days of the date your other coverage ends. If you decide to continue the coverage you lost through COBRA, you have until 30 days from the date your COBRA coverage ends to enroll in the welfare plan.
If you acquire a new dependent because of marriage, birth, adoption or placement for adoption, you can enroll your new dependent and any other dependents in the welfare plan by completing an enrollment form and returning it to the Welfare Fund Office together with the required documents within 30 days of the marriage, birth or adoption.
More Important Information About The Welfare Plan
What is the union contract year?
A union contract year is the 12-month period starting October 1 and ending on the following September 30.
What are credited hours?
Credited hours are the hours you actually work during a union contract year for participating employers that are covered by the collective bargaining agreement between the employers and the union — and for which contributions are paid. You must work 700 or more credited hours during a union contract year to be eligible for welfare plan coverage the following January.
Can I earn credited service if I’m disabled?
You may be credited with “gratuitous hours” if you are disabled. Gratuitous hours count as credited service for welfare plan eligibility. Here’s how gratuitous hours are
calculated.
- If your disability is the result of an on-the-job injury and you are receiving weekly, or other periodic, Workers’ Compensation benefits, you will receive four gratuitous hours for each day you are disabled.
- You will be credited with up to 1,000 hours during a union contract year, but no more than 3,000 hours will be credited for each injury.
- You must have completed at least five consecutive years of service, and have worked at least 700 credited hours in each of the five union contract years. You must be eligible for welfare benefits at the time the illness or injury occurs.
- If you are injured on the job and receive a lump sum settlement of your Workers’ Compensation benefits, you’ll be credited with gratuitous hours for the time that
you weren’t receiving weekly Workers’ Compensation benefits.
- The amount of gratuitous hours credited will equal the amount of the lump sum Workers’ Compensation payment divided by your weekly compensation rate. You will be credited with up to 1,000 hours during a
union contract year, but no more than 3,000 hours will be credited for each injury.
- If your disability is the result of a non-occupational illness or injury and you are receiving weekly accident and sickness disability benefits through the welfare plan, you will receive three gratuitous hours for each day you are disabled before October 1, 1999, and four gratuitous hours for each day you are disabled on or after October 1, 1999.
- You will be credited with up to 700 hours during a union contract year before October 1, 1999 and up to 1,000 hours during a union contract year after October 1, 1999. Gratuitous hours will be credited for no more than two years in a row, for a maximum of 1,400 hours before October 1, 1999, and up to 2,000 for a disability beginning on or after October 1, 1999.
- You must have completed at least five consecutive years of service, including the union contract year immediately before the year in which the injury or illness occurred, and have worked at least 700 hours
in each of the preceding five union contract years for union contract years beginning before October 1, 1999, or at least 1,000 hours for union contract years beginning October 1, 1999 or later.
If you are credited with gratuitous hours because of an injury or illness, you must return to active work and earn 700 credited hours during a union contract year before October
1, 1999, or 1,000 credited hours in a union contract year on or after October 1, 1999, to be eligible to receive gratuitous hours for another illness or injury.
When Welfare Plan Coverage Ends
Check the section for each type of benefit for details on when your coverage ends.
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