Pension Fund

Quick Reference

Call the Fund Office: 800-922-3240 or 203-934-7991

Becoming a Participant

You become a Participant in the Plan on the January 1 or July 1 after you earn 1,000 hours of service during a 12-consecutive-month period starting the day you begin work in Covered Employment or the first calendar year (January through December) that you earn at least 1,000 hours of service.

If you work at least 1,000 hours in a Plan Year (January through December), you will be credited with one Full Pension Credit. If you work between 250 hours and 999 hours in a Plan Year, you will receive a fractional Pension Credit for that Plan Year.

Vesting

There are differing vesting requirements, which depend upon when you last earned Pension Credit or when you had a Break in Service.

If you are a Plan Participant and you work at least 1,000 hours in five calendar years or you accumulate five or more Pension Credits, your pension will be “vested” (meaning you will be entitled to benefits at Normal Retirement Age).

If you are a Plan Participant and you do not work 1,000 hours in a Plan Year but you do earn fractional Pension Credits (computed in increments of 250 hours), once you accrue a total of five Pension Credits, you will become “vested” as long as you don’t have a “Permanent Break in Service” (in general, you have a Permanent Break in Service if you have a period of five consecutive years of earning less than 250 hours in each year).

Types of Pensions

1. Regular Pension	Normal Retirement Age is age 65. Once you reach age 65, you are eligible for a monthly retirement benefit if you are “vested” (defined above). Once you reach age 65, you are eligible for a monthly retirement benefit if you are “vested” (defined below). If you are vested and have been consistently working throughout your career, your monthly retirement benefit will be equal to $80 per Pension Credit for years of service after January 1, 2018 and $77 per Pension Credit prior to that (if payable in Five-Year Certain and Life Benefit form).
2. Early Retirement Pension	Early Retirement Age is from age 55 to age 64 and 11 months. If you are vested and have earned at least 10 Pension Credits, you are eligible for a reduced monthly benefit instead of the amount you would receive at Normal Retirement Age. The younger you are at retirement, the greater the reduction. For example, the reduction at age 60 is 15%; the reduction at age 55 is 45%.
3. Service Pension	Regardless of your age, if you are vested and have earned at least 30 Pension Credits, you are eligible for a monthly benefit without any reduction. This subsidized Service Pension rewards those with long careers.
4. Total and Permanent Disability Pension	If you receive a Social Security Disability Award, which determines that you are medically unable to engage in any type of gainful employment, and you meet both of the following conditions, you will be eligible for a retirement benefit equal to a Regular Pension (regardless of age): You are a vested Plan Participant with at least five Pension Credits, and You meet an active service test (earning at least one-quarter of a Pension Credit based upon work in Covered Employment in either the calendar year that the disability was incurred or in at least one of the two consecutive calendar years immediately before the calendar year in which you became disabled). Your disability must be expected to be permanent and continuous for the remainder of your life. In addition, your disability must have existed for at least six months.
5. Occupational Disability Pension	If you meet the following conditions, you will be eligible (regardless of age) for a retirement benefit similar to Early Retirement: You are determined to be medically unable to work as a laborer or in any other occupation in the construction industry, by an independent provider retained by the Connecticut Laborers’ Pension Fund You are a vested Plan Participant with at least five Pension Credits, and You satisfy the same active service test described in #4, above Your disability must be expected to be permanent and continuous for the remainder of your life. In addition, your disability must have existed for at least six months.
6. Partial Pension	This type of pension benefit recognizes that many laborers work in multiple jurisdictions. If you have at least one Pension Credit under our Pension Fund and would be eligible for a pension benefit considering all of your laborer’s work for signatory plans (i.e., Pension Credit(s) earned in the jurisdiction of other Laborers’ Pension Funds), you may be eligible to have the service in such Fund(s) considered in calculating the retirement benefit you are entitled to from the Fund.

Additional Pension Credits While You Are Disabled

If the Health Fund pays you weekly disability benefits, you will be credited with 40 hours per week for every week you receive weekly disability benefits—up to 26 weeks. If you receive workers’ compensation benefits and provide the Fund Office with proof from the insurance carrier, you will be credited with 40 hours per week—up to 52 weeks.

Forms of Payment

There are four benefit payment options available at retirement under the Plan:

Five-Year Certain and Life Benefit (the normal form if you are unmarried)
Ten-Year Certain and Life Benefit
50% Joint and Survivor Benefit (the normal form if you are married)
75% Joint and Survivor Benefit

If you retired with a 50% or 75% Joint and Survivor Benefit and your spouse dies before you, your monthly benefit will “pop-up” (increase) to the Life Annuity Benefit amount.

Death Benefits Before Retirement

If you meet certain eligibility requirements, the Plan provides a death benefit to your spouse or beneficiary if you die before retiring. This benefit will be paid as a Pre-Retirement Lump Sum Death Benefit, a Pre-Retirement 50% Joint and Survivor Benefit, or a Pre-Retirement Death Benefit, depending on your marital status.

Applying for Benefits

You must file an application for benefits with the Trustees, in writing, in advance of the first month for which benefit payments are to begin. You may work in Covered Employment up to the effective date of your pension.

You must apply in writing and provide the required documentation. A delay in providing the required documentation may delay the date your first pension check is issued. If you die after an award of benefits, but before the date benefit payments are to begin, and payment was delayed because you did not provide the required documentation, your benefit may be paid to your beneficiary in your elected form as if you died one day after payments began, provided that a benefit would have been payable if no application was filed.

Important: Once you elect and begin receiving a benefit, your election is irrevocable, including periods for which your benefits are suspended due to disqualifying employment.

Suspension of Benefits

“Suspension of benefits” for a month means you’re not entitled to a benefit for the month. If your pension benefit is paid for a month for which benefits are later determined to be suspended, the overpayment and/or applicable penalties will be recoverable through deductions from future monthly payments or other future pension payments.

If you’re retired and you aren’t Normal Retirement Age (that is, age 65), you notify the Pension Fund in writing that you will return to work in Covered Employment and you return to work, your pension benefits will be suspended for three months when you retire again. If you return to work in Covered Employment and you don’t notify the Pension Fund in writing, your pension benefits will be suspended for six months when you retire again.
If you’re retired and you are Normal Retirement Age, you can work up to 40 hours a month without having your benefit payments suspended. If you work more than 40 hours a month, the benefit suspension rules described above will apply.
If you’re retired and it’s April 1 or later after the calendar year in which you become age 70½, you may return to work in Covered Employment for as many hours as you want; your pension benefit won’t be suspended.

Please contact the Fund Office to confirm your pension benefit status.

Documents

Pension Fund Overview
Pension Fund Overview – Spanish
Pension Fund Summary Plan Description (SPD)
CLPF Annual Funding Notice 2023