Work After Retirement
Working after retirement may result in the suspension of your monthly benefit, depending on your age and the work you perform. Disqualifying employment generally includes working for an employer in covered employment or employment for which contributions are required to one or more of the following Funds:
- Laborers’ District Council and Contractors’ Pension Fund of Ohio
- Ohio Laborers’ District Council – Ohio Contractors’ Association (OLDC-OCA) Insurance Fund
- Ohio Laborers’ Training and Apprenticeship Trust Fund
- OLDC-OCA Cooperation and Education Trust (LECET)
If you begin to work in disqualifying employment, you should submit written notification to Ohio Laborers Benefits as soon as possible. If you are not sure if a particular job will be considered disqualifying employment, we recommend contacting us for a determination. You may need to provide a job description from your employer for this determination.
Work Restrictions Based on Age
Depending on your age, you have different work restrictions:
- Before Regular Retirement Age – Prior to your regular retirement age, your monthly pension benefit from the Plan will be suspended for any month in which you work in Disqualifying Employment, regardless of how many hours you work. Even one hour of disqualifying Employment will result in a suspension of your pension benefit.
- After Regular Retirement Age – your monthly pension benefit from this Plan will be suspended for any month in which you work 40 hours or more in disqualifying employment. Working less than 40 hours of disqualifying employment in a month will not affect your pension benefit.
- After age 70.5 – there are no work restrictions after age 70.5. Working in disqualifying employment after age 70.5 will not affect your pension benefit with this Plan.
Examples Of Disqualifying Employment
- Working as a Labor foreman
- Perform Laborers’ work in Ohio (or Boone, Campbell, or Kenton counties in Kentucky or Brooke or Hancock counties in West Virginia)
- Perform Laborers’ work with Cleveland Local 310 or Cincinnati Local 265
- Supervise Laborers (unless you are a Superintendent as defined by the National Labor Relations Act and hours were not previously reported to the Pension, Insurance, or Training Funds for the same work).
- Multi-Craft supervision is not permitted after retirement unless contributions are made to another construction trade.
- The same job you did before you retired (if contributions were made to the Pension, Insurance, or Training Funds for the same work)
- Perform Laborers’ work for non-union employers (under Regular Retirement Age)
Examples Of Qualifying Employment
- Employment outside of the construction industry
- Employment in the construction trade other than Laboring
- Employment (including Laboring) outside the state of Ohio, Boone, Campbell, or Kenton counties in Kentucky, or Brooke or Hancock counties in West Virginia. **However, if you work outside of Ohio and have hours and fringes transferred to this Fund through reciprocity or from pipeline work, this is considered disqualifying and would affect your pension and retiree insurance benefits.
- Multi-craft supervisors – IF contributions on your behalf are made to another construction trade and NOT to a laboring fund.
- Laboring for non-union employer, if you are passed your Regular Retirement Age.
- Any type of employment after age 70 years and 6 months (even Laboring).
- Working as a superintendent IF you are acting as a “supervisor” within the meaning of the National Labor Act. Generally, this means you have the discretion to do one of the following to other employees
- Promote
- Discharge
- Suspend
- Lay off
- Hire
- Transfer
- Assign
- Reward
- Recall
- Discipline
Your Pension Benefits After Returning to Work
Your pension benefits will remain suspended until your Disqualifying Employment ends. The suspension may be extended to collect monies paid to you for months your pension should have been suspended due to Disqualifying Employment. Once you stop Disqualifying Employment, you must submit written notification to the Ohio Laborers Benefits office stating your last date of disqualifying employment before your benefit will be restarted. Your monthly benefit amount after you stop Disqualifying Employment will not change, unless you earn at least one additional pension credit during a single suspension period.
Disqualifying Employment Under The 2018 Rules
The 2018 Rules only affect Participants who have NOT been credited with a minimum of one-quarter of a Pension Credit prior to January 1, 2018, or whose Pension Credits earned prior to January 1, 2018 are subsequently forfeited under the Plan’s Break in Service provisions. In other words, the 2018 Rules only affect you if your pension calculation at retirement does not include one-quarter Pension Credit from 2017 or earlier.
Regardless of your age, your monthly pension benefit will be suspended for any month in which you work 40 hours or more in Disqualifying Employment. This includes:
- Any industry in which employees covered by the Pension Plan were employed an accrued benefits under the Pension Plan as a result of such employment at the time that the payment of benefits commenced or would have commenced if the employee had not remained in or returned to employment; and
- In a trade or craft in which the employee was employed at any time under the Pension Plan or any other trade or craft by the Pension Plan; and
- In the geographic area covered by the Pension Plan at the time the payment of benefits commenced or would have commenced if the employee had not remained in or returned to employment.