Vesting

The Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council Millmen Pension Fund ("Plan"), sometimes referred to as the 'Millmen Pension Fund', can provide you with a lifetime of income after you retire. Your benefits at retirement are based on pension credit you earn during your career. In addition, to earning pension credit, you also earn years of vesting service.

What are years of vesting service?

Another way of measuring your employment with a contributing Employer is in years of vesting service. Eligibility for most benefits under the Plan is based on your years of vesting service. You need to be vested in order to be eligible to receive a future benefit.

When am I vested in the Plan?

You generally must have at least five Years of vesting service to be eligible for benefits.

How do I earn vesting service?

You earn one year of vesting service when you work 1,000 hours or more in any calendar year and your employer is signatory to an agreement which requires contributions to the Plan on your behalf.

You can only earn one year of vesting service in any calendar year. However, in certain situations, your vesting service record can be adjusted to equal to your full years of pension credit.

Example 1: Joe Jones has the following employment history:

	Hours of Work in a Calendar Year	Years of Pension Credit	Years of Vesting Service
Year 1	1,200	1	1
Year 2	1,050	1	1
Year 3	875	3/4	0
Year 4	540	1/2	0
Initial Totals			3 1/4	2
Vesting Service Adjusted Total					3

In the initial totals, you can see that Joe's Years of Vesting Service are less than his Years of Pension Credit. Therefore, Joe's Vesting service record will be automatically adjusted to show 3 Years of Vesting Service, which equals his full Years of Pension Credit.