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Metropolitan and Suburban Plan SPD >> Long Term Disability (LTD) Benefits
This Plan provides continuing monthly income to you if you become totally disabled while you are in covered employment. This means you are unable to work in any capacity as a result of bodily injury or disease.
Eligibility
Long Term Disability (LTD) benefits are for Metropolitan Plan participants only. (This benefit is not available to Suburban Plan participants.) Spouses and children are not eligible for this benefit. To be eligible for LTD benefits, you must meet the following requirements:
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You become totally disabled while working in covered employment.
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As of the date you stopped working due to the disability, you had at least 36 consecutive months of eligibility in the Building Service 32BJ Health Fund as a result of covered employment, and the 36 consecutive months of eligibility were immediately prior to the date you stopped working due to the disability. Approved leaves of absence during the three-consecutive-year period will count toward eligibility for this purpose.
You are not entitled to LTD benefits if you are eligible to commence a normal form pension (i.e., single life annuity if you are single; joint and survivor annuity if you are married) of $250 or more per month from the Building Service 32BJ Pension Fund, the Service Employees 32BJ North Pension Fund, the Pension Trust Fund of Window Cleaners’ Union, Local No. 2, the Pension Fund of the Theatre and Cultural Division of Local 32BJ and the League of American Theatres and Producers, Inc. (the Pension Fund of Local 54) or any other pension fund covering members of Local 32BJ (whether or not you elect to commence such a pension).
LTD Benefit Amount
The LTD benefit payable from the Plan is $250 per month.
When Benefits Begin
LTD benefits will commence on the first day of the month after:
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you have stopped working for 180 consecutive days (26 weeks) due to a total disability or, if later,
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New York or New Jersey State Disability Insurance Benefits have been exhausted.
In some cases, employees attempt to return to work and become disabled again. This is how such situations are handled in terms of the waiting period for LTD benefits.
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If you have not begun to receive LTD benefits from the Plan. If you become disabled and leave work for at least four consecutive months and then return to covered employment for less than six consecutive months, and you are unable to continue working because of your original disability, you will be eligible for benefits on the first day of the month following two consecutive months of disability. You would, however, have to complete another 180-day waiting period if you are out of work for less than four consecutive months and/or if the reoccurring disability lasts less than two months.
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If you have begun to receive LTD benefits from the Plan. If you return to covered employment for less than six consecutive months and you are unable to continue working because of your original disability, LTD benefits would resume on the first day of the next month. In this case, you would not have to satisfy another 180-day waiting period.
In either case, you would have to complete another 180-day waiting period if you return to covered employment for six or more consecutive months and become disabled again.
Receiving LTD Benefits
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Before they begin: To apply for benefits, contact the Member Service Center as soon as you believe you are disabled and submit proof of your disability as soon as possible. You must submit proof of your disability within nine months of the date you became disabled. If you first apply for benefits after this nine-month period, it will be presumed that your disability did not commence while you were working in covered employment, unless you can provide the Fund with clear and convincing evidence otherwise.
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After they begin: The Fund may require you to be examined periodically by one or more Fund-selected doctors to confirm your continued disability. The Board or its designee has the sole and absolute discretion to make all determinations of disability.
When Benefits End
LTD benefits will stop on the first day of the month after any of the following, whichever happens first:
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you work at any job
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you are no longer totally disabled
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you become eligible to receive a normal form pension (see the "When Benefits Begin" section) of $250 or more per month, under the provisions of the Building Service 32BJ Pension Fund, the Service Employees 32BJ North Pension Fund, the Pension Trust Fund of Window Cleaners’ Union, Local No. 2, the Pension Fund of Local 54 or any other pension fund covering members of Local 32BJ*
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you reach age 65, if your disability began before your 60th birthday; or you receive your 60th monthly LTD payment and your disability began on or after your 60th birthday
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the Fund receives information that indicates you are ineligible for LTD benefits, or
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you die.
* You may continue to be eligible for up to 30 months of hospital, medical, EAP, prescription drug, dental and vision benefits as long as you are still considered totally disabled.
What Is Not Covered
LTD benefits are not payable for disabilities that result directly or indirectly from:
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the participant’s attempted suicide or self-inflicted injuries
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war (whether declared or not), insurrection, rebellion or participation in a riot or civil commotion
- the participant’s commission of or attempt to commit assault, battery or a felony.
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