The purpose of the Supplemental Unemployment Benefit Program (SUB) is to provide some measure of income security to eligible Plan Participants while unemployed.

Definition Of Plan Participant

Any person employed under a Collective Bargaining Agreement which contains a fringe benefit provision for SUB contributions shall have the clock hours posted to his/her record. Seventy (70) clock hours shall equal one (1) benefit credit. The benefit shall become available for payment in the first instance when the record indicates that thirteen (13) benefit credits have been posted and that the person is a Plan Participant covered under the rules of the I.B.E.W. Local 25 Health& Benefit Plan.

State Eligibility Requirement

A Plan Participant shall become eligible to make application for this available benefit after he has registered for and filed a valid claim under a state unemployment benefit law and continues thereunder during any statutory waiting period, benefit periods or extensions thereof and after all unemployment benefits have been exhausted.

Application For Benefit

An “eligible” Plan Participant may then make application for this “available” benefit on the SUB claim form on or before the fifteenth (15) day of the month following the month for which the claim is being submitted. All information must be completed, the claim form must be signed and any necessary documents provided to establish “eligibility” under state law and the additional requirements of the SUB Program. For example, acceptable proof can be obtained from www.labor.state.ny.us

Determination Of Eligibility For Sub Weekly Benefits

The requirements to be “eligible” for SUB payments are:

1. The Plan Participant shall have been terminated by his employer.
2. The Plan Participant shall not have been employed more than one day in any week for which a claim is made.
3. The Plan Participant shall register his availability for work in the jurisdiction of Local 25. I.B.E.W. and sign the book according to the rules of the referral procedure in the Local 25 Employment Office. A Plan Participant will not be considered “eligible” to receive SUB payment if he/she is not available for assignment to work under the collective bargaining agreement by the Employment Office in the jurisdiction of Local 25, I.B.E.W. In the event such not available Plan Participant subsequently accepts assignment by the Employment Office to return to work under the collective bargaining agreement in the jurisdiction of Local 25 I.B.E.W., he/she shall thereafter be required to work a minimum of six hundred fifty (650) clock hours before he/she becomes eligible to participate in the SUB Program.

Program Benefits

The maximum credits a Plan Participant may accrue is 104 credits. Each credit is valued at one hundred fifty ($150.00) dollars. During the period that state unemployment; benefits (including any waiting period) are received, the SUB amount shall be two hundred twenty-five ($225.00) dollars per week and shall reduce the credit balance by one and one-half credits. In the event that the state benefit is exhausted while the Plan Participant is still otherwise “eligible” then the Plan Participant may, by submitting written proof of this fact, increase the amount of benefit claimed out of “available” funds to three hundred seventy-five ($375.00) dollars per week and shall reduce the credit balance by two and one-half (2 1/2) credits. Payments will be made on a monthly basis after  the claim has been received.

Termination

This SUB Program will terminate for the Participant at midnight on the date the Plan Participant terminates his coverage under the I.B.E.W. Local 25 Health & Benefit Fund, retires or dies. Any Participant who retires may transfer 80% of his funded Supplemental Unemployment Benefit account to his Medical Reimbursement Account to help pay for continuation of health benefits. The benefit will not be “available” for any claims occurring after that date and time credits shall thereafter be zeroed out.

Contingent Requirements

If the Trustees, at any time in their discretion, determine that eighty-five (85%) percent of the eligible Plan Participants are employed, a one week waiting period may be required before benefits become “available” for payment.

Non-Assignment

The benefits under the Program can only be assigned or pledged to the extent permissible under law.

Claim Receipt, Review And Determination

Under the Plan Rules, the issuance and submission of a claim form does not constitute acceptance of an individual’s eligibility under the program, nor a guarantee of a benefit payment. The determination of eligibility and the amount of any benefit payable is subject to review according to the terms of the program at the time that the claim occurs.