The Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Trust

Long-time Plan participants who lost contributory service credit because of a two- or three-year break in covered work before 1976 may now qualify to have their contributory service credit restored so that it can be counted when calculating Plan benefits.

To qualify, you must meet all of the requirements shown below:

You worked in covered employment before 1976 and lost Plan credit for that work because of a break in service that occurred before 1976. Click here for an explanation of the break in service rules that applied before 1976.
You returned to covered employment after that break and became vested in your new Plan benefits by December 31, 1998. (Note: You cannot use lost credits to help you vest.)
You had no forfeitures of service after December 31, 1975. Click here for a summary of the forfeiture of service rules that apply after 1975.
You did not retire before 1999.

If you meet these requirements, all of the pre-1976 covered hours that you lost will be restored and counted for the following purposes:

Your restored covered hours increase your future service credits under the Plan’s five-year average formula used to calculate your benefits for covered employment before 1987. Click here for a summary of the five-year average formula.
You earn an additional year of contributory service for each year in which 500 or more covered hours are restored. Years of contributory service are important since they help you qualify for higher early retirement benefits—through PEER, for example. Click here for a summary of the types of early retirement and the rules for each.
You earn an additional year of service for each year in which 500 or more covered hours are restored. Remember, once you complete 20 years of service, you qualify for higher benefit percentages under your Plan’s contribution account formula. Click here to see how the benefit percentages work.

Note: The restoration rule only applies to covered hours you lost because of a break in service before 1976. It does not apply to any non-contributory "past employment" credit that you might have lost because of a break in service. The rule also does not apply to hours you lose because of a forfeiture of service after 1975.

If you worked in covered employment before 1976, contact your Area Administrative Office to find out if you qualify to have any lost covered hours restored.

Example: Let's say a participant joined the Plan in 1960, worked seven years in covered employment and then left for a job outside the Plan. Let's also say that two years later, he lost credit for all his covered hours under the Plan's pre-1976 break in service rules. He returned to covered employment in 1980 and became vested on December 31, 1989. Under the new rules, the covered hours he lost before 1976 are now restored.

Click here to see the many ways that the participant's benefits are better now that his seven years of lost covered hours are restored. It assumes that this participant is now age 56 and worked under a PEER/80 pension agreement for the past few years.