January 2005

Benefit Reciprocity in the Electronic Age

Every member should receive credit for the hours they work and the contributions earned – that was the goal of the International Reciprocal Agreements for health and welfare and pension funds developed in 2000 and it is still the goal today.

“Back in the late ‘90s, we heard from members that they were not always receiving credit for the benefit contributions earned when working outside of their home Locals,” says BAC Secretary-Treasurer James Boland. “As a result, we had members losing their eligibility for benefits, funds were not growing at the rate they should have, members were refusing to travel for work, and contractors were having difficulty staffing jobs because of these reciprocity problems. In response, we established uniform International Reciprocal Agreements, which require benefit funds signed to the agreements to send a traveling member’s contributions back to their home Local.” The response from the Locals has been very positive. To date, 153 funds have signed the International Reciprocal Agreement for Defined Contribution and Defined Benefit Pension Plans and 105 have signed the Health and Welfare Agreement.

The move to electronic reciprocity should make the transfer of contributions back to a traveling member’s home local benefit funds faster, easier and more error-proof then ever before, make it easier for Locals and fund offices since authorization forms and hours and contribution information will now be available online, and allow members to update their information through a secure website.

Key Fund Requirements

To help local benefit fund administrators become comfortable with the new Electronic Reciprocal Transfer System (ERTS), training programs were conducted for Local officers and their fund administrators in conjunction with the fall round of Regional Council meetings. “I’m glad I attended the ERTS training,” says Jay Hopp, Administrator for Local 6 Illinois Peoria Chapter Benefit Funds. “Once it’s up and running, ERTS will provide both traveling BAC members and benefit administrators with the best service available.”

To take advantage of this new technology:

• The fund must be signed to the International Reciprocal Agreements.
• Signatory funds must adopt amendments to these Agreements for electronic reciprocity, and sign a contract with the Electronic Reciprocal Transfer System service provider.
• Each user of ERTS must personally sign a confidentiality agreement when they log on to preserve
  participant privacy.

What Traveling Members Need to Do

“Once it’s up and running, ERTS will provide both traveling BAC members and benefit administrators with the best service available.” –Jay Hopp, Fund Administrator

To make sure that you receive credit for the fund contributions earned when traveling, you must:

• Make sure your home funds and the funds in the Local you’re traveling to are signed to the International Reciprocal Agreements. A member can check to find out which funds are signed online, by contacting their Local, the BAC Reciprocal Clearinghouse, or by visiting BAC’s website at www.bacweb.org and clicking on “Member Benefits” and “Reciprocal Clearinghouse.”
• Sign an “employee reciprocal authorization” form, obtained from the website or from your home Local, and mail or fax copies to the office of the fund(s) covering the area in which you will be working. You should also follow-up with a call to make sure that the form has been received. If your home fund and the fund that you will be working under are both using ERTS, then soon you will be able to do all of these steps online. Registering through ERTS is only necessary one time. Once you are in the system, all participating funds will be able to access the information they need and you will be able to update your home fund and contact information online.
• Last, when you travel to a new area to work, immediately contact the Local in the area to let the Local officers know your work location and employer. This is a critical step for two reasons. First, the Local into whose area you’ve traveled won’t be able to adequately represent you and ensure that you’re receiving the correct wages and benefits unless they know you’re there. Secondly, a member that works outside of his/her home Local is required by Code 4B of the Union’s Constitution to check in with the Local into whose area they have traveled for work:

  “As soon as possible, but in no event later than forty-eight (48) hours after securing employment outside the territory of the member’s home Local, a traveling members shall advise the Local in whose territory the member is employed, through the Business Agent or Financial Secretary, unless the Local handles such matters through a Job Steward, of the name of the member’s employer and the job location.”

To learn more about the International Reciprocal Agreements and ERTS contact:

BAC Reciprocal Clearinghouse
Suite 750
1776 Eye Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20006
Phone: (202) 383-3985
Fax: (202) 628-4824
Website: www.bacweb.org
(click on Member Benefits, click on Reciprocal Clearinghouse)