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Eligibility to Participate

You are eligible to participate in the Individual Account Plan when you begin working in employment in a job covered by a collective bargaining agreement between your employer and IBEW Local No. 26 or a participation agreement between your employer and the Plan’s Board of Trustees, which requires your employer to make contributions to the Plan on your behalf. An Individual Account will be established in your name when the Fund Office first receives employer contributions made on your behalf.

Generally, you are not eligible for Plan coverage if you are not a member of a bargaining unit represented by Local 26 unless your employer has entered into a special participation agreement with the Trustees. In addition, contributions cannot be made on your behalf to the Plan if you are a sole proprietor of a contributing employer or if you own or control at least a 15 percent interest in a partnership that is a contributing employer. You will be deemed to possess control of an interest in a partnership if you or your spouse, lineal descendant, brother, or sister owns such interest of if you are a beneficiary of a trust fund which owns such interest.

Once you become a participant in the Plan, it is your duty to report to the Trustees, in writing, any change in your employment status that may make you ineligible to have contributions made on your behalf to the Plan under this rule.

Certain employees of Local 26, the Local JATC, the Washington, DC Chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association and the Fund Office may also participate in the Plan. Participation agreements between these employers and the Trustees set forth the terms and conditions of participation and employer contribution rates.

Vesting

You are always 100% “vested” in the contributions that are made on your behalf by your employer from the day you become eligible to participate in the Plan. Being vested means that once contributions are made to your Individual Account, neither these contributions nor earnings on these contributions can be taken away from you even if you leave covered employment. Moreover, in the event you die before receiving the entire balance of your Individual Account, your spouse and/or designated beneficiary will be entitled to your Accumulated Share.

Rollover Contributions

While the Plan will not accept employee contributions, it will accept certain payments from other qualified plans, IRA’s, or other retirement options:

• The Plan will accept a Direct Rollover of an Eligible Rollover Distribution from another tax-qualified plan, a tax-exempt annuity plan or contract, or governmental plan.
• The Plan also will accept your contribution of an Eligible Rollover Distribution that was paid to you by another tax-qualified plan, a tax-exempt annuity plan or contract, or a governmental plan.
• The Plan also will accept a rollover contribution from your IRA, provided that the contribution is eligible for rollover treatment and would otherwise be includible in your gross income.

If you have any questions about whether amounts you have in another retirement plan may be rolled over into the Plan, please contact the Fund Office.

When Your Participation Ends

Your participation in the Plan ends when you’ve received your entire Accumulated Share.