Related Organization Participation Agreement Video Transcript

Did you know that NEBF’s related organizations can offer NEBF coverage to their employees?

You may be asking yourself two questions: “Who is considered a related organization?”, and, “How is it possible for a related organization to cover its employees?”

There are a number of organizations that are considered related to the NEBF, including IBEW and NECA; IBEW Local Unions and NECA Chapters; joint apprenticeship and training committees; and jointly-administered trust funds that provide health and welfare coverage, pensions, and pooled vacations.

As for the second question, a related organization can provide NEBF coverage by signing a participation agreement.

But who does a Participation Agreement cover? As a related organization, you have two choices:

Cover your alumni employees, which means you need an Alumni Agreement.

Cover all of your employees, which means you need an All Agreement.

So who exactly is considered an alumni?

An alumni is a non-bargaining employee who has earned at least one NEBF benefit service credit. Also, in one or more calendar years, they must have performed at least one half of these hours of service working under an IBEW Collective Bargaining Agreement, or “CBA,” for covered employers.

Regardless of whether you choose to cover all or only alumni employees, you need to properly report the hours worked by your non-bargaining employees.

For NEBF purposes, wages are compared to a Reportable Earnings Cap for a one month reporting period. If the wages are beneath the cap, report actual wages. If the wages are over the cap, just report the cap.

To calculate the Reportable Earnings Cap you must first figure out the Journeyman’s Wage Rate, or JWR, which is the collectively bargained wage rate for the journeymen within a local union jurisdiction. Once you have that, multiply the JWR by the hours in your collective bargaining agreement multiplied by 52 weeks and divided by 12 months.

To help you calculate the Cap, how much would the Reportable Earnings Cap be for a Local Union with a JWR of $32.00 and a 40 hour work week?

How about for a Local Union with a JWR of $17.80 and a 35 hour work week?

Now let’s apply this procedure.

A part time employee has 39 hours and earns $2,000.00 for the reporting period. The JWR is $25.00 and the CBA has a 40 hour work week. The reportable earnings cap is $4,333.33. What do you report?

You report the 39 hours and pay 3% of $2,000.00.

But suppose an employee has 210 hours and earns $3,150.00 for the reporting period. The JWR is $25.00 and the CBA has a 40 hour work week. The reportable earnings cap is $4,333.33. What do you report?

You report the 210 hours and pay 3% of $3,150.00.

What about employees who earn more than the cap or are salaried? Suppose such an employee has 160 hours and earns $7,000.00 for the reporting period. The JWR is $25.00 and the CBA has a 40 hour work week. The reportable earnings cap is $4,333.33. What do you report?

You report the 160 hours and pay 3% of the cap, $4,333.33.

If you need to, you can download an Agreement from our website at www.nebf.com. You can also receive a copy by calling our Special Services department at (301) 556-4300, extension 481. Also, if you’re interested in signing a participation agreement, you or your employees may be eligible for up to 5 past service credits. Contact us if you want to learn more about past service credits.

Thank you for taking the time to view this important information about NEBF participation agreements.

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