Service Employees 32BJ North Pension Fund

North Pension Fund Summary Plan Description (SPD) >> Your Rights Under ERISA

• Receive Information about the Plan and Benefits under the Plan
• Prudent Actions by Plan Fiduciaries
• Enforce your Rights
• Assistance with your Questions

As a Participant in the Plan, you are entitled to certain rights and protections under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”). ERISA provides that all Plan participants shall be entitled to:

Receive Information about the Plan and Benefits under the Plan

• Examine, without charge, at the Fund Office and at other specified locations, such as work sites and union halls, all plan documents, including insurance contracts, collective bargaining agreements and copies of all documents filed by the Plan with the U.S. Department of Labor, such as detailed annual reports and plan descriptions.

• Obtain, upon written request to the Trustees, copies of documents that govern the operation of the Plan, including insurance contracts, collective bargaining agreements and the latest annual report (Form 5500 series) and updated Summary Plan Descriptions. The Trustees may charge a reasonable fee for copies.

• Receive a summary of the Plan’s annual financial report. The Trustees are required by law to furnish each Participant with a copy of this summary annual report.

• Obtain a statement telling you whether you have a right to receive a pension at Normal Retirement Age and, if so, what your benefits would be at Normal Retirement Age if you stop working under the Plan now. If you do not have a right to a pension, the statement will tell you how many more years you have to work to get a right to a pension. This statement must be requested in writing and is not required to be given more than once a year. The Plan must provide the statement free of charge.

Prudent Actions by Plan Fiduciaries

In addition to creating rights for Plan Participants, ERISA imposes duties upon the people who are responsible for the operation of the employee benefit plan. The people who operate your plan, called “fiduciaries” of the plan, have a duty to do so prudently and in the interests of you and other plan participants and beneficiaries. No one, including your employer, your union, or any other person, may fire you or otherwise discriminate against you in any way to prevent you from obtaining a pension benefit or exercising your rights under ERISA.

Enforce your Rights

If your claim for a pension benefit is denied or ignored, in whole or in part, you have a right to know why this was done, to obtain copies of documents relating to the decision without charge and to appeal any denial, all within certain time schedules.

Under ERISA, there are steps you can take to enforce these rights. For instance, if you request a copy of Plan documents or the latest annual report from the Plan and do not receive them within 30 days, you may file suit in a federal court. In such a case, the court may require the Trustees to provide the materials and pay you up to $110 a day until you receive the materials, unless the materials were not sent because of reasons beyond the control of the Trustees. If you have a claim for benefits which is denied or ignored, in whole or in part, you may file suit in a state or a federal court. In addition, if you disagree with the Plan’s decision or lack thereof concerning the qualified status of a domestic relations order, you may file suit in a federal court. If it should happen that the Plan fiduciaries misuse the Plan’s money, or if you are discriminated against for asserting your rights, you may seek assistance from the U.S. Department of Labor, or you may file suit in a federal court. A court will decide who should pay court costs or legal fees. If you are successful, the court may order the person you have sued to pay these costs and fees. If you lose, the court may order you to pay these costs and fees, for example, if it finds your claim is frivolous.

Assistance with your Questions

If you have any questions about the Plan, you should contact the Fund. If you have any questions about this statement or about your rights under ERISA, or if you need assistance in obtaining documents from the Trustees, you should contact the nearest area office of the Employee Benefits Security Administration (“EBSA”), as listed in your telephone directory, or the Division of Technical Assistance and Inquiries, Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20210. You may also obtain certain publications about your rights and responsibilities under ERISA by calling the publications hotline of the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration.