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FAQ
FAQ
| Pension Questions |
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| Local Questions |
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| Pension Answers |
QUESTION: What type of Pension Plan is this?
ANSWER: The Pension Plan is a multi-employer defined benefit plan. It is different than many corporate plans because you are promised a monthly benefit, not an accumulating dollar balance.
QUESTION: What is the earnings requirement to earn a Pension Credit (also referred to as Vesting Service)?
ANSWER: For pension credit earned after 2003, participants with fewer than 3 years of pension credit on January 1, 2004, will need $750 of Covered Earnings during a calendar year to receive a ¼ year of pension credit, or $3,000 during a calendar year to receive a full year of pension credit. See Participation and Vesting for the earnings requirement before January 1, 2004.
QUESTION: How do I become vested?
ANSWER: You become vested when you either:
- complete five years of Vesting Service including at least ¼ year of Vesting Service after 1986, or
- reach Normal Retirement Age while you are an Active Participant. Normal Retirement Age is your 65th birthday or, if later, the date on which you complete five years of participation on or after April 1, 1988.
If you have no Vesting Service after 1986, different rules apply. See the Summary Plan Description for details.
QUESTION: Why are my years of Pension Credit in the Plan different from the number of years for which I have paid dues to the American Federation of Muscians (AFM)?
ANSWER: Your dues are for membership in the AFM and are not paid to the Pension Plan. You earn Pension Credit in the Plan based on your earnings in work under a Collective Bargaining Agreement that provides for contributions to the Pension Plan.
QUESTION: When are pension checks mailed?
ANSWER: Pension checks are always mailed three business days before the first of the month.
QUESTION: Do you have electronic deposit?
ANSWER: Yes. You can arrange for this when you apply for pension or at any time in the future. Just call the Fund Office to request this feature.
QUESTION: Can I assign my pension benefits?
ANSWER: No. This is prohibited under federal law.
QUESTION: Do Social Security benefits affect my pension from the Plan?
ANSWER: No. Benefits under the Plan are in addition to your Social Security benefits.
QUESTION: Will my pension from the Plan affect Unemployment Compensation benefits?
ANSWER: It is possible that your pension from this Plan may affect your eligibility for and amount of Unemployment Compensation benefits. Please check with the Fund Office and your local Employment Development Department Office.
QUESTION: What is a Qualified Domestic Relation Order (QDRO)?
ANSWER: A QDRO is a special court order which is generally part of a divorce agreement. It permits the Fund to assign benefits from a vested plan participant to another person who is usually the participant's former spouse or child.
To assist in the preparation of a QDRO that is acceptable to the Fund, refer to the Fund's procedure and model QDRO language by clicking here. The correct model to use depends on whether the participant is currently receiving a pension benefit or not.
Annual Covered Earnings Report Questions and Answers
QUESTION: I am a participant in the Fund but I have not received my 2005 Annual Covered Earnings Report ("Annual Report"). Why is that?
ANSWER: The Annual Covered Earnings Report is sent to:
- All vested participants, and
- All participants who have had at least a 1/4 year of vesting credit during one of the last 5 calendar years.
If you are in one of these two categories and did not receive an Annual Report, it is most likely because the Fund Office does not have a current address on file for you. To verify your address, please call or write the Fund Office as soon as possible.
The Fund is a separate legal entity from the American Federation of Musicians (the Union), the Sound Recording Special Payments Fund, the Film Musicians Secondary Markets Fund and the Music Performance Fund. Therefore, if you should relocate or move, you must notify the Fund separately: it is not sufficient for you to notify one or more of the other organizations.
QUESTION: I received my 2005 Annual Covered Earnings Report and I noticed that a 2005 engagement was not listed. Why is that?
ANSWER: There could be a number of reasons, but the most likely one is that the scale wage information and contributions for that engagement were received by the Fund after the cutoff date of March 31, 2006.
Like any other organization, the Fund needs to close its books at year end. The Fund's year end or closing is March 31. Therefore, if contributions are received after March 31, 2006 for a 2005 engagement date, the contribution will not appear on the 2005 Annual Report. Instead, the scale wage information and contributions will appear on your next Annual Report.
QUESTION: How do these "late" contributions affect my vesting status?
ANSWER: Vesting is based on the covered scale wage information reported to the Fund Office on your behalf for each calendar year. $3,000 in covered scale wages in one calendar year equals one vesting year. Scale wage information is allocated to the year in which the engagement took place, not the year in which the Fund received the scale wage information and contributions.
Therefore, even if contributions are remitted late, the scale wage information and contributions are counted in the year in which the engagement occurred for purposes of vesting.
For example, if contributions were received in November 2006 for a December 2005 engagement, the scale wages associated with the contributions are counted towards vesting for 2005.
QUESTION: What should I do if the information reported on the Annual Covered Earnings Report is inaccurate or incomplete?
ANSWER: If you believe that your 2005 Annual Covered Earnings Report does not accurately reflect all of your covered scale wages or pension contributions made for engagements prior to December 31, 2005 that were reported to the Fund by March 31, 2006, you may use the check box on Part I of the Annual Report to request a "Covered Employment Correction Claim Form". You may also call or write the Fund Office to request a form. This form contains the procedures and requirements to request corrections to your Annual Report.
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| Local Answers |
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Form LS-1 Questions & Answers QUESTION: What is the purpose of Form LS-1?
ANSWER: The Form LS-1 may be used for live local single engagements where a pension contribution will be paid to the AFM-EPF. If no pension is to be paid, the parties can use AFM Form L-1 (local engagements), Form L-2 (local engagements with no dispute resolution clause), or Form T-2 (traveling engagements). The Form LS-1 may not be used for recording work. In addition the Form LS-1 may not be used for work in Canada.
QUESTION: What is a single engagement?
ANSWER: A single engagement is an engagement occurring on a single date. A single engagement may also include engagements occurring on more than one date, but only if all of the following 3 requirements are met:
- All of the engagements are at the same venue, and
- All of the engagements occur within a 31-day time period, and
- All of the engagements are reported to the AFM-EPF on one Form LS-1-R remittance form, accompanied by a single payment for all of the engagements.
QUESTION: What is the difference between the Form LS-1 and the AFM-EPF Participation Agreement?
ANSWER: Either a Form LS-1 or an AFM-EPF Participation Agreement (with or without an underlying Collective Bargaining Agreement) may be used to pay contributions on single engagements when signed by the employer, a representative of Local and the AFM-EPF. There are two main differences between the Form LS-1 and the Participation Agreement:
- The Participation Agreement covers only pension contributions. The Form LS-1 also sets forth wages for the engagement, which avoids the necessity for the parties to negotiate a second agreement to cover wages.
- The Form LS-1 may be used only for single engagements, including engagements of up to 31 days under the terms and conditions described above in question "What is a single engagement?". A Participation Agreement may be used for any engagement, including long-term engagements of up to 5 years.
QUESTION: What is the difference between the Form LS-1 and a music services contract?
ANSWER: A number of Locals have developed a "music services contract" that serves essentially the same purpose as the Form LS-1 - to permit the parties to a local single engagement to enter into one agreement covering both wages and pension. Because of the variations in music services contracts, the AFM-EPF has been placed in the untenable situation of individually reviewing every one of the hundreds of music services contracts that the AFM-EPF receives to ensure that it contains acceptable language. The AFM-EPF cannot continue to expend Plan monies to review each of these contracts. Accordingly, parties that have in the past used a music services contract for local single engagements should now use a Form LS-1. Effective January 1, 2003, local single engagements may be reported to the Fund only on a Form LS-1 or a Participation Agreement.
QUESTION: What if there are terms of the engagement that are not covered by the Form LS-1?
ANSWER: If there are other terms and conditions of the engagement not covered by the Form LS-1, the parties should execute another agreement covering those other terms and conditions (such as a Form L-1, Form L-2, Form T-2 or a "custom-made" agreement). The other agreement should not include any provisions relating to scale wages or pension contributions. If it does contain any such provisions, they will be invalid to the extent they are inconsistent with any provisions of the Form LS-1.
QUESTION: May the employer designate a third party to pay pension contributions to the AFM-EPF?
ANSWER: The entity listed as the employer on the Form LS-1 may designate another entity (such as a payroll company) to make the pension contribution on its behalf, and reimburse the third party for the contribution. This designation does not relieve the employer from any of its obligations to the AFM-EPF. For example, the employer remains responsible to make the contribution to the AFM-EPF if the third party fails to do so. Also, if the employer is unincorporated, contributions may not be made on behalf of any owner or part-owner of the employer, even if the contributions are being made by a designated third party on behalf of the employer.
QUESTION: What is the LS-1?
ANSWER:This form is an alternative for the standard Pension Participation Agreement. It permits a "casual employer" (for a single gig) or someone designated by the employer to pay pension contributions for musicians for a live performance.
QUESTION: Can the LS-1 be used for instrument repairmen or music teachers?
ANSWER: No. This may be used for single engagement live musical performances, such as recitals, chamber music, club dates, weddings, parties and funerals.
QUESTION: I have a musician who has multiple engagements with the same employer during a period of not more than 31 days. Is the report and check for the LS-1 due 30 days from the first engagement or 30 days following the final engagement?
ANSWER: The check to the Pension Fund must be sent no later than the 30th day after completion of the final engagement.
QUESTION: Can the father of the bride or bandleader be the employer on the LS-1?
ANSWER: Yes.
QUESTION: Is the leader eligible to be listed on the form?
ANSWER: Yes, if the employer is the father of the bride. If the employer is the bandleader, the bandleader is eligible to be listed only if the bandleader is incorporated.
QUESTION: For the bandleader to be the employer and make contributions to the AFM-EPF on behalf of himself, must he be incorporated, a sole proprietorship, or a partnership?
ANSWER: If the bandleader is the employer, he must be incorporated in order to make pension contributions on his own behalf. If the father of the bride signs the LS-1 as the employer, the bandleader, whether a sole proprietorship or partnership may be the designee and make payments on his own behalf in addition to payments for the other musicians.
QUESTION: If the father of the bride is willing to sign the LS-1 as the employer does he write two checks, one for the gig pay and one to the AFM-EP Fund?
ANSWER: The father of the bride may do as you have described. However, he may also designate the bandleader to make the pension payment. In that case, he remits only one check to the bandleader that is inclusive of the wages and required pension contribution.
QUESTION: From what account should the check be drawn?
ANSWER: If the employer is submitting the pension contribution, then it should be drawn on the employer's bank account. If the employer designates the bandleader to make the pension contribution, then the check should be drawn on the bandleader's bank account.
QUESTION: I thought that one of the problems the LS-1 was intended to fix was that the father of the bride didn't want to sign anything that designated him as the employer for legal purposes. Won't he be the employer on the LS-1?
ANSWER: Yes.
QUESTION: If the employer defaults on the job, does the Local that signed the contract or the Federation handle the enforcement?
ANSWER: The Local should initially address the problem and immediately notify the AFM-EPF about the default.
QUESTION: What happens if the father of the bride names the bandleader as designee and then the leader fails to make the contributions? Is the father of the bride still liable for the payment to the Fund?
ANSWER: Yes.
QUESTION: Can the employer or the individual musicians leave their Social Security number off the form?
ANSWER: Musicians will not receive pension credit unless their Social Security numbers are on the form. The employer should put his Social Security number on the form.
QUESTION: Can the father of the bride bypass the Local and send the check and form directly to the AFM-EPF?
ANSWER: The AFM-EPF will not accept an LS-1 Form without the signature of a Local Officer. Upon the conclusion of the engagement, the form should be delivered to the Local Officer along with the check for processing and submission to AFM-EPF.
QUESTION: How low can wages be on the form?
ANSWER: No less than the scale wage for the engagement.
QUESTION: My understanding is that pension contributions may not be greater than 15% of wages. Is that for scale wages or total wages (including overscale)?
ANSWER: The wage, as reflected in the Pensionable Compensation box on the LS-1-R remittance form, is the scale wage for pension purposes.
QUESTION: Are there any limits, maximums or minimums to the percentage of wages that can be put toward pension?
ANSWER: Federation agreements call for a 10% contribution. The Fund has accepted contributions as low as 4% and as high as 15% for local single engagements.
QUESTION: What is included in non-pensionable compensation?
ANSWER: It could be travel, non-contracted overscale, tips, parking, uniform cleaning, cartage, or meal reimbursements.
QUESTION: Is this the normal progression of the form: The father of the bride signs it, designating that the bandleader pay the pension contribution, then writes a check for the bottom line. The bandleader then sends in the form and the pension contributions to the AFM-EPF?
ANSWER: You are correct until the last step. The Local Officer must sign the LS-1. Therefore, the Local Union should transmit the form and the pension contribution to the AFM-EPF.
QUESTION: Can the Federation put out a timeline of a typical LS-1 casual engagement contract, including normal contract things such as billing and paying work dues to the Local?
ANSWER: A possible timeline might look like this:
A. A bandleader books a job.
B. The bandleader calls the Local for a LS-1 Form.
C. The bandleader gets the form signed by the father of the bride.
D. The band plays the job.
E. The bandleader sends a check along with the form to the Local for processing within 30 days after completion of the engagement.
F. The Local Officer reviews the form and if everything is in order, signs the form and sends it along with the check to the AFM-EPF. The Local officer should also make a copy of the check for future reference and send a copy of the LS-1 to the bandleader if he/she did not previously retain it.
G. The Local bills the band, or the leader of the band, depending on the Local's bylaws, for work dues at the applicable rate.
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If your question is not listed here, please feel free to contact us at 1-800-833-8065.
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