The benefits described in this book are the result of more than 40 years of the Union's collective bargaining demands on behalf of covered members, and successive Boards of Trustees' continuous efforts to provide benefit programs that meet the membership's greatest needs. All of these benefit programs are hard-won, and their proven contribution to the well-being of covered members and their families is very significant. Because these programs are so important to you, we would like to highlight the history of their development as well as the current framework governing the Funds' operations.

The Welfare and Educational Funds were created as a result of the historic 1965 struggle won by the Union. These Funds were designed to provide supplementary benefits that would "fill the gaps" in employer-provided benefits (e.g., health insurance).

The Welfare Fund's first benefit program consisted only of a limited dental plan for covered members and their families. The life insurance benefit was added in 1967, and increased in 1968 and again in 1969 ã when a number of additional benefits were introduced to the program, and the dental plan was improved for the first time.

The Educational Fund's benefit program at first provided only a limited number of benefits for college courses. The program has evolved into its present array of benefits for covered members of all educational levels.

The Administrative Fund was created in 1973 to receive and allocate City contributions to the Union's Benefit Funds; and in mid-1975 the Welfare Fund and Educational Fund Boards of Trustees were united. Providing legal service benefits to meet the membership's need for affordable attorneys' services was first considered in 1970. In 1972, the Legal Assistance Committee was established in accordance with Article V of the Union Constitution, to provide attorneys' services in work-related matters (e.g., Disciplinary Hearings, Arbitration Cases, arrest in connection with a member's employment, etc.). The Legal Assistance Committee continues to provide attorneys' services to protect covered members' rights in work-related matters, and it is financed by the allocation of $.60 a month from covered members' Union dues or agency shop fee payments. The first Legal Services Fund benefit program was established in 1974 and introduced in 1975, after the last of many obstacles thrown up by the organized bar in New York State was overcome. The Legal Services Fund is separate and distinct from the Legal Assistance Committee; it is not financed by Union dues or agency shop fee payments, and its benefits are for non-work-related matters. The Legal Services Fund's benefit program also has been improved and expanded repeatedly, most recently in 2007.

All of the benefit programs were created as a result of collective bargaining between the Social Service Employees Union Local 371 and the City of New York. The programs are financed by City contributions on behalf of each covered member to the Administrative Fund, which then allocates contributions to the Welfare, Legal Services, and Educational Funds. Each of these Funds is separate and distinct from the Union, in accordance with law as well as Internal Revenue Service requirements. The Funds receive no money from Union dues or from agency shop fee payments to the Union, and the Union receives no money from City contributions to the Funds.

Each Board of Trustees sets policy for that Fund's benefits, to serve the greatest interests of the membership as a whole. The Trustees are elected in accordance with the Union Constitution and Trust Documents, and are further governed by a large body of statutory law.

This book describes the provisions of the Funds as in effect on June 1, 2004.   Any changes to these rules will be described in articles in the Union's newspaper, The Unionist, and in the special pullout benefits supplement to The Unionist which is published each year.

We urge you to read each section of this book carefully, so that you gain an understanding of all the benefits to which you and your eligible dependents are entitled. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Funds.

In solidarity,
THE TRUSTEES

You become a "Covered Member" eligible for the full range of benefits offered by the Social Service Employees Union Local 371 Welfare Fund, Educational Fund, and Legal Services Fund on the first day of employment if you meet one of the following requirements:

• you are a full-time per-annum employee on active pay status in a title for which contributions are payable by the City of New York or other qualified employer to the Social Service Employees Union Local 371 Administrative Fund
• you are a per-diem employee on active pay status who works at least 20 days per month in a title for which contributions are payable by the City of New York or other qualified employer to the Social Service Employees Union Local 371 Administrative Fund
• you are on approved educational leave and have not resigned, and a contribution is received by the Social Service Employees Union Local 371 Administrative Fund from the City of New York or other qualified employer for any part of the calendar year for which benefits are requested (Education Fund benefits only).

• you work on a part-time, per-annum, per-diem, hourly, per-session or seasonal basis for the City of New York or other qualified employer
• you are employed and paid on a regular basis at least one half the regular hours of full-time employees in the same title
• you are an employee for whom contributions are payable to the Social Service Employees Union Local 371 Administrative Fund.

If no full-time equivalent title exists, then the minimum number of hours required in order to be eligible shall be based upon the nature of employment; "white collar" employment requires 17 hours per week, while "blue collar" employment requires 20 hours per week.

The benefits of the Part-Time Employees Benefit Program include the Welfare Fund's Dental Plan, Optical Benefit, $10,000 Life Insurance Benefit, Accidental Death and Dismemberment Benefit, Prescription Drug Benefit and Burial Benefit. The Dental Plan, Prescription Drug Benefit and the Optical Benefit provide family coverage; therefore, your eligible dependents are able to receive these benefits. The benefits included for part-time employees are identical to those described under the applicable section in the Welfare Fund section of this book.

Eligible part-time employees are also entitled to receive the Legal Services Fund's benefits (please see the Legal Services Fund section of this book).

If you have any questions about the Part-Time Employees Benefit Program, we urge you to contact the Funds' office.

All other General Eligibility Rules, including those that describe Termination of Coverage, Dependents of Covered Members, Time Limits for Claims Filing, Enrollment, Audit and Verification of Claims, and Procedure for Claims Review are identical for full-time and part-time employees.

If you have any questions concerning whether your title is covered, please contact the Funds' office. If you have used the maximum 39 weeks of Disability Benefits, you and your eligible dependents remain covered by other Welfare Fund and Legal Services Fund benefits for up to an additional six months, provided that you remain disabled.

Dependents of Covered Members

Family benefits are available to your eligible dependents. Eligible dependents include:

• Your spouse.
• Your unmarried dependent children up to their 19th birthday and between their 19th and 23rd birthdays if they are full-time students in an accredited educational institution. This includes your natural children, legally-adopted children, including children in a waiting period prior to finalization of adoption, and your dependent step-children. Other children who reside permanently with you in your household who are chiefly dependent on you for support are also eligible if a court of competent jurisdiction has issued a certificate of guardianship. For this coverage, a Statement of Dependency must be filed with the Fund office. Foster children are not eligible. Also included as eligible dependents are unmarried children, regardless of age, who are incapable of self-sustaining employment by reason of mental retardation or physical incapacity, provided such incapacity existed prior to their attainment of age 19 and further provided that such children reside with a covered member and are wholly dependent on the covered member for support.
• Your domestic partner and children of your domestic partner. You must provide the same documentation required by the City to enroll domestic partners for health insurance coverage. This includes a completed Domestic Partner Registration Certificate and at least two documents proving the financial interdependence of the member and domestic partner. (The cost of coverage for domestic partners by the Fund may be taxable as income to the Fund member.)
• References in this book to spouses are also intended to refer to eligible domestic partners. Likewise, references to children are also intended to refer to children of eligible domestic partners.
• Student Certification for Funds' Coverage Full-time student dependents of covered members may continue to be covered for Fund benefits up to their 23rd birthday, as long as they provide the Funds' office with
• a copy of the bursar's receipt or a letter from the educational institution each semester certifying their status as a full-time student. Covered members who have any questions regarding Student Certification should call the Enrollment section at 212.777.9000 ext.3502.

It should be noted that the Educational Fund does not provide benefits for your dependents. The Legal Services Fund provides for spouse and/or dependent coverage under specific benefits. Please refer to the Educational and the Legal Services Funds sections of this book for information.

Dependents of Covered Members

In order to receive benefits, employees must have completed and signed the white SSEU Local 371 Benefit Funds Enrollment Card, and the card must have been returned to the Funds' office (by a Union official whenever possible). For your convenience, Enrollment Cards are often available through the Union delegate at your work location. The information on the Enrollment Card is entered immediately in the Funds' enrollment files, and a Welfare Fund Prescription Drug Card is mailed to the member. While waiting to receive a Prescription Drug Card, the member may have prescriptions filled at a participating pharmacy by providing his/her Social Security number, the Welfare Fund's Group Number, "SSEU 371," and the name of the drug plan's administrator, "Paid Prescriptions, L.L.C.," to the pharmacist.

New employees who have not yet completed the Enrollment Card should keep receipts for covered services rendered since their date of hire, e.g., dental, optical, prescription drug, etc., so that they may file claims for reimbursement once their enrollment data is on file at the Fund office. Covered members who have any questions regarding their eligibility status should call the Enrollment section at 212.777.9000 ext.3502.

You must complete and sign a new enrollment card if there are any changes in your marital status, your eligible dependents, your address or your beneficiary (beneficiaries), etc. Keeping the Fund informed of your current status assures the efficient processing of your claims and the prompt receipt of your benefits.

Termination of Coverage

Covered members remain eligible for benefits until the end of the month in which they were last on active pay status. However, under the terms of the contract between the Welfare Fund and the life insurance carrier, you have the privilege of converting to a direct payment life insurance plan within 31 days after your Welfare Fund coverage terminates. This conversion privilege is described in the section on life insurance.

Audit and Verification of Claims

The Fund reserves the right to audit and verify any claim submitted to the Fund office. In keeping with its fiduciary responsibility, the Fund will audit a number of claims on a random basis each year.

Overpayment and Future Offset

In the event you receive an overpayment, or mistaken payment, made by any of the Funds, on your behalf or on behalf of your dependent, then you are obligated to refund said overpayment to the affected Fund immediately. In the event you fail to refund the overpayment/mispayment, then the affected Fund shall have the right to offset any future benefits' reimbursement due you by that amount, until the affected Fund is fully reimbursed for the amount of overpayment/mispayment to you.

What Happens if Benefits Are Payable to a Member Who Dies?

With respect to any benefits payable to a deceased member upon his/her date of death, or with respect to death benefits payable by virtue of the death of the member where the member's designated beneficiary has predeceased the member and a successor has not been designated, or where a member has not designated a beneficiary, then these benefits will be made payable to the first surviving class of the following classes of successive preference beneficiaries:

The covered member's:

• surviving spouse/domestic partner
• if no surviving spouse/domestic partner, then surviving children equally
• if no surviving children, then the covered member's estate.