The fund offers a range of benefits, including Wage Replacement for Unemployment, Disability, Workers Compensation, Jury Duty and more, Child Care Service, Severance, Funeral, Scholarship, Term Life Insurance, Financial Assistance, Disability, Housing, Catastrophic events and Health Reimbursement Account Transfers. For additional information regarding the types of benefits available, please see the Security Benefit Fund SPD here: Summary Plan Description
To apply for benefits, you will need to follow the process outlined on the application. Click here (insert link) to be redirected to the forms section of the website. Or for faster service, you can access your online account by clicking here (insert link). Once you gain access to your account you can submit an E-Form for the benefit you are requesting and upload the required documentation. If you have a physical form and document that you would like to submit you can email them to securitybenefit@steamny.com.
After no contributions have been made to this Fund for six consecutive months, you are eligible to apply for the severance benefit. You have two years from your eligibility date to apply for your severance benefit, provided you do not return to work in the industry. The severance benefit will be paid to you in a lump sum amount. The amount of your total benefit will be equal to the higher of twice your earnings in the 12 months prior to your severance from the industry or the amount such earnings would have been had you worked the full year. Eligibility for this benefit expires two years from your eligibility date.
An Income Allocation is an amount debited to your account. This amount represents your allocated share of the realized gains or losses, interest and dividends that the Plan earned in that year. For example, in June 2023, the income allocation percentage was 1.7254% of the participant’s average balance. This average balance is determined by taking the four quarterly closing balances in 2022, adding them up and dividing by four. This average balance is then multiplied by the percentage and the amount is added to the participants’ accounts.
The administrative charge is set amount, charged per participant and every account that can sustain the charge has had this amount deducted. In 2023, all members with a balance of $10,000 or less and deceased members with a balance greater than $50.00 were not charged a fee. In most years, the $10,000 threshold is $2,500.
Upon your death, any balance in your account will be paid to your designated beneficiary. Your beneficiary should contact the Fund Office and send in a copy of the death certificate and appropriate identification.
Should you become unemployed, you must complete the “Application for Replacement Wages for unemployment only” and submit a copy of the “Official Record of Benefit Payment History” (ORBPH) issued by NYSDOL indicating the week you were unemployed. Thereafter, each week that you remain unemployed you must submit your updated ORBPH showing the updated week as paid.
Yes, the deadline for submitting any Security Benefit claim is 12 months from the date of service. Any claims submitted outside of that time frame will be denied.
