Raptor

Kronan is right. And, your short and long term MLA drops ARE counted towards your high 5 earnings...all the rest below just expands on these two points.

I'll update my recent post. I know that FedEx for years just put short-term MLA drops into one's makeup bank....and that was it, no B fund contribution. I believe it was about 8 years ago that the company and ALPA drew up an LOA (due to many complaints by the military/FedEx pilots) that corrected this improper implementation of USERRA. The look back was 7 years from the ratification of the LOA. The company had been paying Long Term MLA correctly into the B fund, and this LOA fixed the Short Term MLA B-fund payout looking back 7 years. I checked mine and several other pilots, and these payouts were correct and interest was paid. I can't find this LOA at the moment, but the CBA now incorporates language that makes this clear: that any MLA drop of a trip provides a B fund contribution.

Section 25.X.2:

A pilot whose service period conflicts with an already scheduled

flight activity shall have those activities dropped without pay and

eligible for make-up. B-plan contributions shall be made to the

pilots for service period conflicts as if those hours were flown by the

pilot.

Log into your Vanguard account, select Employer Plans link, select Federal Express Corp Pilot's Money Purchase Pension Plan, and in the Plan Details tab at top, select the History/Statements/Forms link when it expands. On this page, select View By: Source, and to the right of that View History from: select the time period you want. You will see your history and you're looking for transaction description of Plan Contribution and the source will be Military LOA MPPA. These are your B fund contributions from MLA dropped trips. You will have these funds deposited at a maximum of 90 days from the trip you MLA dropped. You can take a look at the amount of deposit and it should match 7% of your dropped trip's pay (6% prior to 2011 CBA). If you have any questions or think there is a discrepancy, call Vanguard at 1-800-523-1188. They can provide you a history of trips dropped, imputed pay, contribution made, etc. (They have to contact the company to get all this, but they have a direct contact and easily get this information on your behalf.) They are a great resource if you have any questions, they know what's going on, and they will get answers for you.

Another question that arises a lot is whether or not these MLA dropped trips are pensionable earnings. Semantically speaking, they are not really pensionable earnings as you didn't receive them in a paycheck...and you really don't want them to be pensionable "pay" as you would get ALPA dues taken out of them among other things. What these "phantom" earnings from dropped trips are is "imputed" earnings. The imputed earnings from these trips (Trip Guarantee Credit hours x Pay Rate) is what is used to calculate your B-fund contribution, and they are also imputed earnings that count towards your high 5. (At least these imputed earnings were counted 8 years ago towards high 5, but FedEx also paid out RSA on long-term MLA 8 years ago and apparently that's changed at present from what some people have posted?) So, I don't have confirmed information on that and if someone does, please post. What I can tell you is that the CBA 28.B.3 says:

Final average earnings will be defined as the average of the highest

five calendar years of compensation while working for the Company.

In no event shall total final average earnings taken into account

under the Pension Plan, the Compensation Limit Plan and the 415

Limit Plan exceed $260,000.

I can't find where the CBA says what constitutes a calendar year of compensation, but the Pilot Benefit Book is quite clear that MLA dropped trips do count towards a calendar year compensation per page R-80 of the January 2013 version of the PBB:

Hours of Service

Hours of service include each hour that you are paid or entitled to pay by FedEx

Express, including time off for vacation, holidays, paid medical absences, jury duty or

military duty as required by law. (emphasis added)

Hours associated with non-taxable amounts paid from a Pilot’s Occupational Illness/

Injury Sick Bank shall be counted as hours of service for eligibility, vesting and benefit

accrual.

This does not include hours you are paid or entitled to pay just to comply with:

• Unemployment compensation laws,

• Workers’ Compensation laws*

• Disability insurance laws

• Payment made for medical expense reimbursement or

• Service during hours of family medical leaves (except the first 501 hours that are

used to prevent a one-year break in service).

Hours credited by the Payroll Department are used in determining credited service

while actively at work. The Payroll Department credits active pilots with 95 hours per

pay periods.

Pilots receive credited service for periods of disability* which are calculated as

follows:

Days of Leave ÷ 7 Days x 45 Hours = Total Credited Hours per Leave

If you have information you are not being credited with the imputed pay value of your MLA dropped trips towards your high 5, please let me know and I will gather information as this issue is clear cut, I believe.

Page R-7 of the PBB tells us that to accrue a good year for pension purposes, we must have 1000 hours (not flight hours, but the assumed 95 hours a month minimum). USERRA protects your longevity towards pension (i.e. work 5 years at FedEx, take 3 years of MLA, you return and you WILL have 8 years of service at FedEx for retirement purposes, you'll be on 8 year pay, you'll have vacation at the year 8 amount, etc.). This page also tells us that MLA absences (short or long) count towards retirement, so we are "doubly" protected:

Credited Service

Your years of credited service are used to determine your Plan eligibility, benefit

amount and vesting.

Year of Credited Service —

You earn one year of credited service for each Plan Year

(June 1 through May 31) in which you have been credited with at least 1,000 hours of

service.

Hours of Service —

Hours of service include each hour that you are paid or entitled

to pay by any Controlled Group Member, including time off for vacation, holidays,

paid medical absences, jury duty or military duty as required by law. Hours associated

with non-taxable amounts paid from a Pilot’s Occupational Illness/Injury Sick Bank

shall be counted as hours of service for eligibility, vesting and benefit accrual.

This does not include hours you are paid or entitled to pay just to comply with:

• Unemployment compensation laws,

• Disability insurance laws,

• Payment made for medical expense reimbursement, or

• Service during hours of family medical leaves (except the first 501 hours, which

may be used to prevent a one-year break in service). See “Breaks in Service” for

more information.

Hours credited by the Payroll Department are used in determining credited service

while actively at work. The Payroll Department credits pilots with 95 hours per pay

period. Pilots receive credited hours of service for periods of disability, subject to the

provisions discussed below. Hours of credited service for disability leave periods are

calculated as follows: Days of Leave ÷ 7 Days x 45 Hours = Total Credited Hours per

Leave.

One of the best ways to get a comfort level (and it's always wise to double check complicated stuff) that short and long term MLA is counted towards your high 5 properly is to call the FedEx Retirement Service Center at 1-866-303-0556 and ask for "a statement of your estimated accrued pension benefit". The information is updated each year as of May 31st on the FedEx fiscal year (although the pension information is based on the calendar year), so it may take awhile to see these numbers. Cross check your paycheck with your MLA imputed earnings from dropped trips, and these should match. I've never asked them specifically for imputed earnings information, and if someone finds they can provide this, please let me know and I'll update this post.

Last, remember that USERRA protects you and you deserve the benefits and protections from it because you put your life on the line in service to our country. Some people drop trips to avoid the perceived spotlight on them instead of using MLA when appropriate. If you don't use MLA on your trips, you lose the benefit of B-fund make up and compensation additions to your high 5 earnings from the imputed earnings of dropped trips.