How do health insurance and retirement benefits work under a union contract?

Most (but not all) of the contracts Editors Guild members work under require that employers pay into the Motion Picture Industry Pension and Health Plans (MPIPHP) on their employees’ behalf. (Some contracts have employers paying into the IATSE National Benefits Fund or into employer-specific plans.) MPIPHP benefits are designed to be portable in order to meet the needs of a largely freelance workforce.

Under the Motion Picture Industry Health Plan, employees earn health benefits in six-month increments. 600 hours of union work are required to initiate coverage, and 400 hours every six months (less than 50% of a full-time equivalency) are necessary to maintain coverage.

Detailed information about the Motion Picture Industry Pension and Health Plans is available through the MPIPHP website.

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