What is a benefit fund contribution report?

It is the employer's monthly statement to a pension, health and welfare, training or other trust fund, listing each covered worker's hours or earnings for the month and the contribution owed at the rate set in the collective bargaining agreement.

Are contributions based on hours worked or hours paid?

It depends on the agreement. Many funds use hours worked, some use hours paid, and some use gross wages or a daily rate. Read the clause for each fund; one agreement can use different bases for different funds.

What happens if a contribution report is late or wrong?

Funds rely on employer self-reporting and check it with payroll audits. When a fund sues for unpaid contributions, federal law (ERISA section 502(g)(2)) requires the court to award the unpaid amount, interest, liquidated damages and attorney's fees, so errors are expensive.

Does myCrewIQ pay the funds?

No. myCrewIQ prepares the reports from approved hours and your confirmed agreement rules. You review them and remit to each fund yourself.

How to Prepare Monthly Benefit Fund Contribution Reports

By Cody Burandt · Founder, payroll and benefit funds for 3 labor locals · October 2026

The short answerStart from the month's approved hours. For each fund in your agreement, multiply each worker's covered hours by that fund's rate for the right contract period, apply any caps or minimums, and total by fund. Check that every fund's hours tie back to payroll, add the identifiers each fund requires, then submit each report and remit by the fund's due date.

If your crews work under a collective bargaining agreement, you likely owe monthly contributions to several trust funds: pension, health and welfare, training or apprenticeship, sometimes annuity and vacation. Each fund wants its own report. The math is simple; the risk is in the details the agreement sets, and in retyping the same hours for every fund.

What your agreement decides

Before you price a single hour, read each fund's clause. Agreements commonly set:

The rate: dollars per hour for each fund, sometimes different by classification.
The basis: hours worked, hours paid, gross wages, or a daily rate. One agreement can use different bases for different funds.
Which hours count: whether overtime hours count once or at their premium, and whether travel or standby time is covered.
Contract periods: rates often change on a set date, so a month can straddle two rates.
Caps and minimums: a monthly hour cap per worker, or a minimum contribution.
The deadline: usually a set day of the following month.

Step by step

Lock the month's hours.Use approved payroll hours only, from every show worked in the calendar month. Hours that are still being corrected will make the reports disagree with payroll.
Group by fund basis.Funds paid per hour use hours; funds paid on gross need earnings. Keep the groups separate.
Price each worker, per contract period.Hours worked before a rate change are priced at the old rate, hours after at the new one.
Apply caps and minimums, and note the clause.Write down which cap or minimum you applied and why, so an auditor can follow it.
Total by fund, then reconcile.Every fund's total hours should equal the covered hours in payroll for the month. If they do not, find out why before anything is sent.
Add the identifiers each fund requires.Funds identify members their own way. Add them on the report you submit.
Submit and remit on time.One report and one payment per fund, by each fund's due date.
Keep the records.Funds audit employer payroll. Keep the sheets, the approved hours and the reports together.

A worked example

A fictional month: 38 crew members worked 4,478 covered hours. The agreement sets three funds, all paid per hour worked.

Fund	Hours	Rate	Contribution
Health & Welfare	4,478	$12.75	$57,094.50
Pension	4,478	$9.50	$42,541.00
Training Trust	4,478	$1.25	$5,597.50
All funds	4,478	$23.50	$105,233.00

Per worker, the same arithmetic: Crew Member 01 worked 172 hours, so 172 × $12.75 = $2,193.00 to Health & Welfare, 172 × $9.50 = $1,634.00 to Pension and 172 × $1.25 = $215.00 to Training. The sample contribution reports show every fund's report and the reconciliation.

Mistakes that get expensive

Using the wrong basis (hours paid instead of hours worked, or counting overtime at its premium when the fund counts hours once).
Missing a mid-month rate change.
Fund totals that do not match payroll, usually from retyping the same hours for each fund.
Late reports. When a fund sues for unpaid contributions, federal law (ERISA section 502(g)(2)) requires the court to award the unpaid amount plus interest, liquidated damages and attorney's fees. A late or wrong report can also start a grievance or a full payroll audit.

Doing it from the same record as payroll

In myCrewIQ, you confirm your agreement's fund rules once. Each month, the Health & Welfare, Pension and Training Trust reports and an all-funds summary are prepared from the same approved hours as payroll, so they cannot drift apart. Caps and minimums are listed with their clause, and any line that cannot be priced is listed separately instead of being left out silently.

Honest notes: myCrewIQ prepares the reports and pays nothing; you review them and remit to each fund. Funds paid on gross wages or per day are shown as not computed, with the clause. Crew are identified by payroll or company ID; you add the identifiers each fund requires.

Frequently asked questions

What is a benefit fund contribution report?: It is the employer's monthly statement to a pension, health and welfare, training or other trust fund, listing each covered worker's hours or earnings for the month and the contribution owed at the rate set in the collective bargaining agreement.
Are contributions based on hours worked or hours paid?: It depends on the agreement. Many funds use hours worked, some use hours paid, and some use gross wages or a daily rate. Read the clause for each fund; one agreement can use different bases for different funds.
What happens if a contribution report is late or wrong?: Funds rely on employer self-reporting and check it with payroll audits. When a fund sues for unpaid contributions, federal law (ERISA section 502(g)(2)) requires the court to award the unpaid amount, interest, liquidated damages and attorney's fees, so errors are expensive.
Does myCrewIQ pay the funds?: No. myCrewIQ prepares the reports from approved hours and your confirmed agreement rules. You review them and remit to each fund yourself.