ERTS – Don’t Leave Your Home Local Without It!
For members who travel to work outside their home Local, BAC’s Electronic Reciprocity Transfer System (ERTS) is a much needed technology. Available 24 hours a day – seven days a week – 365 days a year, traveling members can ensure that earned credits have been safely and accurately transferred to their home Local’s health and welfare, and pension funds. ERTS simplifies the reciprocity process for all involved – plan participants, Fund offices, and Local Unions.
ERTS is 100% secure. The password-protected system is hosted on a secure server so all transactions are performed at the highest level of online security to protect members’ privacy. ERTS is used only for reciprocity transactions and absolutely no personal data is transferred over the open internet. Funds and Local Unions can only access information about their own participants and members working in their jurisdictions.
To take advantage of this online service, Local funds must execute the service provider contract with Allen Bates Technologies and upload a file of their traveling members into ERTS. To find out which Local funds have signed up for ERTS, go to www.ipfihf.org and click on “Funds Signatory to the International Reciprocal Agreements.” The funds accessible via ERTS are marked with a double asterisk (**). If your Local’s fund is signatory, follow the five easy steps below, and you will be on your way to paperless, hassle-free credit-hour transfer.
For more information about ERTS, contact Reciprocal Cleaninghouse Director David F. Stupar (202) 383-3985 or dstupar@ipfihf.org.
| Step 1 |
This step must be done in person for security reasons. Go to your home Local fund or Local Union with proper identification and register to obtain blanket authorizations for fund transfers. |
| Step 2 |
While there, a staff member will assist you with accessing the ERTS online program and issue you a userID and password. |
| Step 3 |
A “drop down” menu on the main registration page will allow you to select your appropriate home pension, and health and welfare fund. When you have completed this process, you will be required to sign a printed copy of the registration. |
| Step 4 |
Next, your home fund must approve the blanket authorization. The funds you chose in step 3 will receive your request automatically. When approval is complete, you will receive an email indicating that your authorization is available on the ERTS system. U.S. members should go to https://erts.bacweb.org/us and Canadian members should go to https://erts.bacweb.org/ca. Walk through the prompted steps to confirm your blanket authorization. |
| Step 5 |
Armed with your userID and password, you are now able to access authorization and release forms and begin the transfer of hours to your home pension, and health and welfare funds, online. It’s that easy!! |
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