HOW THE BENEFITS PLANS ARE FUNDED
The Plans are primarily funded by employer contributions on performers’ covered earnings when working SAG-AFTRA jobs. For every dollar paid to a performer, the employer pays an additional percentage directly to the health and pension plans depending on the contract, currently 19.5% for TV/Theatrical/Commercial work. Past work contributions are based on the rate at that time.
That 19.5% is then split twice: once between the health and pension plans, and then again between either the SAG Pension Plan or the AFTRA Retirement Fund.
The amount the employer pays in pension and health contributions is capped, called the Contribution Caps. Those caps have not been raised since 1982, coinciding with the formation of the AMPTP, our TV/Theatrical contract negotiations bargaining partner representing all the major networks and studios except Netflix, with whom we have a separate contract.
The contribution caps:
AFTRA caps your retirement benefit earnings at $200,000/yr. per member.
$200k+/yr for 54 years to max your AFTRA pension at ~1% of earnings accrual.
SAG caps your retirement benefit earnings at $225,000/yr. per employer.
$20k+/yr for 35 years + ~$5m in those years to max your SAG pension at 2% accrual.
PER EPISODE CAPS - No more contributions are made after your pay hits these caps.
Half-hour: $15,000 | One-hour: $24,500 | Features: $232,000
The way earnings are counted:
The AFTRA retirement benefit accrues at a percentage of contributions.
The SAG pension benefit accrues at a percentage of earnings.
Simply put, the AFTRA accrual rate is ~1% of earnings, while SAG’s is 2%.
Decoupling: Not all AFTRA-contract P&H contributions count towards members qualifying for benefits. Some bypass the member and directly fund the plan.
Splitting earnings between the two plans prevents members from qualifying for either.
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