State Agencies Bulletin No. 1243

Subject
Tier 6 TIAA Retirement Contribution Rate Changes
Date Issued
March 26, 2013

Purpose

To describe OSC actions taken for current enrollees with an election date greater than 3/31/12 and agency responsibility regarding new enrollment into the Optional Retirement Plan (7Z TIAA/CREF)

Affected Employees

Employees with a Retirement Plan Type of 7Z (TIAA/CREF) with an election date of 4/1/12 or later

Effective Date(s)

Payroll checks dated April 4, 2013 (Institution) and April 10, 2013 (Administration)

Background

On March 16, 2012, the Governor signed legislation creating Tier 6. This new Tier applies to employees joining a retirement system after March 31, 2012.

Effective with the first checks in April 2013, the legislation requires the employee contribution rate to be based on the employees’ annual wage.

The employee contribution rates are:

Wages Contribution Rate
$45,000 or less 3%
$45,000.01 to $55,000 3.5%
$55,000.01 to $75,000 4.5%
$75,000.01 to $100,000 5.75%
More than $100,000 6%

Enrollees with an election date of 4/1/12 or greater will continue their employee contributions after 10 years. The TIAA/CREF Suspense/NRI page will temporarily continue to populate the 10 year date. OSC will remove this date from these employee records at a later date.

OSC Actions

Ten new benefit plans (five for SUNY and five for CUNY) have been created to withhold the appropriate contributions. OSC has identified employees in Retirement Plan 7Z with an enrollment date greater than 3/31/12. On 3/22/13, OSC inserted a row into their Retirement Plan record, assigning the appropriate benefit plan based on their annual salary.

The Benefit Plans and the narrative descriptions are below. Note: The variable contribution rates are identified within the description.

SUNY and State Education Department
T6S030 TIAA SUNY TIER 6 3PCT
T6S035 TIAA SUNY TIER 6 3.5PCT
T6S045 TIAA SUNY TIER 6 4.5PCT
T6S575 TIAA SUNY TIER 6 5.75PCT
T6S060 TIAA SUNY TIER 6 6PCT
CUNY
T6C030 TIAA CUNY TIER 6 3PCT
T6C035 TIAA CUNY TIER 6 3.5PCT
T6C045 TIAA CUNY TIER 6 4.5PCT
T6C575 TIAA CUNY TIER 6 5.75PCT
T6C060 TIAA CUNY TIER 6 6PCT

The annual salary for an Hourly employee is calculated by multiplying the hourly rate by 80 and then by 26.

The annual salary for a Biweekly employee is calculated by multiplying the biweekly rate by 26.

Part time percentages are excluded in the calculation of annual salary for the purpose of determining an employee contribution rate.

Agency Actions

For new enrollees with an election date greater than 4/1/13, it is the agencies’ responsibility to identify the employee’s annual salary and to choose the correct benefit plan when enrolling employees in the TIAA/CREF Retirement Plan. Accurate enrollment into the correct benefit plan will ensure the appropriate contribution rates are withheld.

Questions

Questions concerning this bulletin should be emailed to the Deduction mailbox.