Employer E-News Archives — 2012
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April 2012
Hot Topics
Where to Find Tier 6 Information If you or your employees have Tier 6 questions, you can find the latest information on our Tier 6 benefit information pages:
Heads Up
Member Annual Statements Coming Soon We will mail Member Annual Statements (MAS) in mid-to-late May (beginning with school districts). As you give these statements to your employees, remind them to check their information. They should contact us for most changes, but if they believe there’s an error in their reported salary, they should speak with you. You’ll need to send us adjustments if changes should be made.
By the Way: By participating in the Retiring Employees Acknowledgement Program (REAP), you can receive email notices of pending employee retirements and report final employee service, salary, and accrual information online. If you haven’t already signed up, take a few minutes to learn about the program.
March 2012
Hot Topics
What to Include in Your Monthly Report The information in your monthly report helps us determine your employees’ final average salaries and your annual contribution to the Retirement System. Do you know which payments need to be reported? Read “What You Should and Shouldn’t Report” in Employer Reporting Basics.
Heads Up
Check Out Our Online Programs We have several online programs you can use to check your employees’ salary listings, submit reports and more. Our latest tool, Employer Projection & Rates (EPR), has been used by almost 3,000 employers. Are you taking advantage of these services? Learn more about our online programs.
By the Way: By participating in the Retiring Employees Acknowledgement Program (REAP), you can receive email notices of pending employee retirements and report final employee service, salary, and accrual information online. If you haven’t already signed up, take a few minutes to learn about the program.
Special Edition — March 2012
Tier 6 Begins April 1, 2012
On March 16, 2012, the Governor signed legislation (Tier 6) that resulted in changes to both the New York State and Local Employees’ Retirement System (ERS) and the Police and Fire Retirement System (PFRS). Only new members who join either ERS or PFRS on or after April 1, 2012 will be in Tier 6 and will be affected by these changes. Current members in all other tiers (ERS Tiers 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5; PFRS Tiers 1, 2, 3 and 5) will not be affected by this legislation.
You can view a list of key benefit changes for Tier 6 members on our website. From April 1, 2012 through March 31, 2013, Tier 6 members will contribute 3 percent of their earnings, except for Uniformed Court Officers and Peace Officers employed by the Unified Court System who will contribute 4 percent. Please be aware that the staggered contribution rates established by Tier 6 will not take effect until April 1, 2013.
You may have employees on your payroll (seasonal or part-time) who chose not to join the Employees’ Retirement System because their membership was optional. If they wish to join ERS as Tier 5 members, you must register them before April 1. Any optional member registrations received on or after April 1 will be designated as Tier 6. Please remember that optional members must be working and on the payroll on their date of membership.
You can register an employee by:
- Fax at 518-486-4382 (the date of membership will be the day the fax is received); or
- Phone at 518-474-3081 (the date of membership will be the day the telephone registration is received).
Please note, if you register by phone or fax, you still need to mail us the valid, hard copy application to complete the registration process:
New York State and Local Retirement System
110 State Street
Albany, NY 12244-0001.
The date of membership is as noted above, not the date your employee signs the membership application or when the application was notarized. We cannot guarantee that any applications mailed to us — without having been registered by phone or fax first — will be received and processed by the April 1 effective date.
If you have any questions regarding the registration of optional members, or questions regarding the Tier 6 changes, please contact us.
February 2012
Hot Topics
Registering Employees By Phone or Fax When registering your employees with the Retirement System by phone or fax, in most cases, you’ll receive a registration number the same day. Remember to send us the hard copy application so we can complete the registration process. You can learn more about registering employees on our website.
What’s the Date of Membership for Optional Members? The date of membership for optional members is either the date you call or fax their registration to us, or the date we receive a hard copy of their membership application — whichever comes first. Learn more about optional membership.
Heads Up
Your Sorting Preference for Member Annual Statements Each year, we send you Member Annual Statements to distribute to your employees. These statements will be sorted by registration number unless you state otherwise in your March monthly report. Please refer to our February letter for more instructions. This service is not available for State agencies or manual reporters. You can email our Employer Services Bureau if you have any questions.
Latest Employer Forum, Other Newsletters on the Web
The Spring 2012 edition of Employer Forum 
is available to view online. It includes important information about several new retirement-related laws. Also, the Spring 2012 member editions of The Update and The Sentinel are available. Please forward this to your employees or let them know they can find these issues on our website.
By the Way: The Elected and Appointed Officials Reporting program (EAOR) lets you submit the Standard Work Day & Reporting Resolution and Affidavit of Posting online. This program is for non-State employers of elected and appointed officials. If you haven’t already signed up, take a few minutes to learn about the program.
January 2012
Hot Topics
Tell Your Newly Elected/Appointed Officials About Starting a Record of Activities Within 150 days of the start of a new term, elected and appointed officials need to create a record of their work-related activities. You will then use this record to determine the number of days worked to report to us. This requirement applies to officials who are Retirement System members and don’t use a timekeeping system that shows hours worked. Read more about the record of activities.
Registering Employees with Optional Membership
Employees eligible for optional membership who decide to join the Retirement System need to be on your payroll and working the day you register them. Learn more about registering optional members by reading the Membership Registration section of the Employer’s Guide .
Heads Up
New Consultation Site Schedule Online
The January – June 2012 Consultation Site Schedule is now available on our website. Be sure to let your employees know about these new dates so they can schedule appointments with us accordingly.
By the Way: By participating in the Retiring Employees Acknowledgement Program (REAP), you can receive email notices of pending employee retirements and report final employee service, salary, and accrual information online. If you haven’t already signed up, take a few minutes to learn about the program.
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