Employer News | Quarterly Newsletter | Spring 2024

• Coming Soon—BEARS
• Annual Census Audits
• Fiscal Year 2025 Employer Contribution Rates Are Now Available
• Employer On-Behalf Funding
• TRS 2023/2024 Year-End Reporting: Do Not Forget to Submit TSE Events!
• Reporting Leave Without Pay and Scattered Leave
• Benefit Processing Delays—How Can You Help?
• Division and Partner Roles and Tasks
• Seminar and Counseling Services Are Available

Coming Soon—BEARS

The design and development of the Division of Retirement and Benefits (Division) new BEnefits And Retirement System (BEARS) is nearing completion. We anticipate transitioning to BEARS in late 2024 and are very excited about the possibilities and benefits of this new system.

As part of this transition, employers who import personnel and payroll data will need to develop new files for each retirement system they participate in (e.g., PERS, TRS, etc.). BEARS will require two files be submitted for each pay period—a personnel file and a payroll file. We will be working with several employers to test file layouts and ensure a streamlined process before we ask everyone to make the transition.

In the coming months, we will provide the personnel and payroll file layouts to all employers with deadlines for development of these files. If you are an employer who prefers to manually enter or clone personnel and payroll data, detailed information will be provided for how to report within the BEARS system. We will also schedule training sessions on the new system for all employers. Training materials and schedules will be announced as they are developed.

If you have questions or comments regarding the BEARS system, please email us at DRB.BEARS.Communication@alaska.gov.

Annual Census Audits

The Division’s auditor, KPMG, is gearing up for census audits. Census audit selection is based on employer size and can occur every year, every five years, or every ten years. The Division’s external auditor chooses employers for a census audit in July of each year. Employers will receive a notification that they have been selected and can expect to provide PERS- and TRS-related data to the external auditors within a specific time frame.

To aid you in preparation for this process, it is important for employers to keep detailed records of their transmissions to the Division and to ensure those transmissions reconcile to the employer payroll records. If you have questions related to the transmission records, please contact your Division active payroll contact.

Fiscal Year 2025 Employer Contribution Rates Are Now Available

The Alaska Retirement Management Board (ARMB) has established Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) employer contribution rates for the PERS/TRS Defined Benefit (DB) and Defined Contribution Retirement (DCR) Plans.

The FY25 rates can be found on the Division of Retirement and Benefits' Employer Contribution Rates webpage. Find this page at drb.alaska.gov, hover over the “Employer” tab at the top of the page, and click “Contribution Rates”.

In eReporting, the PERS and TRS employer rates are found under the "Reports" tab and in the "Employer Rate History" report.

For questions about employer contribution rates, please contact the Division's Finance Section, Accounting Unit via email at doa.drb.accountants@alaska.gov.

Employer On-Behalf Funding

Fiscal Year 2024

The Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS) and Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS) employer on-behalf funding was provided in House Bill 39 (Section 74).

The Division of Retirement and Benefits will apply FY24 PERS and TRS employer on-behalf to complete payrolls received in our office by July 15, 2024. FY24 covers payrolls containing payroll end dates from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024.

A complete payroll is defined as a payroll that has all the elements needed to process the payroll. This includes the receipt of funds in the State of Alaska’s bank account by July 15, along with the required and correct memo if the payment is a wire or push ACH. Additionally, a complete payroll includes a signed payroll summary and the necessary employer payroll detail needed to process the payroll.

After the July 15, 2024 cutoff has been reached and all applicable payrolls have been processed, the Division will complete the annual on-behalf funding true-up. We anticipate sending employer on-behalf year-end statements that include the true-up by mid-August 2024 via email.

TRS 2023/2024 Year-End Reporting

Do Not Forget to Submit TSE Events!

As the end of the school year approaches, it is time to revisit the year-end reporting procedures for the Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS). It is important that the year-end reports are submitted timely and each member’s school year contributions and salaries are correct in the TRS.

Please check your email for the TRS 2023-2024 year-end letter with more specific information regarding end-of-year reporting.

Enter TSE Events

Teacher’s Service End [TSE] event dates for teachers returning for the 2024-2025 School Year or TERM event for teachers who are not returning must be reported for ALL teachers at the end of the 2023-2024 school year. The TSE date to be entered will be the day after the last day worked for the school year or June 30, 2024.

Please note that any payroll information received after July 15, 2024, will not be posted to the member's account before the annual interest calculation, nor will it appear on the member’s 2023-2024 TRS annual statement. This could be a significant amount since many of the closing reports include three or four months of contributions and salary information for members.

As a reminder, in accordance with AS 14.25.065 (b) and AS 14.25.370 (b), late fees (interest) may be assessed on normal/final payrolls submitted after July 15, 2024.

Summer Employment

For those TRS members whose contracts require working during the summer, summer wages should be reported on July and August payroll reports using the employer match percent for the 2023-2024 school year. This includes TRS members who:

• Have contracts with a 12-month work schedule and payments scheduled for 12 months, or
• Have summer school teaching service that is covered under a newly written contract tied to the 2023-2024 school year and is separate from the school year contract. You must report a STAT back-to-work date and a second TSE date if the teacher has a break before the normal school year starts.

SB185: Rehired Retired Teachers—End of School Year Reporting

Teachers who are employed as a rehired retiree are required to have a TERM date submitted at the end of the contract year. Rehired teacher contracts are only valid for 12 months or until the end of the school year.

Reporting Leave Without Pay and Scattered Leave

Reporting Leave Without Pay (LWP) is a critical employment event that must be reported to the Division. When status events are not reported to the Division, vesting dates and retirement eligibility dates are miscalculated, resulting in member service errors.

Continuous periods of LWP for full-time members should be reported to the Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS) with each payroll processing. Employers are also required to report scattered hours of LWP taken consecutively or through intermittent hours throughout the year.

Since Employers do not have the ability to report scattered LWP through eReporting, the Division is formalizing the process for how and when scattered LWP should be reported. Employers are now required to prepare annual reports for all employees who had taken scattered LWP throughout the prior calendar year. These reports will be due by January 31 of every year.

The Scattered Leave report should include:

• Employee’s name,
• Last 4 of their social security number (SSN), and
• The total number of scattered hours per calendar year.

This can be reported using the Verification of Service form (02-1883) or as a separate report.

Because notice was not provided prior to the end of 2023, the Division is requesting that all PERS employers complete and submit an annual report covering calendar year 2023 by June 30, 2024.

Benefit Processing Delays—How Can You Help?

Due to staff shortages and increased volume, the processing time for new retirement and survivor/death benefits is currently 12-14 weeks. You can help your employees have a smooth transition into retirement in the following ways:

1. Remind your employees to make an appointment with a Division of Retirement and Benefits (Division) Counselor as they approach their retirement date. Working with a Retirement Counselor is vital to ensure all your employee’s information and documents are up-to-date and complete.
   
   
2. Meet with your employees who are nearing retirement, to check if they have gaps in or questions about their service. The Division can help answer questions or adjust incorrect information.
   
   
3. If you are a school district employer, expect to receive an increase in Verification of Service and Final Salary requests from your employees. These must be completed as soon as possible to facilitate your retiring teachers’ application process.

We thank you for your patience and understanding. If you have any questions, please reach out to our Member Education Center toll-free at (800) 821-2251 or in Juneau at (907) 465-4460.

Division and Partner Roles and Tasks

Do you have questions about what we do in the Retirement and Benefits world? Below is a brief description of our tasks as well as those of some of our partners.

Division of Retirement and Benefits

Member Education Center

• Provides counseling and education for Public Employees’ Retirement System and Teachers' Retirement System Defined Benefit plans
• Provides online educational videos and a handy employer toolkit
• Receives QDRO requests
• Calculates Defined Benefit retirement projections

Active Payroll

• Receives payroll information
• Works with employers and members on corrections and payroll education

Audit

• Conducts annual audits of State of Alaska school districts, Political Subdivisions
• Ensures statutory compliance in the Public Employees’ Retirement System, Teachers Retirement System, Supplemental Annuity Plan, and Deferred Compensation Plan

Member Benefits

• Request final salary and termination dates for final benefit processing
• Verifies employee’s service and salary for retirement
• Receives beneficiary designations
• Provides disability counseling
• Processes survivor benefits
• Processes and provides training for QDRO requests

Empower

Third-Party Administrator

• Provides education on the Defined Contribution Retirement and Deferred Compensation Plans
• Assists with allocation of assets
• Provides guidance on financial goals
• Helps with beneficiaries

Medicare of Alaska

• Provides information about Medicare coverage (Juneau Medicare office)

Social Security

• Provides information about the Windfall Elimination Provision (Alaska Office)

For more information on our partners, visit our Partners Contact webpage.

Seminar and Counseling Services Are Available

We are here to help.

The Division of Retirement and Benefits offers many options to help your employees achieve their retirement goals. We are dedicated to working with members to answer their retirement plan questions and prepare them for retirement. Members can call us toll-free at (800) 821-2251 or in Juneau at (907) 465-4460 and speak with a highly-trained Retirement Specialist who can answer their questions right over the phone. We also offer individual counseling appointments for a more in-depth view of a member’s personal situation.

Scheduling a counseling appointment is highly recommended before submitting a retirement application.

Appointments are available via phone or in person.

A 60-minute appointment is designed to answer specific questions for members planning their upcoming retirement. Counselors will review the details of retirement estimates and health care options and discuss the transition from active or deferred member to retired member.

• Phone appointment: A counselor will call you at a designated date and time.
• In-person appointment: A counselor will meet with you face-to-face in our offices in Anchorage or Juneau.

In Juneau, 30-minute in-person or phone appointments are also available to review and submit forms and documents or to submit a retirement application.