Employer News | December 2017

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DECEMBER 2017 | VOLUME 148

Bona Fide Separation of Employment Clarifications

The Division of Retirement and Benefits (DRB) has been working on clarifying the requirements for retirees to return to work with the same employer. The inception of this project was announced at the Employer Conference held in October of 2016. After working with our tax counsel, the DRB issued clarification for employers in August 2017 in the form of a Retiree Return to Work Policy. This policy document was distributed to all participating employers and the DRB web site.

On September 20, 2017, the DRB published intent to adopt regulations formalizing the Retiree Return to Work Policy and a public comment period was held from September 20 to October 20, 2017. During the public comment period, the DRB received requests for clarification as well as comments. All comments were analyzed and the regulations were edited for clarity. The regulations were adopted by Commissioner of Administration Leslie Ridle on November 22, 2017 and will go into effect for members retiring or rehiring on or after January 1, 2018 who wish to rehire with the same employer.

One comment was a recurring request for exemption of retirees working as substitute teachers with the same employer the school year following retirement. The DRB specifically addressed this issue with tax counsel who indicated no exceptions exist to the IRS bona fide separation of employment requirements and the regulations were subsequently adopted without this exception.  However, Commissioner Ridle proposes to send a letter to Alaska’s Congressional delegation requesting an exception be granted for Alaska due to our unique teacher recruitment situation.

As an additional result of the public comment review, the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) have been amended to reflect changes or clarifications requested by employers that were permissible.

Read more in these FAQs

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2018 Pension Plan Limitations

The Internal Revenue Service recently announced cost-of-living adjustments affecting dollar limitations for pension plans and other retirement-related items for tax year 2018. Many of the pension plan limitations will change for 2018 because the increase in the cost-of-living index met the statutory thresholds that trigger their adjustment. Read More>>

Source:IRS

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Employer Payroll Section Restructure

The Employer Payroll Section will soon restructure their section.  Due to this restructure, you may have a different payroll contact.  The employer payroll section will send an email to each employer regarding this change once we are closer to implementation of this restructure.

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PERS and TRS Newsbreaks in the Mail

PERS Newsbreak

 

The December edition of both the PERS and TRS Newsbreaks are in the mail and available online now.  Check them out!

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Other PERS and TRS Publications Online

Did you know most PERS and TRS documents, including financial publications, are available online? You can find the latest Actuarial Valuation Reports for PERS and TRS at the following links:

PERS Publications

·        Actuarial Valuation Report as of June 30, 2016

TRS Publications

·        Actuarial Valuation Report as of June 30, 2016

The PERS and TRS 2017 Financial Statements and the Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports (CAFR) will be available by the end of the month or soon after.

To request a hard copy of these reports, contact the Division at (907) 465-5711.

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