Employer News | Quarterly Newsletter | Spring

Metcalfe Decision

This is a class action brought on behalf of all former members of PERS Tiers I-III and TRS Tiers I-II. The court held that former members of these tiers have a constitutional right to return to PERS/TRS service and buy back into the same tier in which they were previously enrolled.

Prior to 2010, the State offered former employees who cashed out their contributions the ability to reenter the system and buy back their previous status. The statute was repealed at the same time the state closed those tiers, but the State provided notice to all former members and gave them an additional 5 years to return to PERS/TRS service and seek reinstatement.

The Alaska Supreme Court held that this reinstatement right is an accrued benefit protected by the diminishment clause of the Alaska Constitution. Practically speaking, this means all former members of PERS Tiers I-III and TRS Tiers I-II have the right to return to PERS/TRS service and seek reinstatement.

The superior court heard oral argument on the remaining issues and on January 31, 2022, directed the State of Alaska [Division of Retirement & Benefits] to notify all affected members within four months of their right to seek reinstatement and the procedures to do so. Notice letters to active members and letters to former members will be mailed no later than May 31, 2022. Affected members should wait until they receive their notice letter before contacting the division.

If you wish to pursue reinstatement of your PERS or TRS service and former tier status, please click here for more information and to begin the process. If you have any questions or do not have access to the Internet, please feel free to contact our office toll-free at (800) 821-2251, in Juneau at (907) 465-4460, or by email at doa.drb.mscc@alaska.gov.

Fiscal Year 2023 Employer Contribution Rates Available

The Alaska Retirement Management Board (ARMB) has established Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) employer contribution rates for the PERS/TRS Defined Benefit (DB) and Defined Contribution Retirement (DCR) Plans.

The FY23 rates can be found on the Employer Contribution Rates webpage. The link to the PERS and TRS employer rates is found under the EMPLOYER tab and can be accessed via the Contribution Rates link.

For questions about employer contribution rates, please contact Christina Maiquis at (907) 465-1845 or via email at Christina.Maiquis@alaska.gov. 

Annual Census Audits

The Division’s auditors KPMG are gearing up for census audits. Census audit selection is based on the 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 around 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 payroll contact.

True-Up—Reminder to Review True-Up Records with Each Payroll Submission

The Division calculates Defined Contribution Retirement (DCR) true-up adjustments daily and provides them in eReporting. The true-up adjustments correct for over and/or under-reporting of the following contributions:

• DCR Employer match (ER),
• DCR Occupational Death & Disability (ODD),
• DCR Retiree Medical Plan (RMP),
• DCR Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA), and
• Defined Benefits Unfunded Liability (DBUL).

Please review the true-up report with each payroll submission. All true-up records for each year listed must be adjusted with each payroll submission, even if it is a net-zero adjustment. The true-up will allocate the contributions to the proper money type.

Please contact your payroll contact if you have any questions regarding the true-up process or about specific true-up records in eReporting.

TRS 2021/2022 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 2021-2022 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 2022-2023 School Year or TERM event for teachers who are not returning must be reported for ALL teachers at the end of the 2021-2022 school year. The TSE date to be entered will be the day after the last day worked for the school year or June 30, 2022.

Please note that any payroll information received after July 15, 2022, will not be posted to the members’ accounts before the annual interest calculation, nor will it appear on the members’ 2021-2022 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, 2022.

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 2021-2022 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 2021-2022 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.

Pay Period End Dates—Consistency is Key to Ensuring Correct Reporting

Accurate reporting of Pay Period End (PPE) dates and the associated issue date is critical for ensuring salaries are assigned to the correct calendar year, determining eligibility for voluntary benefits, and testing for Internal Revenue Code limitations. Please be sure reported PPE dates are consistent for your payroll cycle.

Submitting inconsistent PPE dates may delay posting of contributions to member accounts. Payroll files will need to be corrected if submitted with an inaccurate PPE date.

The Difference Between PPE Date and Issue Date

• PPE date: End date of the payroll cycle in which employees worked or earned wages that they are being paid for.
• Issue date: Paycheck date or the actual date employees are paid.

Examples of PPE Dates

Monthly Pay Cycle

A monthly pay cycle can have a PPE date as any day of the month but should be a consistent date each month. The PPE date will always be the same day of the month or the last day of the month.

For Example:

Semi-monthly Pay Cycle

A semi-monthly pay cycle would always run from the 1st through the 15th and the 16th through the last day of the month. In this scenario, the PPE date will always be reported as the 15th of the month or the last day of the month.

Bi-weekly Pay Cycle

A bi-weekly pay cycle will always be 14 days.

For example:

Weekends and Holidays

An employer PPE date should not change due to a weekend or a holiday.

Weekends

The Division frequently encounters PPE errors when an employer reporting as semi-monthly or monthly finds their pay period ending date falling on a weekend.

For example:

Holidays

If the PPE date would normally be May 31, the employer should still report May 31 as the PPE date despite May 31 being a holiday.

Exceptions to Submitting Consistent PPE Dates

The only exception for not submitting an expected PPE date based on payroll cycle is at teacher service year-end for TRS employers. Please work with your Division payroll contact to determine the correct PPE dates for school year-end reporting.

Questions?

If you have any questions about what PPE date should be submitted or if you need to change your pay cycle, please reach out to your Division payroll contact.

Paying Employer Payroll by Check? Electronic Payment Preferred

The Division encourages employers to switch over to ACH for faster processing. There are two payment options:

1. eReporting ACH with Bank Account Activation (preferred method)
   • Go to eReporting
   • Open the Banking Tab
   • Set-up EFT
   • Bank account will be PENDING until your financial institution finalizes approval
   • Once ACTIVE, you can submit payment with ACH
   • Payment is submitted with payroll, and only the Signed Summary report is needed for processing
     
     
2. eReporting Other ACH with no Bank Account Activation
   • No activation is required in eReporting
   • Submit payment with Other ACH
   • Signed Summary along with an ACH Memo is required to be sent in together for processing

If you have questions related to the conversion to electronic payment, please contact your payroll contact.

Employer On-Behalf Funding

Fiscal Year 2022

The Division of Retirement and Benefits will apply Fiscal Year 2022 PERS and TRS employer on-behalf funding provided by House Bill (HB) 69 (Section 73), to complete payrolls received in our office by July 15, 2022. Fiscal Year 2022 covers payrolls containing payroll end dates from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022.

A complete payroll is defined as a payroll that has all elements needed to process the payroll. This includes the receipt of the 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, 2022, 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 2022 via email.