Winter 2020 Employer Reporting Newsletter

Vested Tier 3 Refunds

 “Vested refunds” are those containing the 4% (nonhazardous) or 7.5% (hazardous) employer pay credit due to a Tier 3 member upon vesting (60 months), in addition to employee contributions and any interest applied to employee contributions.  Initially, at the time of reemployment, KRS determined that these employees were ineligible to participate in a new retirement account because they had received a vested refund of a prior account.     

Kentucky Retirement Systems recently reevaluated its determination and has concluded that there are no state or federal laws that prevent a member from participating in a subsequent retirement account after receiving a vested refund.  Therefore, effective January 1, 2021, members who have taken a Tier 3 vested refund of their account and are currently reemployed with, or will be reemployed with, an employer participating in the Kentucky Retirement Systems will establish and participate in a new retirement account with the Kentucky Retirement Systems.  If you have any questions regarding this decision, please contact your ERCE Representative.

Kentucky Public Pension Authority (KPPA)

During the 2020 Legislative Session, House Bill 484 was passed establishing a new governance structure for KRS. Effective April 1, 2021 KRS as an “office” will be known as the Kentucky Public Pension Authority (KPPA). Current KRS employees will become KPPA employees and continue to provide administrative support, investment management and conduct daily activities for the new CERS, KRS and KPPA boards. KPPA will be led by an Executive Director who will work with the Chief Executive Officers of the CERS and KRS boards to carry out the statutory provisions of the systems.

Changes to File Layout

In order to accommodate statutory reporting requirements regarding volunteer positions, and to allow for the reporting of employee email addresses, we anticipate mandatory changes to the reporting file layout coming in Summer 2021.  More information will be available regarding these changes in the coming months.

Employer Self Service Updates

KRS has updated security access in ESS, allowing users with “ESS  Staff” roles to complete and submit the e6000h for retiring employees.

Please note, KRS now recommends that you use the most recent version of Microsoft Edge when logging into Employer Self Service. 

Website Updates

We have published recent updates to our Employer pages on our website, including our new Employer Reporting Manual, FY 2022 Contribution Rates and an Employer Cessation information page.  We encourage you to check back often and to let us know if you’d like to see more added to our site.    Please click here for more information.