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PERA NEWS: EMPLOYER EDITION
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Fall Newsletter | September 2024
Articles in this newsletter:
- One-time Open Election Period for a Final Membership Decision
- New 30-Day Election Window: Optional PERA Membership
- Exclusions Reports: List All Public Officials Not in PERA
- Reminder: Employer EFT Requirement
- Missing Enrollments Report
- Election Workers: Excluded from PERA Membership
- Is Your Annual Leave Report Overdue?
- PERA Training at Employer Conferences and Events
- Required Communication from govDelivery
- Ask PERA: Can we print and keep PERA forms for use at our office?
- PERA Employer Education:
- October 10, Live Q&A Session: Open Election Period and DCP
- NEW Reporting Webinar Mini-Series
- October 24, Part 1: SDR Reporting
- Coming Soon, Part 2: Enrollments
- Coming Soon, Part 3: Summer Earnings for School Employees
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One-time Open Election Period for a Final Membership Decision
The 2024 Pension and Retirement Policy and Supplemental Budget Bill was signed into law on May 15, 2024. The law includes a one-time open election period from October 1, 2024 to October 30, 2024 when public officials, city managers, and public ambulance personnel who began service with a public employer between February 1, 2024 and July 31, 2024 can make a final PERA membership decision:
The Open Election Period Form will be available on our Forms & Publications page on October 1, 2024. You must complete part A, and the employee must complete part B. PERA must receive the employee’s final membership decision between October 1, 2024 and October 30, 2024. Election forms received on or after October 31, 2024 cannot be accepted.
If you have questions, email eligibility@mnpera.org or register to attend the October 10 live Q&A session. Sign up for the Q&A session later in the newsletter.
For most PERA members, participation in a defined benefit plan is required by law. However, individuals in certain positions can choose to participate in the Defined Contribution Plan (DCP) or not to participate in any PERA plan.
Effective August 1, 2024, eligible individuals must make a one-time, final decision to participate in the DCP within 30 days of their first day of service with a governmental subdivision. Individuals who do not make a decision within the 30-day time period will be automatically opted out of the DCP. Either election is permanent for all current and future service with the governmental subdivision. Elected non-governing body public officials who earn more than $425 per month and can participate in the Coordinated Plan have 30 days from their first day of service to make their selection.
Employer Requirement: Inform Individuals About Optional PERA Membership
Employer representatives must inform individuals eligible for optional PERA membership of their right to join PERA. By law, it is the individual’s decision to participate in PERA when they are employed in a position eligible for optional PERA coverage.
To inform eligible individuals of their PERA options,
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For each eligible individual, complete part A of the current Membership Election Form. Find the correct form on the Forms & Publications page of mnpera.org.
- Instruct the public official or employee to complete part B and sign the form within 30 days of their first day of service. Keep a copy of the form until the signed original is returned.
- Once parts A and B are completed, keep a copy for your records, then submit the form to PERA using the secure document upload feature in ERIS. After successfully submitting the form, you will receive a Transmit ID Code. You may also send the form by fax or mail; however, PERA must receive the form within 60 days of the individual’s first day of service. The election form should be submitted to PERA even if the individual chose not to participate.
Membership Options for Certain Positions
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Because of legislative changes this year, employers must list all non-participating public officials on the Annual Exclusion Report so PERA can ensure our plans are compliant with the IRS.
Use exclusion code 201 for elected officials and individuals appointed to a board or commission of a governmental subdivision, including governing body elected positions such as city council, county commissioner, school board, and township supervisor:
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You must use exclusion code 201 for elected local government officials or individuals appointed to a board or commission of the governmental subdivision, starting in calendar year 2024 for the report due February 28, 2025.
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You must use exclusion code 201 for elected school officials starting in fiscal year 2025 for the report due August 31, 2025.
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Effective January 1, 2025, employers who remit contribution payments of $1,500 or more per pay period will be required to use electronic funds transfer (EFT) to send the full payment to PERA. Minnesota law requires employers to remit employees’ PERA deductions and total employer contributions within 14 calendar days from the date employees are paid.
EFT is a secure and convenient way for employers to send a payment directly to PERA. EFT provides added control because you can choose which day funds are deducted from your account and eliminate the risk of mailing delays.
There are two types of EFT, listed below:
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ACH debit method: you authorize PERA’s contracted vendor to process your EFT payment using a special internet system or an automated phone service.
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ACH credit method: you process your EFT payment using your own self-developed application or a financial institution’s software program. You must prepare and send a file to your bank in a specified format.
Contact PERA to start using EFT. It takes about two weeks to complete the enrollment process.
Although PERA encourages all employers to use EFT, we accept paper checks from smaller-sized employers who remit less than $1,500 in contribution payments per pay period.
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Employers must provide specific personal and employment data about employees who qualify for PERA membership. For new or returning employees, employment data is due before or on the day of the employee’s first PERA deduction. The employment data is critical for PERA to credit deductions properly, communicate with members, and prepare estimates of future pension benefits. Employment data also ensures that PERA’s actuary receives complete data for their studies.
WHAT IS THE MISSING ENROLLMENTS REPORT?
When PERA receives a Salary Deduction Report and contributions for an individual before their enrollment data is reported, we create a placeholder enrollment for the member using the individual’s name and SSN. The individual is then listed on the employer’s next Missing Enrollments report.
HOW IS THE MISSING ENROLLMENTS REPORT COMPLETED?
To complete a Missing Enrollments report, submit the missing data, including:
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date of birth
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address
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position class
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hire date
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position title
WHAT IF THE MEMBER WAS ENROLLED IN ERROR?
If the individual on your Missing Enrollments report is not PERA-eligible or has not been rehired, select the Invalid Enrollment box and list the exclusion reason or invalid reason in the explanation box.
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DO NOT fill out the position class, hire date, eligibility date, position title, or exclusion code if the individual is not a valid enrollment.
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DO fill out the date of birth and address to make refunds quicker.
If you are submitting an invalid enrollment, a message will appear saying your submission was successful. However, this individual will not be removed from your Missing Enrollments report until PERA reviews your submission.
WHY WON’T ERIS ACCEPT THE DATES I AM ENTERING?
Enter the most recent hire date and eligibility date for the member. If an individual terminated or was found ineligible and refunded in the past, ERIS will not accept dates before most recent hire and eligibility dates. To find a member’s PERA employment history, search for them under Employee, click their name in blue, and click View Status History on the bottom of their profile.
I ALREADY SENT IN A DEMOGRAPHIC RECORD FOR THIS INDIVIDUAL. WHY ARE THEY ON MY REPORT?
Sometimes, demographic records do not process correctly. Review your unprocessed demographic records after each upload.
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Minnesota has a statewide Section 218 Agreement with the Social Security Administration for election workers.
The agreement rules apply to each governmental unit in Minnesota.
Who is an election worker?
Election workers are individuals hired by government entities to perform services at polling places in connection with national, state, and local elections. Election workers are also known as poll workers, ballot clerks, or voting officials. Election workers are often paid a set fee each day or a stipend for the election period, which includes attendance at trainings or meetings both before and after the election.
According to Minn. Stat. § 353.01, subd. 2b, election workers do not qualify for PERA membership, regardless of the amount of pay they receive.
Social Security and Medicare
In Minnesota, election workers who earn less than $2,300 in calendar year 2024 are not subject to Social Security and Medicare (FICA) coverage. However, if an election worker is paid more than $2,300 in 2024, FICA taxes apply on the full amount paid to the worker.
More information about election workers is available on PERA’s Social Security page. For current and historical threshold amounts, visit the Election Officials and Election Workers page of the Social Security website. The Election Workers page of the Internal Revenue Service has not been updated with the 2024 threshold, but it provides information about withholding and reporting.
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If your employees did not take unpaid leave of absences during the reporting year, mark the ERIS checkbox to complete your Annual Leave Report.
If one or more of your employees did take an unpaid leave of absence during the reporting year, act now. Late reporting increases the amount of interest a member must pay to purchase missed salary and/or service credit and may cause them to lose the purchase option.
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Local government: 2023 calendar year reports were due January 31, 2024. The member purchase option expires December 31, 2024.
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School districts: 2024 fiscal year reports were due July 31, 2024. The member purchase option expires June 30, 2025.
Learn More: Watch the On Demand Leave Reporting Webinar
What does it cover?
- Why the Annual Leave Report is important
- Walk through the reporting process
- Address common difficulties and answer common questions
Recommended for: Any contact responsible for member status or contribution reporting.
Length: 30 minutes
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In addition to PERA’s regularly-scheduled employer webinar offerings, we can provide employer-focused training at conferences and regional meetings.
PERA offers a one-hour presentation, which can be held in-person or virtually, depending on expected attendance. Presentation topics include:
- understanding ERIS,
- intro to PERA eligibility,
- leave reporting, and
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annual legislative updates
At least 50 participants must be registered for in-person programs. If your conference or regional meeting has fewer than 50 attendees, you can sponsor a joint program by coordinating with other neighboring local government entities.
We have the right to change a scheduled in-person training to an online webinar because of low expected attendance or other circumstances, such as inclement weather or sudden illness.
As a recorded PERA employer contact, you are required to receive communication from PERA to stay current on important updates and reporting information.
We will be sending you communication by email through the govDelivery communication tool. If you unsubscribe, we will re-subscribe you.
If you are no longer a PERA employer contact, you must remove your contact information from ERIS. Contact your organization's ERIS administrator to update your assigned contact role.
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Can we print and keep PERA forms for use at our office?
No. PERA routinely updates our forms and publications. It is best practice to obtain a current version of the document from the Forms & Publications page of our website, mnpera.org, to reduce the chance of sharing outdated information and prevent processing delays.
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Employers can attend the upcoming “Open Election Period and DCP Q&A” session to learn about recent DCP changes. PERA’s Account and Information Management department will answer your questions and provide guidance.
When: Thursday, October 10
Time: Drop in any time between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.
What is the session about?
Employers can learn more about the 2024 Pension and Retirement Policy and Supplemental Budget Bill that was signed into law on May 15. The law includes a one-time open election period when public officials, city managers, and public ambulance personnel who started work for a public employer between February 1, 2024 and July 31, 2024 can make a final PERA membership decision between October 1, 2024 and October 30, 2024.
Recommended for: PERA employers of public officials, public ambulance personnel, or city managers whose employees began service between February 1, 2024 and July 31, 2024.
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NEW Reporting Webinar Mini-Series
This October, we are launching a webinar mini-series about reporting responsibilities.
The mini-series will be broken into three separate webinars:
- Part 1: SDR Reporting
- Part 2: Enrollment
- Part 3: Summer Earnings for School Employees
PART 1: SDR REPORTING
As a PERA-covered employer, you must report timely and accurate employee payroll information by completing a Salary Deduction Report (SDR) each pay period. This webinar will discuss contribution reporting, a comprehensive overview of the SDR, how to make a payment for employer and employee contributions, and what actions to take after both the SDR and payment have been submitted.
When: Thursday, October 24
Time: 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
What is the webinar about?
The webinar will introduce salary reporting, the Salary Deduction Report (SDR), pay types, and correct coverage dates. You will learn
- how to complete the SDR,
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about EFT payments, invoices, and credit memos, and
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how to complete pending reports.
Recommended for: PERA-covered employers who work in payroll, human resources, or business management.
Length: 1 hour and 30 minutes (45 minutes of presentation and 45 minutes for questions)
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PART 2: ENROLLMENT
Coming Soon: January/February 2025
PART 3: SUMMER EARNINGS FOR SCHOOL EMPLOYEES
Coming Soon: April/May 2025
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