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 Tiny snowperson overlooking Mt. Hood
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For employer reporters
Deadline to get all 2024 Regular reports posted
March 5, 2025, is the official year-end deadline to get all 2024 Regular reports posted. It’s one of two important year-end deadlines:
March 5
All 2024 and prior pay dates posted.
March 12
All payments for March 5 remittance statements paid. (ACH Debit (aka “pull”) employers will automatically meet this deadline.)
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Cost of missing the deadlines
PERS members are guaranteed to receive earnings on their IAP and EPSA accounts, if there are any. For all wages that are reported and contributions that are paid before the first statement closing date in early March, earnings are paid out of the PERS Fund.
For any wages not reported or contributions not paid by the statement closing date, earnings are not paid by the PERS Fund. Instead, the employer is charged for those earnings. This appears on your invoice as “prior year earnings.”
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Other benefits of meeting the March 5 deadline
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More accurate employee accounts.
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More up-to-date member annual statements.
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Easier reporting with fewer EDX error messages.
Need help?
The Employer Service Center team is ready to help you meet this important deadline. If you are having trouble submitting your 2024 reports, contact your employer representative to schedule one-on-one time or reach out to the ESC Call Center. ESC contact information
Earnings crediting next steps
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In January, PERS financial experts calculated preliminary earnings crediting rates for the PERS funds that receive earnings (e.g., Employer Reserves Fund, IAP target-date funds, Tier One/Tier Two regular accounts, Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan (OPSRP) Pension Program, and Employee Pension Stability Accounts (EPSA)).
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PERS financial leaders presented the preliminary rates to the PERS Board at the end of the month for approval. (This presentation is in the January 31, 2025, board packet, section C4, starting on page 129.)
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We will share these preliminary rates with employers in the March Employer News.
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On March 31, PERS financial leaders will present the final rates to the PERS Board. (PERS Board Information webpage.)
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When the board approves the final rates, PERS financial experts will calculate the earnings for each PERS fund based on its balance as of December 31, 2024.
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We will share the final earnings crediting rate for each fund in the May employer newsletter.
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For employer reporters
2024 Superhero Gold Star Awards
Congratulations to 460 PERS-participating employers for submitting 100% of their Regular reports on time in 2024. Your hard work has earned you a Superhero Gold Star Award from the Employer Service Center!
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For finance officers and agency heads
New cycle of Employer Incentive Fund Program starting this spring
The Employer Incentive Fund (EIF) Program is gearing up for a new cycle — its second one since cycle one closed in 2023.
The program — introduced by the Oregon Legislature seven years ago to help ease rising employer rates — encourages employers to deposit funds into a side account by boosting their deposit amount by 25%.
For example, if an employer (who has no transition liability) opens a side account with a deposit of $100,000 (sourced from cash, not borrowed), EIF will add another $25,000 to the account. PERS actuarial experts apply the funds toward the employer’s unfunded actuarial liability (UAL), which offsets (i.e., reduces) the employer’s rate for the life of the account (usually 20 years).
Learn more on the Employer Incentive Fund webpage.
Next steps
Cycle two will open on April 1 with a 90-day application period for employers who have a UAL greater than 200% of valuation payroll. On July 1, the application period for all employers will begin. Fund requests are matched in the order received.
PERS Actuarial Activities Section will provide more details in next month’s newsletter and in emails sent to PERS finance, executive, and administrative contacts. Instructions and a fact sheet to help you prepare for completing the application are provided on the EIF webpage.
NOTE: There are administrative fees involved with opening a side account. For more information on the process and costs, read the Employer Side Accounts webpage.
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For employer reporters
The PERS Risk Assessment survey is legit
Every month, PERS sends a self-assessment survey to a random selection of 25 employers. This is a legitimate — and important — survey.
Survey purpose
It asks you to assess how well you understand proper reporting practices, which are vital to ensuring accuracy and minimizing employer risk.
Survey use
The Employer Service Center uses your responses to reveal areas in which ESC needs to provide more training or assistance to employers.
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How to recognize it
The survey arrives in an email addressed like this —
SUBJECT: PERS Employer Risk Assessment
FROM: pers.employer.risk.assessment@pers.oregon.gov
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For employer reporters
Update addresses in time for member annual statements
Make sure employee addresses are up to date by February 28
PERS member annual statements will be mailed the second quarter of 2025 to the addresses PERS has on file as of February 28.
Your employees can check the address that PERS has on file for them by logging into their Online Member Services (OMS) account. From the Account Home page, they need to click the Member link under Account Type.
What should they do if their address is incorrect?
Inform your employees about the proper process for changing their address, depending on if you are a state agency or another type of organization (see below). PERS Member Services cannot update mailing addresses for members.
For information about member annual statements, go to the Member Annual Statements FAQ webpage.
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State employees: Update your address in Workday.
In Workday, click your profile image in the upper right corner of the home screen. Go to View Profile, then Contact, and click Edit.
Click the pencil icon on the right to edit.
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All other employees (e.g., schools, local agencies): Contact your Payroll or Human Resources department and request that they update your mailing address in EDX. For instructions on changing an employee’s address, read Detail 1 Member Demographics Fields, section “Reporting an Employee Change of Address.”
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Financial, budgeting, and accounting staff
Employer Rate Projection Tool updated
In January, PERS Actuarial Activities Section updated the Employer Rate Projection Tool (ERPT) with 2023 data from the 2023 System-Wide Actuarial Valuation Report.
You can access the updated tool and its user guide on the ERPT webpage.
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About the ERPT
ERPT is an online tool that is programmed with current contribution rates and payroll data to allow you to project up to 10 biennia of your contributions.
It will also generate an estimated contribution reduction for a new side account based on whatever side account deposit amount you enter.
It helps employers to budget and forecast for future contributions (estimated) and see how their contribution rates are affected by the criteria they enter.
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Why use the tool?
Project future contribution rates (estimated).
Budget for a potential future rate increase.
Achieve a requirement for participating in the Employer Incentive Fund program.
Observe the impact a new side account would have on your organization's contribution rate.
Forecast the effects of other criteria on rate (e.g., transition liability/surplus rate, side account rate).
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Need help?
Contact the Employer Service Center to ask questions and get one-on-one reporting help.
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