MERS Kickoff Meeting: CT Pension Project Overview and Reporting Methods

1. State of Connecticut Office of the State ComptrollerMERS Kickoff MeetingMarch 1, 2017

2. Welcome: Today’s Objectives Provide an overview of the CT Pension Project Discuss the goals and benefits of the new MERS administration system Review the methods of reporting data to RSD • Electronic Data Interface • Employer Reporting – Online Data Entry • Turnaround Document Review the timeline and key activities Break-Out Session 2

3. CT Pension Project Overview • RSD will be transitioning all MERS plan administration to Core-CT in April, 2017 • Core-CT is the system used by the State for HR, Payroll and Finance; the software has a pension module which has just been implemented for SERS and is now being implemented for MERS • The pension module includes an automated benefit calculator that processes retirement benefits for both normal and disability retirements • A new Customer Service Center has been created to service active members and retirees; a dedicated MERS phone line will be established

4. Other Key Information • As of February 2017, MERS retirees are now receiving checks and pay advices generated from Core-CT. • Updated Federal tax withholding amounts • New checks and pay advices • New Employee ID numbers have been generated for all MERS members (active and retiree). • To protect personal information, Employee IDs will replace Social Security Numbers on checks and advices. • Retirees have been notified of their new Employee ID via an insert with their February pay advice. • Active members will be notified later this Spring. • Municipalities and Towns will be provided the Employee ID data for their employees (active and retiree).

5. Goals of the New MERS System • Goals: • Reduce the need to collect historical member data at the time of retirement by proactively collecting more/better data each month • Transition all Municipalities and Towns to an electronic submission or online entry of Payroll, Demographic, and Employment information • Ensure timely and complete submission of employee and employer data • Effectively monitor open accounts receivable/payable for outstanding contributions • Benefits: • Increase the speed that data from Municipalities and Towns is processed into the pension system • Increase the speed with which retirement benefits are calculated • Improve the service delivered to MERS active members, retirees and Town HR/Payroll personnel • Improve communication between RSD and MERS Employers

6. Questions

7. Why New Reporting Requirements? • Currently the Retirement Services Division (RSD) is collecting each month the bare minimum of data: pay, contributions and hours. • For new hires: Towns submit a CO-931 • As a result, when an employee retires, RSD will often have to ask a Town about periods in the past when the employee … • Did not work • Worked part time • Was out on leave • When RSD asks employers for historical information the towns’ payroll systems often do not have it. As a result, is difficult to re-create members’ historical detail at their time of retirement without this data. • Consequently, RSD needs to collect and store more information every month, and RSD needs to make it easier for Municipalities and Towns to report this data.

8. What Data is Needed? • In order for RSD to do its job (e.g. administer the MERS plan, calculate benefits) there are 3 categories of data needed for active employees: • Person / Demographic Data • Employment Data • Pay, Contribution & Hours Data • Pay, contribution & hours data is transactional data generated from one or several payrolls and reported to RSD monthly. • Demographic data is personal data about an employee like name, marital status and address. Generally it is reported on the CO-931 and changes infrequently. • Employment data is more diverse and changes more frequently. It includes the employee’s employer, effective dates, employment status, leave status, part time percentage and compensation rate. Current Ease Future Y G G R R Y G G G

9. Interesting Points About This Data Demographic • Primary: needed immediately or all else fails • Need to compare/match with existing persons to ensure each person is in the system just once • Personal data must be protected and held secure Employment • Changes must be kept historically by date • Multiple jobs and dual concurrent employment are special situations that must be handled • This data is one key input to determining service Payroll • Employers summarize multiple payrolls and report monthly. Would reporting by pay period be easier? • Hours vs. Standard Hours or Pay vs. Standard Pay (Comp. Rate is the means by which service is determined • The effective date of retroactive pay adjustments is needed to determine service

10. Reporting Methods – Current and Future • Data file interface • Turnaround report • Town/Muni report • Data file interface • Online data entry into CoreCT • Turnaround report (being phased out) Current Future RSD RSD Turnaround Report or Town/Muni Report Data File Interface Turnaround Report Data File Interface 1 3 1 Core CT 2/3 2 Town Town

11. Reporting Methods • RSD will support 3 methods of reporting from Municipalities and Towns but will eventually phase out the Turnaround Report • 1. Electronic Data Interface • Employers will create an electronic fixed length data file based on technical specifications provided by RSD. The file will be submitted using a secure FTP process and automatically uploaded into Core-CT. • 2. Employer Reporting - Online Data Entry • Employers will be given access to specific screens in Core-CT to manually enter data online. “Copy Forward” will pre-populate this month from last month. • 3. Turnaround Report • For a limited time, RSD will continue to produce a Turnaround Report for employers to mark-up and return. RSD Staff will use the Employer Reporting Online Data Entry screens to enter the data from the turnaround report into Core-CT. • Regardless of the reporting method, RSD will validate, balance, and post the reported data to the pension module of Core-CT.

12. Core-CT Access Overview Computer • PC or Mac with 1mg of Memory • Internet access • Internet Browser: IE, Firefox, Chrome, or Safari • https://correct.ct.gov/psp/PEPRD/?cmd=login&languageCD=ENG& • User name and password • Accounts will be given to HR/Payroll staff for each Town or Municipality • Home page • Employee Search (restricted to your Town’s EEs) • HR / Workforce Screens • Pension Screens • Employer Reporting Screens Core CT Menu

13. Online Data Entry Overview Employer Reporting Home Page Payroll Actions Upload Report Copy Forward New Hire Edit Report Report History Current Report Past Reports Report Schedule Report Details Summary Employee Details Empl ID Pay Status HR/Job Status 36354 Submitted Valid 57621 Error Add Employee Data HR/Job Data Pay Details Personal Data Summary Personal Data Job Data Employee Pay Details Job Data

14. Employer Reporting Home Page

15. Report Details

16. Employee Data

17. Pay Details

18. HR/Job Data

19. Timeline & Activities Go-Live • Key Dates and Activities: • File Development and Testing Checkpoint • Tuesday, March 14th • Tuesday, March 28th • Tuesday, April 11th • MERS System Demonstration • Wednesday, March 29th • Job aids and supporting materials will be made available prior to go-live • Production support staff will be available to assist users with questions or issues

20. Next Steps • Get the right people involved in your municipality/town • Identify the appropriate points of contact for your municipality/town • Get your third party payroll service/software provider involved • Select a reporting method • All employers are asked to notify RSD of their points of contact and desired reporting method no later than Friday, March 10th. Please email us at osc.muniinfocmers@ct.gov.

21. Break-Out Session • Employers selecting or interested in pursuing the Electronic Data Interface method of reporting are encouraged to stay for a detailed review of the technical reporting details and file layout.