Please Work the Salary Verification Report ASAP!

Remember the Termination and Reemployment Rules

Reemployment – an Option for Retirees

Invalid Address Report – a Key Part of the Annual Term Life Insurance Review

Timely Comp Time Payouts Increase Accuracy

The Salary Verification Report is ready to work. If you are not the person responsible for working this report, please let MOSERS know as soon as possible. The report must be completed by September 6.

If you are responsible for working this report, please sign in to the Employer Login, hover over the Error Reports heading, and click the Salary Verification Report. Names of individuals responsible for working the report will appear. You may view any or all portions of the report by clicking on the appropriate name or department. You will then be able to submit your responses to MOSERS electronically.

Eligible employees receive one times their annual salary in basic life insurance coverage. The Annual Salary Verification report is essential in ensuring that covered employees receive the correct amount of life insurance coverage each year.

The amount of coverage adjusts each January according to the employee's annual earnings in effect on July 31 of the previous year (or the employee's first day of coverage, if not covered on July 31).

• Annual earnings include normal earnings from a benefit-eligible position, including shift differential, security differential, and retention pay.
• Overtime pay and other irregular payments are excluded from annual earnings.
• If an employee is working in both a benefit-eligible and non-benefit-eligible position simultaneously, only pay from the benefit-eligible position is included in annual earnings.

For the report, MOSERS used the SAM II base salary plus shift differential pay from the July 2023 payroll file to update basic and optional life insurance coverage amounts for most state employees. Manual salary verification is still needed for hourly and intermittent employees, employees on leave, employees working in multiple positions, and anyone not in SAM II.

If you have questions about the annual salary verification process, please email employers@mosers.org, or call an employer services analyst at (800) 827-1063, option 2. You can also watch a brief video tutorial on how to work the report if needed. 

Before receiving a benefit payment from MOSERS, IRS rules require a “bona fide termination” of the member’s employment. For purposes of MOSERS Board Rules, a "bona fide termination" occurs when:

• The member has completely severed employment;
• The member has not entered into a prearranged agreement (written or oral), prior to retirement, with the State of Missouri or any MOSERS-covered employer for subsequent employment on any basis (full-time, part-time, or other); and
• The member is not subsequently employed with the State of Missouri or any MOSERS-covered employer on any basis (full-time, part-time, or other) within 30 days after their employment with their prior employer has ended.

See FAQs on Termination and Reemployment Rules and a flyer on Termination and Reemployment Rules for more information.

Non-Benefit Eligible:

Upon meeting the termination and reemployment rules, a retiree may return to work and continue receiving their monthly pension payment, as long as their position is not a MOSERS or MoDOT and Patrol Employees’ Retirement System (MPERS) benefit-eligible position.

Benefit Eligible:

If a retiree returns to work for the state of Missouri in a MOSERS or MPERS benefit-eligible position:

• Their monthly pension payment will stop.*
• The life insurance they retained as a retiree, if any, will end. They may re-elect life insurance through SEBES within 31 days of employment without proving insurability.
• Depending on various factors (their plan, how long they work, etc.), they may or may not earn additional credited service during reemployment.
• When they return to retirement status, their monthly pension payment will equal the amount they were receiving when they returned to work plus any additional benefit they may have earned during reemployment. They also may retain life insurance up to the maximum amount allowable, if applicable.

*Effective August 28, 2023, a retiree serving as a legislator or statewide elected official will not have their pension payment stopped.

Payments of unused compensatory leave time, or comp time payouts, to benefit-eligible employees made before or after an employee’s termination, are included in retirement-eligible pay and are eligible for salary credit provided contributions are remitted to MOSERS for the payment.

Comp time payouts may impact the calculation of an employee’s pension benefit. This is why paying out unused comp time before or with an employee’s final paycheck is beneficial. A delayed comp time payout could result in an incorrect benefit estimate or pension check and could require MOSERS to recalculate a retiree’s pension.

Total Compensation Calculator – July 2023  

Destination Retirement Checklist (University Employees) – June 2023 

Destination Retirement Checklist – June 2023 

MOSERS Strategic Plan – June 2023  

Understanding Your Backdrop Benefit Estimate – April 2023 

Transferring from CURP to MOSERS brochure & form – March 2023 

If your employees have questions about their MOSERS retirement, life insurance, or long-term disability benefits, they can certainly ask those questions over the phone or by email. However, if they prefer, they can schedule an appointment in our office. There are several advantages to scheduling the appointment in advance rather than just stopping by. The biggest advantage is that members are likely to have a much shorter wait time if they have an appointment. 

Counselors are available to assist members from 8:00 a.m. until noon and from 1:00 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Our office is open during the noon hour for members who would like to drop off forms, however, we also have a drop box outside our office available 24/7. 

Our benefit counselors can: 
• Print off benefit estimates during an appointment 
• Discuss retirement options 
• Demonstrate how to retire online 
• Provide personal assistance when submitting a claim for life insurance or long-term disability benefits 
• And so much more! 

Destination Retirement Checklist – June 2023

Understanding Your Backdrop Benefit Estimate – April 2023

Transferring from CURP to MOSERS brochure & form – March 2023

The employer retirement contribution rate is calculated by MOSERS’ external actuary and is certified by the MOSERS Board of Trustees every year.  

As a reminder, the employer retirement contribution rates for MSEP, MSEP 2000, and MSEP 2011, as well as for the Judicial Plan and Judicial Plan 2011, are changing effective July 1, 2023. 

The changes to the employer retirement contribution rates for the respective plans, effective July 1, 2023, are as follows: 

As mentioned last month, the timeline for Phoenix implementation will be changing. We are working with our vendor to project a tentative date for deployment. We will update you on training dates and post-go-live support as soon as we know more. 

In the meantime, please continue to send timely termination, transfer, and leave of absence forms to MOSERS for your employees and work monthly Aged Accounts Receivable (AAR) reports. Carrying past-due AAR errors can lead to inaccurate retirement records for your employees and will cause a backlog of work when we transition to Phoenix. 

Please email employers@mosers.org if you have questions or call an Employer Services analyst at (800) 827-1063 option 2. 

The employee initiates a claim for LTD benefits by calling The Standard's Claim Intake Service Center at (844) 505-6026.   

After initiating the claim, the employee is instructed to inform their HR representative that they filed a claim.  

If you know in advance that your employee will be filing a claim, please advise them to have ready their HR representative’s name and phone number and their physician's name, address, and phone and fax number when they call The Standard. 

After the employee files a claim, the agency/department's designated HR representative completes the Employer's Statement and emails it to ltdmosers@standard.com with the employee's name listed in the "Subject" line of the email.   

Payments of unused compensatory leave time, or comp time payouts, to benefit-eligible employees made before or after an employee’s termination are included in retirement-eligible pay and are eligible for salary credit provided contributions are remitted to MOSERS for the payment.  

Since comp time payouts may impact the calculation of an employee’s pension benefit, it is beneficial to pay out unused comp time before or with an employee’s final paycheck. A delayed comp time payout could result in an incorrect benefit estimate or pension check and could require MOSERS to recalculate a retiree’s pension.

Please encourage your employees who are within 5 years of retirement eligibility to enroll in a Ready to Retire seminar or webinar this summer. Sessions later in the year tend to fill up so now is a great time to get registered.  

As an HR rep, you also have an open invitation to attend any member education session. Just call us at (800) 827-1063 or (573) 632-6100 and ask for Debbie at ext. 1231, or email MOSERSEducation@mosers.org.   

Please share the following information with your team members: 

Ready to Retire? Save Your Seat for a Summer Session!  

Get in while you can - sessions fill fast!  

• Visit www.mosers.org.  

• Log in to myMOSERS and go to Education Enrollment.  

• Enroll at least 2 weeks prior to the seminar.