• For employees retiring directly from active employment, use the last calendar day of the month as the termination date.
• For employees not retiring directly from active employment, use the last day actively employed or on a leave of absence (not including regular days off) as the termination date.
• Delete the member’s work email (please keep the member’s personal email address on record).
• Use the comments section sparingly! The comments section should be used in unique situations when you want to convey something not already captured on the termination form.

Please remind employees that 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.

If a member receives retirement benefits without a bona fide termination, then all further benefit payments will end and the member will be required to repay the System all retirement benefits received, plus applicable interest, based on the assumed rate of return on the date of the member's retirement. Any amounts (including interest) not repaid by the member to the System will be subject to collection from the member's future retirement benefits. In addition, any payment considered to be an in-service distribution may be subject to a 10% early distribution penalty by the IRS.

The member's retirement will be considered null and void. The member can apply for retirement benefits at any time during the member's continued employment but must have a bona fide termination of service and observe the 30-day separation-of-service period to receive retirement benefits.

Another point of emphasis at Benefits U last month was submitting status change forms, such as leaves of absence, transfers, and terminations to MOSERS as quickly as possible. This is particularly important for employees who are retiring. To accurately calculate an upcoming retiree’s pension, we need the employee’s termination form no later than the first week of the month the employee is retiring. You can access status change forms through the secure Employer Login. Thank you for your continued assistance in reporting status changes for your employees to MOSERS.

We appreciate all the work that you do for your employees and know that your time is valuable! We want to remind you how important it is to submit termination forms on time. We are unable to properly calculate a member’s Final Average Pay (FAP), which is used in calculating retirement benefits, without an accurate termination date. Submitting the termination form late stalls the retirement process for your employees and can delay retirement benefits. Additionally, we need the accurate and timely submission of termination forms to relay time-sensitive information to members regarding their MOSERS benefits. Submitting these forms late also impacts members in the following ways:

• Terminated members have 60 days to purchase portable group life insurance or convert their life insurance coverage to an individual policy if they wish to retain it. The termination form prompts us to notify members of their option to do so. Submitting the termination form late could deny the member the opportunity to continue this coverage.
• Members with life insurance coverage through MOSERS’ group policy who are eligible to retire may retain coverage as a retiree if they retire within 60 days of termination. Delayed submission of the termination form may complicate a member’s ability to retain coverage as a retiree.
• MSEP 2011 members may request a refund of employee retirement contributions. These contributions can only be paid 90 days after the date of termination, or 90 days after the member’s request is received, whichever is later. MOSERS notifies members of their eligibility to request this refund after we receive the termination form. Submitting the termination form late delays this notice and can delay payment of refunds to members.

Thank you for your continued support in making these processes smooth and efficient for you and your employees.

We appreciate all the work that you do for your employees and know that your time is valuable! We want to remind you how important it is to submit termination forms on time. We need accurate and timely submissions to pay refunds of contributions to members. Additionally, we are unable to properly calculate a member’s Final Average Pay (FAP) without an accurate termination date. If submissions are not made on time, it can delay the retirement process for your employees and will create errors on your error reports. Thank you for your continued support in making these processes smooth and efficient for you and your employees.

This month, active employees who are within one year of normal retirement eligibility or already eligible to retire will receive a letter reminding them of the termination and reemployment rules. Additionally, we have programmed for an automatic reminder letter to be sent to active employees when they reach the following milestones: one year before early retirement eligibility, two years before normal retirement eligibility, and one year before normal retirement eligibility.

We hope these reminder letters will assist your employees in complying with the termination and reemployment rules, which state that before receiving a benefit payment from MOSERS, IRS rules require a “bona fide termination” of a member’s employment. For purposes of MOSERS Board Rules, a "bona fide termination" occurs when:

• They have completely severed employment;
• They have 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
• They are 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.

For more information, please see our FAQs on Termination and Reemployment Rules and our Termination and Reemployment Rules flyer

Please note that if they do not have a bona fide separation of service, their retirement will be null and void, meaning they will not receive their pension payments.

We appreciate all the work that you do for your employees and know that your time is valuable! We want to remind you how important it is to submit termination dates on time. We need accurate and timely submissions to pay refunds of contributions to members. Additionally, we are unable to properly calculate a member’s Final Average Pay (FAP) without an accurate termination date. If submissions are not made on time, it can delay the retirement process for your employees and will create errors on your error reports. Thank you for your continued support in making these processes smooth and efficient for you and your employees.

Among the many items covered at Benefits U last September was the importance of submitting termination forms timely, particularly for employees retiring directly from active employment. To calculate pension benefits accurately and pay them on time, we rely on you to submit termination forms for new retirees no later than the first week of the month in which the employee is retiring. We are happy to report that our tracking reports have reduced in size by 50% since Benefits U. Thank you for your continued assistance with this effort!

Please share with your employees!

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

• They have completely severed employment;
• They have 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
• They are 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.

For more information please see our  FAQs on Termination and Reemployment Rules and our Termination and Reemployment Rules flyer

Please note that if they do not have a bona fide separation of service, their retirement will be null and void, meaning they will not receive their pension payments.

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

• They have completely severed employment;
• They have 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
• They are 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.

For more information please see our FAQs on Separation of Service.

Please note that if they do not have a bona fide separation of service, their retirement will be null and void, meaning they will not receive their pension payments.

Maintaining accurate service records is vital in the calculation/determination of benefits for MOSERS members. It is very important that you submit termination, transfer, and leave of absence/back to work forms in a timely manner through the MOSERS Employer Portal. We appreciate your continued support in making these processes smooth and efficient for you and your employees.

Terminations

• Report the last day the employee was actively employed by your agency, this includes the last day worked or on leave (paid or unpaid).
• If you are a SAMII agency, the termination date entered on the form is typically one day earlier than the termination date used in SAMII.

• If an employee is terminating at the end of a pay period, and the pay period ends on a regularly scheduled day off, please submit the termination date as the last day of the pay period.

• An employee’s date of termination and payroll must agree.
• Example: If an employee’s last day of work is on January 31, they should receive payroll for the full month of January.

• If there is a date difference between the last day worked (or on paid leave) and the date of termination, submit a Leave of Absence form for the period between the last time worked or when the leave was exhausted to the date of termination.
• Example: Termination date 3/14/2021 — no payrolls received for March 31 payroll
• Submit a leave form effective 3/1/2021 to term date of 3/14/2021.

• If an employee is retiring directly from active employment, use the last day of the month in which they were actively employed by your agency as the termination date.
• Example: Retirement date is 4/1/2021 = Termination date of 3/31/2021
• Please submit the employee’s termination form no later than the first week of the month in which he/she is retiring.

• Be cautious about submitting a termination form too early (i.e., two months or earlier). Once the form has been submitted online, it automatically updates the employee’s records in our system and shows them as terminated. The employee then may no longer be able to generate benefit estimates using myMOSERS.

Transfers

• If the employee has not missed 30 calendar days of payroll and is transferring employment from one state agency to another (in a MOSERS-covered benefit-eligible position):
• The hiring agency must complete the Transfer of Employment form.
• The previous employer must complete the Termination of Employment form. 
• Exceptions for completing a transfer form:
• Employees returning to state employment who have missed 30 calendar days of payroll.
• Employees transferring from the Department of Conservation, Highway Patrol, Department of Transportations, or a state college/university (except State Technical College of Missouri and Lincoln University), which are not covered by MOSERS' life insurance plan.
• If either exception exists, the hiring agency should enroll the employee in SEBES rather than submitting a transfer form.  

Leave of Absence

• MOSERS requires the agency to report a leave of absence using the first full day the employee is in an unpaid status as the effective date of leave.
• Report to MOSERS when the employee returns to work.