If you attended Benefits U, then you received a sneak peek of Phoenix! Phoenix is the new pension administration system, which you will be using to interact with MOSERS starting in the next 12 to 18 months. Those who were able to join us at Benefits U saw how efficient and automated Phoenix will be as it interacts behind the scenes with SAM II and non-SAM II payroll files. This level of automation will improve the accuracy of our member data which ultimately increases customer service. Although there was a lot to take in with all the Phoenix demos, those that attended noticed the ease of use and how intuitive it is. There are errors and warnings built in to call your attention to invalid pieces of data that do not pass the controls programmed into the system. Phoenix will give you direction on what needs to be addressed and how. Think of it as having a personal assistant coaching you through the process.

If those of you who attended were overwhelmed with all the information, don’t worry! Within the next few weeks, we will upload the recorded video session demonstrations to the Benefits U page. Keep in mind that this was only a sneak peek. Thorough training and ongoing support are in the future and will be provided closer to our go-live date. We cannot do what we do without YOU! Thank you for all of the work you put in to help serve our members.

If you were unable to attend BU this year, stay tuned because we will be posting the recorded sessions in the coming weeks. Check the BU page for updates!

We extended an invitation to attendees of Benefits U to ask for what they would like to see in Phoenix. Carson Lepper, Phoenix Project Manager, asked payroll reps to email PMO@mosers.org with their requests using the following format “As a_______________I want________________so that _______________. To give you an idea of what a completed statement like this might look like here are some examples.

As a payrep/human resource manager

I want to access any member's service history

so that if an employee has breaks in service, I can accurately calculate their Leave Progression Date for SAMII purposes.

As a personnel officer at DPS

I want the Eligible to Retire Report to allow me to select multiple organizations in one run

so that I can run the organizations I am responsible for and see them all at one time.

As a payrep/human resource manager

I want a report of changes made to the submitted payroll file

So that I can accurately request 1DEDs/NDED in SAMII.

As a payrep/human resource manager

I want the Phoenix/PMO support staff to be easily accessible during implementation, either via phone, virtual meeting, or email

so that if I have difficulty uploading payroll, I have the extra support to walk me through the screens.

If you submit an idea to PMO@mosers.org we will reach out to you so we can fully understand your request. Providing your idea in the given format, allows us to begin thinking about the scope, complexity, and value of your idea. We look forward to hearing from you!

We have recently updated our HR update webpage with a NEW feature. Similar to our Rumor Central Blog, the HR Update page now features a tags sidebar. This allows you to filter through the posts based on the subject (or tag) of the post. We know HR Update is an important resource for MOSERS employers. Keeping this platform up to date and efficient is a top priority. If you have ideas about how to improve HR Update, please email nicoled@mosers.org.

Benefits Provider Table – September 2021

MOSERS Organization Chart – September 2021

Division of Benefits Order – Request for Estimate Form – August 2021

Life Services Toolkit Flyer – August 2021

Total Compensation Calculator – July 2021

For more information please visit MOSERS' Online Library: https://www.mosers.org/library

Benefits U Conference

Employer Training Webinar

Invalid Address Report

Salary Verification

Scheduling In-Person Visits

Internal Transfers

Transferring Sick Leave

Current Email Addresses

Benefit-Eligible Positions

Registration is OPEN!

Register Today!

If there is someone else in your office that may be interested in attending the Benefits U Conference, please forward this invite directly to them. Thank you!

Transfers & Terms 2.0 – Recording Available

Follow the link below to view the recording of the Transfers & Terms 2.0 Employer Training Webinar previously held on July 29, 2021. To register to watch the recording, enter your name and email address. To move through the recording use the progress bar at the bottom:

Employer Forms Webinar Transfers & Terms 2.0 - RECORDING

00 – 11 min: Intro, Resources, MOSERS Forms

11 – 39 min: Transfers

39 – 48 min: Terminations

48 – 56 min: Employer Webpage; Q & A; Wrap-up

Download webinar handouts.

Content was presented by Juanita Mummert, Assistant Benefits Officer-Education, Jamie Mullen, Employer Services Manager, Juanita Libbert, Receivables Analyst & Shelley Lehmann, Contribution Analyst.

Preparing for MOSERS Annual Life Insurance Review

MOSERS is making final preparations for our Annual Optional Term Life Insurance Review which will occur during the month of October. MOSERS does not send mail to members who have an invalid address on file in our system. It is important that we have correct mailing addresses on file for all benefit-eligible employees. Please sign in to the Employer Login and select the MOSERS Invalid Address report. Submit any necessary changes as soon as possible so that eligible employees will receive their review forms at the proper mailing address.

The Salary Verification Report is ready to work. 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.

The report is essential in ensuring that covered employees receive the correct amount of life insurance coverage each year. The report must be completed by September 7th.

Eligible employees receive one times their annual salary in basic life insurance coverage. 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 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 at the same time, 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 2021 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.

Last year we received a few inquiries regarding the pay types of "retention pay," a "security differential," and "COVID-19 pay." Please note:

• Retention pay and a security differential (just as a shift differential noted above) are included in annual earnings.
• COVID-19 pay, on the other hand, is excluded from annual earnings.

Did you know we have several benefit counselors who are available to meet with employees face to face in our Jefferson City office?

If members 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. 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 while you are here
• Discuss your retirement options
• Show you how to retire online
• Personally assist you if you need to submit a claim for life insurance or long-term disability
• And so much more!
Please encourage your employees to make an appointment in advance and to see our tips for in person visits.

If employees would rather meet virtually, instead of in-person, they can just let us know when they contact us to schedule an appointment. We will set it up through GoToMeeting, making it easy to connect one-on-one with a benefit counselor.

Please note that a transfer form should be submitted to report the internal transfer of an employee. An internal transfer is when an employee moves from one organization or section to another within the same agency or department, this includes moving from one facility or work location to another within the same agency or department.

The transfer form alerts MOSERS of a change in pay location for the employee and their service records are updated accordingly. Submitting the transfer form is important to help MOSERS maintain accurate service records and ensure the salary received for an employee aligns with their service.

Please encourage your employees to provide us with their current email addresses.

• In order to receive their benefits, it’s important that we have their current address on file!
• Members must have a current email address on file to set up or to change their myMOSERS Online ID and password.
• This will also be important for the upcoming MOSERS Board elections next year.

They can update their email and mailing address by logging in to myMOSERS. Selecting Personal Information then clicking Update Personal Information. Please note that updates to email or mailing addresses become effective by the next working day. If they are unable to do so online, please have them contact a MOSERS benefit counselor, who will be happy to assist.

Or, as a pay rep, you can update employee email addresses directly through the Missing Email Report. Log in to the MOSERS Employer Login. Once logged in, navigate to the Error Reports dropdown and select Missing Email Report. Select an employee from the report and click Update Email. Enter a valid email address for the employee and click Update. The Missing Email Report refreshes daily. Updates submitted through the report become effective the next working day. View the Error Reports Tab video for a step-by-step demonstration of the Missing Email Report beginning at minute 1:36.

We get questions about benefit eligibility, especially related to the reemployment of retirees. See the Benefit Eligibility page on our website for information but remember, the decision about whether or not a position is benefit-eligible should be based on an analysis of the position, not based on who will fill the position.

Applying for LTD is easier than ever!

Scheduling In-Person Visits

Employer Training Webinar

Benefits U Conference

PRN Status Employees

From the Education Desk

Upcoming Annual Salary Verification Report

Current Email Addresses

Department Newsletter

 A note from MO Deferred Comp regarding PRN status employees

The MO Deferred Comp Plan has seen an increase in withdrawal requests from PRN status employees. Per the MO Deferred Comp plan document section 2.11, an “Employee means any individual who is a common-law employee of the Employer (the State of Missouri and its agencies or departments), regardless of the part-time or full-time status, and including temporary employees. For this purpose, a ‘temporary employee’ means an employee hired on an hourly, intermittent, or seasonal basis.”

Withdrawals from MO Deferred Comp are available after termination of employment, which occurs because of retirement, discharge, resignation, or death. If an employee has not retired under MOSERS or MPERS, or terminated for one of the other reasons listed above, a termination status will not be updated.

When an employee elects to move to a PRN status without terminating, they remain an active employee and are not eligible to receive a regular distribution from the plan. They may at that time apply for an unforeseen emergency withdrawal if their circumstances warrant.

If your agency has questions regarding this process, contact the local MO Deferred Comp office at (800) 392-0925 opt. 2 for clarification.

When you have an employee ready to apply for LTD, simply have them call The Standard at (844) 505-6026 to submit the employee statement via telephone. Then you – the HR representative – fill out the short Employer Statement and email it to ltdmosers@standard.com and The Standard will take care of the rest (reaching out to the physician and collecting medical records)!

Please remember to NEVER e-mail paper applications to MOSERS or The Standard. They contain your employee’s health information and also their full name, address and Social Security number. Emailing this type of information poses risks to all parties involved, especially the member. For more information on this new LTD application process, please watch the LTD webinar put together by The Standard to illustrate the most effective way to file for LTD benefits.

Did you know we have several benefit counselors who are available to meet with employees face to face in our Jefferson City office? If members 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. 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 benefit counselors can:

• Print off benefit estimates while you are here
• Discuss your retirement options
• Show you how to retire online
• Personally assist you if you need to submit a claim for life insurance or long-term disability
• And so much more!

Please encourage your employees to make an appointment in advance and to see our tips for in-person visits.

Please share with your staff who are responsible for submitting HR/payroll data to MOSERS and encourage them to attend.

Registration is OPEN!

Register today at Employer Training Webinar - Transfers & Terms 2.0 to join the MOSERS Employer Services staff on Thursday, July 29 from 10:00 a.m. until 10:45 a.m. and learn more about transfer and termination forms.

We will post the recording on the Employer Training webpage as soon as possible after the event. 

Registration coming soon! We have finalized the conference agenda and are excited to share that other state benefit providers will be participating in the conference via virtual booths! Visit the Benefits U webpage for the most current information. We anticipate registration opening around the first part of August.

Reminders: The conference will be held online this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation. With the online nature, sessions will be scheduled over a series of days instead of everything held in one day.

Around the end of June, we sent an email to employees within five years of retirement eligibility reminding them to join us for a Ready to Retire session. This is a great opportunity to learn about the decisions they will need to make and to prepare for the retirement process. To accommodate different work schedules, we have both day and evening sessions available. Employees will sign up for a session based upon their plan:

• MSEP & MSEP 2000 for general state employees
• MSEP & MSEP 2000 for university employees
• MSEP 2011 for general state employees

If you have employees who have registered for an in-person session and are unable to attend, please have them contact MOSERS in advance at (800) 827-1063 to cancel. This will open a seat in the seminar and allow us to provide an accurate headcount to the caterer, venue, etc. We are still requiring social distancing in conference rooms. To ensure sufficient seating for our members, spouses and guests may not attend in-person seminars at this time. However, a spouse or guest is welcome (and encouraged) to attend with the employee in an online webinar.

If you have employees nearing their retirement eligibility date, please encourage them to register today for a session! As with all of our member education events, HR representatives are also welcome to attend.

Please contact MOSERSEducation@mosers.org if you have any questions.

Does your agency have a periodic newsletter? We are always looking for new ways to get benefit information to our members. If your agency has a newsletter and is interested, we would be happy to provide beneficial information regarding MOSERS benefits. Please contact MOSERSEducation@mosers.org if you are interested.