Accurate reporting for an employee who is new, intermittent, or leaving employment

When reporting a new employee, the first day that they worked should be used as the first day of the earning period for that employee. In addition, a pay period begin code should be used. You should use an "N" if they are new or an "E" if they are a re-employed OPERS retiree. If your employee is returning to work as a seasonal employee and the last pay period end code used was "S" for leaving seasonal, you should use the same "S" pay period begin code to notify OPERS they are returning to work.

When an employee terminates their public employment, whether they are a seasonal employee, retiring or terminating their position, you should use the employee's last day worked as the period end date for the last reporting period. You should use the correct pay period end code of "S" if the employee is leaving a seasonal position, a "P" if the employee is retiring and a "Q" if they are terminating/quitting.

If you discover that you reported the beginning or end date incorrectly, please contact Employer Outreach at 1-888-400-0965 to have the report updated. If you discover that you didn't use a pay period end code, you can enter the code after the report has been submitted in ECS. To enter the code in ECS, please select Online Reports, then Pay Period End Code Management to add the correct pay period end code.

When should you use a supplement report and what are the advantages?

As an OPERS employer, you should use supplemental reports for the following reasons:

    • Retroactive Pay Increase
    • Longevity
    • Disability Pay
    • Conversion Plan (this report should also be accompanied by the CONVDOC template)
    • Settlement agreement

The advantage of reporting these types of compensation on a supplemental report is that you will not need to respond to large earnings clarifications for the items on the supplemental report. If you do not submit these types of compensation on a supplemental report, you will have to respond to each large earning clarification.

Keep in mind that you may still receive large earning clarifications for other types of compensation not listed above.

When should you expect a Certification of Final Payroll request?

You will receive a Certification of Final Payroll request when an employee is retiring from OPERS. This can be a service retirement, disability retirement or an employee refunding their OPERS account. The certification should be completed as soon as you know the final payroll date for the employee.

If the employee is refunding their OPERS account, you will receive the Certification of Final Payroll request if the employee's last contribution occurred within the last year or if a PPE code of "Q" was not used in the final payroll.

Did you know?

Did you know that a delegated administrator in ECS can update the list of OPERS contacts electronically in ECS and you no longer must send the Employer Contact Information form, ADDR, to OPERS? The Employer Contacts can be update in ECS under the Employer Contacts option. You can remove old contacts and add new and update the contact reason.  This is different from the ECS contacts which the Delegated Administrator can also update. The ECS contacts specify those who and what they can access in ECS. It is important in both contact lists to update the list when someone leaves your employment. There are step by step instructions in ECS under the HELP menu.

Earnable Salary for 2021

Minimum earnable salary for 2021 is currently $684.86 per reporting month and will increase to $696.84 beginning the first payroll reporting month ending in 2022. If an employee earns less than the minimum earnable salary in a reporting month, the amount of service credit that is earned will be pro-rated. The minimum earnable salary will continue to increase each year through 2029.

How to Report Hazard Pay

During the pandemic, many employers have asked questions regarding hazard pay and whether it is considered earnable salary and should be reported to OPERS. Each employer's plan for hazard pay is unique. As a result, if you anticipate offering hazard pay, we ask that you email documentation describing how you plan to calculate the hazard pay compensation to employeroutreach@opers.org prior to making the payment to your employee(s). A Compliance Specialist will review the provided information to determine if the payment will be considered earnable salary.

OPERS Health Care Program Changes Effective
Jan. 1, 2022

Effective Jan. 1, 2022, OPERS will no longer offer a group medical plan, instead all eligible Pre-Medicare benefit recipients can opt in to a Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) and receive monthly HRA deposits from OPERS. All eligible Medicare benefit recipients will need to enroll in a medical plan through the OPERS Medicare Connector to receive monthly HRA deposits from OPERS. Due to this change, OPERS employers will be required to provide retiring employees with a Loss of Coverage letter upon their termination from your employee medical plan. In addition, eligibility for the OPERS health care program will change for members with a retirement benefit effective date after Dec. 1, 2021.

Loss of Coverage letters
Employees will no longer enroll in the OPERS Pre-Medicare group medical plan when they are terminated from your employee medical plan at retirement. Effective Jan. 1, 2022, OPERS employers will need to provide a Loss of Coverage letter to employees when they retire.  Most medical plans on the individual market will require those enrolling to provide a Loss of Coverage letter containing the following information:

  • Who had their coverage terminated from your employee medical plan (retiree and any enrolled dependents); and
  • The date the coverage was terminated

Eligibility Changes
Listed below are eligibility criteria for the OPERS health care program today and for retirees with a benefit effective date of Jan. 1, 2022 and after. Health care coverage in retirement will likely be a significant factor in deciding when a member decides to retire, so it's important that they understand the structure of the OPERS health care program and the changes effective Jan. 1, 2022.

As an employer, please direct any employees considering retirement in 2021 to OPERS or opers.org to learn more about these changes and how their eligibility for the OPERS health care program could be impacted. OPERS retirement counselors are available to discuss member's personal account by phone, via video conference and in-person at the OPERS office in Columbus with an appointment. Employees should call 1-800-222-7377 to schedule an appointment.

Eligibility for the OPERS retiree health care program in 2021:
If an employee retires with an effective date on or prior to Dec. 1, 2021, they will be eligible for the OPERS health care program as a retiree who is at least age 60 with a minimum of 20 years of qualified health care service credit.

Your eligibility for the OPERS retiree health care program in 2022 and after:
If an employee retires with an effective date of Jan. 1, 2022 or after, they will be eligible for the HRA by meeting one of the following criteria:

Age 65 or older
Minimum of 20 years of qualified health care service credit

Age 60 - 64
Group A – 30 years of total service with at least 20 years of qualified health care service credit
Group B – 31 years of total service with at least 20 years of qualified health care service credit
Group C – 32 years of total service with at least 20 years of qualified health care service credit

Age 59 or younger
Group A – 30 years of qualified health care service credit
Group B – 32 years of qualified health care service credit at any age or 31 years of qualified health care
service credit and at least age 52
Group C – 32 years of qualified health care service credit and at least age 55

Aging into eligibility

Providing an employee has at least 20 years of qualified health care service credit at retirement, they will eventually be eligible for the HRA even if they are not eligible when they first retire.

If an employee retires at age 65 or older with at least 20 years of qualified service credit, they
will be eligible for the HRA on their retirement date.

If an employee retires prior to reaching age 65, they will either be eligible at retirement or will
become eligible either when they turn 60 or when they turn 65 depending on their qualified health
care service credit at retirement (see criteria above.)

If an employee retires with less than 20 years of qualified health care service credit, they will not
be eligible for the HRA, regardless of their age, at any time.

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It is your responsibility to be certain that OPERS has your current physical and e-mail address on file. If OPERS is not made aware of address changes, we cannot guarantee that you will receive important information pertaining to your OPERS account. This publication is written in plain language for use by public employers who are subject to coverage under the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System. It is not intended as a substitute for the federal or state law, namely the Ohio Revised Code, the Ohio Administrative Code, or the Internal Revenue Code, nor will its interpretation prevail should a conflict arise between it and the Ohio Revised Code, Ohio Administrative Code, or Internal Revenue Code. Rules governing the retirement system are subject to change periodically either by statute of the Ohio General Assembly, regulation of the Ohio Public Employees Retirement Board, or regulation of the Internal Revenue Code. If you have questions about this material, please contact our office or seek legal advice from your attorney. OPERS is not required to provide health care coverage to retirees or their dependents and will only do so at the discretion of the Board of Trustees.