2008 Personal Statement of Benefits for Tier I, Tier II and Tier IIA Members of the State Employees Retirement System

STATE EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT COMMISSION		55 ELM STREET HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT 06106-1775 TELEPHONE: (860) 702-3480 TELEFAX:(860) 702-3489
MEDICAL EXAMINING BOARD for DISABILITY RETIREMENT
HEALTH CARE COST CONTAINMENT COMMITTEE
	STATE OF CONNECTICUT RETIREMENT AND BENEFIT SERVICES DIVISION OFFICE OF THE STATE COMPTROLLER

RETIREMENT & BENEFIT SERVICES DIVISION MEMORANDUM

September 11, 2008

TO THE HEADS OF ALL STATE AGENCIES

ATTENTION:	Personnel and Payroll Officers
SUBJECT:	2008 Personal Statement of Benefits for Tier I, Tier II and Tier IIA Members of the State Employees Retirement System

GENERAL INFORMATION

On or about October 1, 2008, Personal Statements of Benefits for Tier I, Tier II and Tier IIA State Employees Retirement System (SERS) members will be mailed directly to members who were actively employed as of June 30, 2008 at the addresses on file with the Retirement & Benefit Services Division (Division) as of that date. Notices to inform members of this mailing will be enclosed with the payroll checks dated September 12, 2008.

The statements will contain retirement and other State employee benefit information as of June 30, 2008. Contributions and awarded interest balances will be reflected for Tier I members, Tier II hazardous duty members and Tier IIA members.

The member's primary agency address is printed as the return address; therefore, any undeliverable statements will be returned to the agency, to the attention of the personnel or human resources office. Returned statements for members whose mailing address is incorrect, incomplete, or missing should be given directly to each member and agencies should contact the Division's Data Base Unit by telephone at (860) 702-3515 or by email to osc.databaseunit@po.state.ct.us to resolve any address discrepancies. Statements for members who have transferred from your agency should be forwarded to the new agency. Statements for members who have left state service should be accumulated and then sent to the Division's Data Base Unit at the address on this letterhead along with a memorandum that provides the name of each terminated member, their termination date and the reason for their termination.

With respect to SERS members who report that they did not receive a Personal Statement of Benefits, please accumulate their names and forward them with identifying employee numbers and Social Security numbers to the Data Base Unit at the address on this letterhead or by email to the address provided above. Please note: employees first hired on or after June 6, 2008 will not receive a 2008 Personal Statement of Benefits. You should inform such employees that they will receive their first statement in the Fall of 2009.

The rest of this memorandum is devoted to outlining the information provided on the 2008 Personal Statement of Benefits as well as the procedures that must be followed to change or correct any of that information and explaining where additional information for each type of benefit may be obtained. For convenience sake, the instructions are organized according to sections within the statement.

To help safeguard members' personal information, only the last four digits of a member's social security number are printed on the statement.

Please remember that all requests to change or correct personalized information must be initiated and processed at the agency level.

SPECIFIC INFORMATION

I IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR RETIREMENT BENEFITS

This section provides an explanation of the retirement benefit estimates and payment options shown on the statement in the section entitled "Your Benefits at Retirement".

II YOUR BENEFITS AT RETIREMENT

This section provides members with several illustrations of retirement benefit calculations made based on information obtained from the State Employees Retirement Data Base (SEDB) and provides contributory retirement plan members with their total contributions and interest balance as of July 1, 2008.

If a member believes that his/her contributions and awarded interest totals are incorrect, the member may contact the Division's Data Base Unit in writing for an explanation of his/her retirement account balance. To avoid unnecessary requests, members should be advised that the interest awarded for the period from July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008 was computed on the balance of the contributions and interest as of July 1, 2007.

The "Your benefit payment options at retirement" sub-section provides information regarding the various payment options available to members at the time of retirement. This information has been compiled using employment data from SEDB records and is based on the following assumptions: the member has had continuous, full-time employment from the employment date shown on the statement to the age indicated on the statement, the member is married and the member's spouse is the sole contingent annuitant and is the same age as they are.

As part of our continuing effort to improve the information on SERS members' benefit statements, the benefits shown for Tier I members have been calculated at age 55 rather than age 65. Further, for Tier I, Plan B members the statement has been revised to include information regarding the recalculation of such members' benefits on the date with which they reach full retirement age under the Social Security Act or, if earlier, the date on which they become eligible for a Social Security Disability Award.

The benefit payment option estimates are for illustrative purposes only; these amounts do not portray actual benefits. Additional service credit, breaks in service, leaves without pay, and part-time service will affect the amounts shown. In most cases, so will the age at which the member retires and the age of their spouse or other contingent annuitant. It should be noted that if a member retained a pre-October 1, 1982 spousal option such member is ineligible to make another selection at retirement.

Additional information on regular benefits from SERS may be obtained from the Tier I, Tier II and Tier IIA Summary Plan Description (SPD) booklets.

General information regarding group life insurance and medical and dental benefits at retirement are also provided in this section.

III ADDITIONAL SERVICE CREDIT

Miscellaneous service credit purchased by Tier I, Tier II hazardous duty and Tier IIA members and obtained by Tier II non-hazardous duty members as reflected on SEDB records is provided in this section. Please note that this section does not reflect purchases in progress nor does it reflect prior Connecticut State service for which Tier II members may automatically receive retirement credit provided there is no permanent break in service.

Members are advised to contact their agency human resources office if they feel that the additional service credit information is incorrect or incomplete. Agency human resources staff may contact the Division's Purchasing Unit at (860) 702-3511 for assistance is resolving any additional service credit issues for contributory retirement plan members; questions regarding additional service credit for Tier II non-contributory members should be directed to the Division's Counseling Unit at (860) 702-3490.

IV YOUR DISABILITY BENEFITS

This section provides general information regarding benefits available to SERS members should they become disabled.

Members are advised to contact the Division's Counseling Unit directly or through their employing agency as soon as possible should they become seriously ill, injured or have a life threatening illness to ensure receipt of any benefits for which they may be eligible. Human Resources staff should also contact the Counseling Unit if they have questions regarding an employee's eligibility for disability retirement benefits. Information on disability benefits from SERS may also be obtained from the Tier I, Tier II and Tier IIA SPD booklets.

All employee questions regarding the State Group Life Insurance coverage should be addressed by the appropriate agency human resources or payroll officer. Agency staff may contact the Division's Group Life Insurance Unit at (860) 702-3537 for assistance; however, please do not refer individual employees to this number.

V YOUR SURVIVORS' BENEFITS

General information regarding those retirement, life insurance and medical and dental benefits which may be available to members' survivors under plan provisions is provided in this section as well as the amount of group life insurance for participating members and the total amount of retirement plan contributions and interest for contributory SERS members.

Refer to Section III of this memorandum for direction if a member believes that his/her contributions and awarded interest totals are incorrect.

VI MEDICAL AND DENTAL BENEFITS AS AN ACTIVE EMPLOYEE

Active employees' medical and dental benefits are briefly outlined in this section. Each spring, an annual summary of health care choices, prepared jointly by the Office of the State Comptroller and the Labor-Management Health Care Cost Containment Committee, is mailed to employees' home addresses; employees should refer to this summary for more specific information regarding these choices as well as details concerning the enrollment process.

VII PENSION AND HEALTH CARE BENEFITS FOR SAME SEX DOMESTIC PARTNERS
AND CIVIL UNION PARTNERS

This section provides general information regarding the pension plan and health insurance benefits available to same sex domestic partners. Effective October 1, 2005, civil union partners and eligible dependent children are also eligible for coverage under the pension and health benefit plan provisions. Further information regarding domestic partner benefits may be obtained through the Internet at www.osc.state.ct.us or you may contact the Division at (860) 702-3535. Procedures for enrollment of civil union partners and dependent children in health insurance were addressed in the November 1, 2005 memorandum issued by the Department of Administrative Services. Questions regarding these benefits may also be addressed to the Division at (860) 702-3535. Please do not refer individual employees to this number.

VIII ADDITIONAL BENEFITS FOR ACTIVE EMPLOYEES

This section provides general information regarding additional benefits available to active state employees: the Deferred Compensation (457) Plan and for eligible state educational employees, the State of Connecticut 403(b) Program, the Supplemental Employee Benefits Program, the Dependent Care Assistance Program and the Qualified Transportation Fringe Benefit Program.

Further information regarding these benefits including the participating vendors may be obtained through the Internet at www.osc.state.ct.us or you may contact the Division's Employee Benefits Unit at (860) 702-3543. Please do not refer individual employees to this number.

IX EMPLOYEES' PERSONAL INFORMATION

Employees' personal information is extracted from the State Employees Retirement Data Base. Again, please note that only the last four digits of an employee's social security number appear on the statement.

To correct the following errors, the appropriate information as outlined below must be submitted to the Division's Data Base Unit for processing.

Employee number incorrect - notify of the correct number by memorandum or by email at osc.databaseunit@po.state.ct.us.
Date of birth incorrect - submit a copy of birth certificate attached to a copy of the employee's latest Form CO-931.
Retirement plan beneficiaries incorrect, missing or require change - submit Form CO-931.
Employing agency incorrect - notify by memorandum specifying name of former agency, date and reason for separation and name of current agency, reemployment or transfer date and provide a copy of the Form CO-931 completed at the time of reemployment or transfer.
Employee name incorrect - to resolve discrepancies, agencies should contact the Division's Data Base Unit; a Form CO-931 reflecting the correct information may be required.
Life insurance beneficiaries incorrect, missing or require change - agency human resources or payroll staff may contact the Division's Group Life Insurance Unit at (860) 702-3537 for assistance; however, please do not refer individual employees to this number. Employee questions regarding the State Group Life Insurance coverage should be addressed by agency staff. Employees who wish to make group life beneficiary changes must see their agency human resources or payroll officer for the appropriate Core-CT Enrollment Statement. Once the employee completes and returns the Core-CT Enrollment Statement, the agency must data enter the information in the Core-CT system and forward the Core-CT Enrollment Statement to the Employee Benefits Unit.

Any questions you have concerning this memorandum or the 2008 Personal Statement of Benefits may be directed to the Division's Data Base Unit at (860) 702-3515 or by email to osc.databaseunit@po.state.ct.us.

Very truly yours,

STATE EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT COMMISSION
NANCY WYMAN, SECRETARY EX OFFICIO

BY:

Thomas C. Woodruff, Ph.D., Director
Retirement & Benefit Services Division

TCW/JAK/jk

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