Pay is a key component in calculating an employee's future pension benefit. Part of the pension benefit formula uses an employee's "final average pay," which is the average of an employee's highest consecutive 36 months of pay. Accurate reporting of retirement-eligible pay to MOSERS ensures that member retirement benefit estimates and retirement benefits are calculated correctly.

Retirement-eligible pay includes all salary and wages payable to an employee for work performed. The following are among those payments excluded from retirement-eligible pay and must not be reported as salary and wages:

• Allowances and reimbursements for items such as phones, meals, uniforms, mileage or commuting, education or tuition, and housing or moving.
• Nonrecurring single-sum payments (such as a one-time bonus).
• Payments for unused annual leave or sick leave.
• Payments made after termination, unless it is for a final installment of salary or wages (such as a comp time payout or contract payout).
• Pay in excess of IRS compensation limits ($330,000 for 2023).
• Payments for which employer contributions have not been made.

For SAM II employers, non-retirement-eligible pay codes are automatically excluded from reporting to MOSERS. 

Non-SAM II employers must ensure that payroll files submitted to MOSERS exclude all non-retirement-eligible sources of pay. 

Before making benefit payments, MOSERS must verify the accuracy of service and salary data reported by employers. 

Please don't hesitate to contact the Employer Services team with your MOSERS-related questions by emailing employers@mosers.org or calling (800) 827-1063 option 2.

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. 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!

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.

The easiest and most convenient way to apply for retirement is online. Employees can complete both steps in the two-step retirement process all at once or leave and come back later to finish. Visit our Ready to Retire page for more information about the retirement process. These resources will help you make informed decisions during the retirement process:

• Retire Online Video – A handy video on the process of retiring online
• Retirement Guide – Why and how to complete various forms
• Smart Start Checklist – A list of information you should have readily available when you apply for retirement
• Destination Retirement Checklist – Checklist of other benefit providers to contact and tasks to complete
• Benefit Providers Chart – Verify which organization provides your retirement, employee assistance, and life, long-term disability, medical, dental, and vision insurance.

The most convenient way to apply for retirement is online. Employees can complete both steps in the two-step retirement process all at once or leave and come back later to finish. Visit our Ready to Retire page for more information about the retirement process. These resources will help you make informed decisions during the retirement process:

• Retire Online Video – A handy video on the process of retiring online
• Retirement Guide – Why and how to complete various forms
• Smart Start Checklist – A list of information you should have readily available when you apply for retirement
• Destination Retirement Checklist – Checklist of other benefit providers to contact and tasks to complete
• Benefit Providers Chart – Verify which organization provides your retirement, employee assistance, and life, long-term disability, medical, dental and vision insurance.

The Retirement Application was recently revised to include an agreement regarding MOSERS’ Board Rule on Separation of Service. Outdated paper versions of the Retirement Application will not be accepted and should be discarded. Please encourage employees to apply for retirement online by logging in to myMOSERS and selecting Retire Online from the menu. If an employee cannot apply online, they should contact a MOSERS benefit counselor who will send them a personalized paper form. 

If you have an employee nearing retirement, it is beneficial to pay out any compensatory time balances before or with the employee’s final salary payment. Since this pay may impact the final average pay (FAP) calculation for retirement purposes, a delayed compensatory time payout could result in the employee receiving an incorrect benefit estimate or their first benefit check.

After receiving information on a compensatory time payout, MOSERS must obtain information from you to allocate the pay to the months earned for the calculation of the FAP. Having this information as early as possible will help to make the retirement process as smooth as possible.

Please note that MOSERS retirement benefits are only payable as monthly installments. A member may not be counted as an employee AND receive a retirement benefit within the same month. Employees who are retiring typically terminate their employment at the end of a month, so that they may be classified as a retiree at the start of the next month. Occasionally, an employee may confuse this scenario and work on the first day of the month that is their intended retirement date. When this happens, the employee may NOT retire until the following month.

For Example: If an employee plans to retire on October 1 but is still an employee for ANY time in October, they will NOT be permitted to retire until at least November 1.

To ensure smooth transitions for your outgoing staff, please pay special attention to your employees who are eligible for retirement and plan to leave employment on the first day of any month. It may be helpful to explain that their last day of employment and first day of retirement will always be two separate dates.

You may contact MOSERS to confirm if an employee has applied for retirement. If you discover an employee who plans to work on the same date their retirement becomes effective, please advise them of the conflict or direct them to contact  MOSERS for more information.

We understand that there is often confusion regarding unused leave upon retirement. This is a common concern so we have provided a quick overview below that you can reference when asked by employees.

Unused Annual Leave:

Did you know?

• The amount of your unused annual leave/vacation has no impact on your MOSERS pension benefits.
• Your employer should pay you for at least some of your unused annual leave. The amount of annual leave that you may get paid for is determined by your agency or university, not by MOSERS.
• Your agency or university may have a limit on how much they will pay out. Limits may vary from one agency or university to another. Check your employee policies for details well in advance of your retirement date.

Unused Sick Leave:

Did you know?

• Your monthly pension benefit from MOSERS will be based on your final average pay and your credited service. This can include unused sick leave.
• Each block of 168 hours of unused sick leave is converted into one month of service credit to be used in your pension benefit calculation. (There is no partial credit; any amount less than 168 hours will be equal to zero additional months of credited service.)
• Unused sick leave does not count as service in determining retirement eligibility but it can increase your benefit amount once you have become eligible for retirement.
• If you use sick leave near your retirement date, it may affect previous benefit estimates you have received.
• If you are eligible for BackDROP and elect to take it, you will receive credit for unused sick leave accrued during your BackDROP period.