Retirement Monitor - April 2020

 

 

 

 

Table of Contents

• Employer Access to Monthly ORBIT Error Reports
• Families First Coronavirus Response
• Required Form 703 During COVID-19 Response
• Updates: SOI Deadline Extended; Disability Review Continuing; LGERS Rate Letters Mailed; State Health Plan Encouraging Members to Stay Informed
• myNCRetirement Statements Now Available
• Peak Retirement Season and Member Communications
• The Supplemental Plans Make a Difference
• CARES Act and Supplemental Plans
• Upcoming Events

 

As a reminder, employers now have access to their monthly ORBIT Error Reports on our website: 

1. Log into ORBIT as an employer
2. Under the REPORTING options, select “Report Viewer”
3. Select the “Employer Reporting” report type
4. Select the “Detail Records in Error by Agency and Report Month – Self Service” report
5. Select the “Report Month” and “Report Year.
6. The “Exception Type” and “Source of Entry” are auto-populated and cannot be changed
7. Select the Export Type which is either “Adobe PDF” or “Excel”

You can now check your monthly ORBIT errors as soon as your report has posted. You may save this report and add your response on how to correct the error message, and then email the report to your ORBIT Employer Reporting Team representative. Your representative will correct these records in error status according to your written instructions.

 

 

Required Form 703 During COVID-19 Response

For disability processing, we agree that a benefit should not be suspended for failure to receive a 703 during this time when doctors are only seeing urgent cases. The employee should attempt to have their doctor complete the 703, but if this is impossible due to the COVID-19 situation, then he/she should send an explanation of the situation to his/her employer via email or mail. RSD will not penalize anyone for not supplying the 703s when they attempt to go for extended short-term or long-term disability. 

 

• SOI due date is extended to June 1, 2020.  We have notified employees who currently need to submit the statement of income for 2019. We have released FAQs on our website as a resource for your employees.  
• (TSERS) Disability Case Review Continuing. The Retirement Systems Division (RSD) wants to reassure Teachers’ and State Employee’s Retirement System employers that we are continuing our review of disability cases by our staff and Medical Board while working remotely. However, the law allows employers to administer short-term disability benefits without sending cases to RSD for a decision. Many employers already review their own cases and make decisions. During the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, we are requesting that every employer make a determination of eligibility for short-term disability benefits, rather than submitting these to RSD for a Medical Board review. Taking this action will allow you to provide responses to your employees more quickly, and the Medical Board will be able to concentrate on reviewing long-term disability cases. Thank you in advance for your help getting through this difficult situation.
• (LGERS) Local Governmental Employees’ Retirement System Employer Contribution Rate Letters were mailed to employers on March 25, 2020.
• The State Health Plan is encouraging members to stay informed, calm and prepared about the global coronavirus outbreak or COVID-19. Click here for more information.

 

 

myNCRetirement Statement Now Available

The annual myNCRetirement Statement is now uploaded to members’ ORBIT accounts. These are available to employees who have 12+ months of service and complete employer information on file.  

The myNCRetirement Statement provides a snapshot of each member’s retirement savings. This personalized tool may help individuals assess their retirement savings plan, review goals and take action, if needed, for a more secure retirement.

We have a full webpage dedicated to resources to help your employees make the most of this valuable tool.  
 

 

We have transitioned to email support and are doing our best to respond to members within 48-72 hours. The most efficient way to reach us is to send a message through ORBIT. In doing this, members are automatically verified, and we can respond quicker.

Encourage your employees to login to ORBIT  and click on the Reach a Counselor Tab. From here they will be able to select a topic and send a message.

 

We know how precious time is and we have created tools to help you, as well as your employees, find the information you need in a timely manner.  We are continuing to update our website and digital tools. 

It is important to note that we are continuing to process retirements, documents and providing service to you and your employees.  We are running a limited mail schedule on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and have a webpage dedicated to COVID-19 so you can learn more about the measures we are taking and receive current information on services, processing and payments.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The NC Total Retirement Plans 401(k), NC 457 and NC 403(b) offer diverse investment options at very competitive costs and benefit from the strong, continual oversight of the Supplemental Retirement Board of Trustees.  Prudential, our NC Plans record-keeper, has put together some resources and an on-demand webinar to help you and your employees understand market volatility.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are three provisions of the CARES Act that may provide support to eligible participants impacted by the COVID19 virus: (1) special tax-advantaged distributions, (2) loan feature enhancements, and (3) waiver of required minimum distributions.  The Treasurer, staff and the Board of Trustees are aware of the CARES Act, reviewing options for the specific provisions and considering next steps. We will make an announcement as new information becomes available.

 

 

Upcoming Events

We have transitioned travelling events to Webinars for your employees and are continuing to hold our Employer Training series via webinar.  Registration is required and is open to the first 500 attendees.  All events and online registration can be found on our website.  

Here are some of the April Events

Date	Subject
April 15	TSERS Employer Training Series:  State Health Plan
April 16	Retirement Planning Webinar for Local Governmental Employees Retirement Planning Webinar for Local Governmental Employees
April 23	Total Retirement Planning Webinar
April 28	Total Retirement Planning Webinar Total Retirement Planning Webinar for Local Governmental Employees

We also have a series of videos and on-demand webinars:  https://www.myncretirement.com/videos