January 21, 2022

Employment History Mass Update to Change Retirement Contribution Rate for Bargaining Unit 18; Effective July 1, 2021

Action Required by Department:  Share the following information with all human resources (HR) and accounting office employees.

Description:  Effective July 1, 2021, Safety, Tier 1 retirement members in Bargaining Unit 18 received a change to their employee retirement contribution rate. The State Controller's Office (SCO) processed an Employment History (EH) mass update on December 14, 2021 to implement the retirement rate changes effective July 1, 2021 for eligible employees.

The rate changes are as follows:

BARGAINING UNIT 18 SAFETY EMPLOYEES AND AFFILIATED MEMBERS (R18, S18, AND M18)

Effective 7/1/2021, the employee retirement contribution rate will change from 11.0% to 11.5%.

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY (EH) MASS UPDATE PROCESSING

The SCO processed an EH mass update on December 14, 2021 to implement the retirement rate changes effective July 1, 2021 for eligible employees. The 505 transaction reflected the employee retirement contribution rates for impacted employees.

MASS UPDATE EXCEPTIONS

Departments must identify and manually process the 505 transactions for out of sequence employees, as applicable. For example, employees with an EH record reflecting an out-of-sequence status (i.e., the effective date on the most current transactions is after July 1, 2021), must be processed manually.  In order to assist departments in identifying these employees, SCO has provided a ViewDirect report. The report can be found on ViewDirect under report ID PDW8055H and report name “RETIREMENT RETROACTIVE CHANGES EFFECTIVE 7/1/21 BU18 EMPLOYEES OUT OF SEQUENCE TRANSACTIONS”. The Personnel and Payroll Services Division (PPSD) may also assist with out of sequence transactions as needed.

The PPSD is unable to update the EH records to reflect the new rates when the employee is off pay status

(e.g., on a leave of absence, or an Appointment Expiration Date prior to July 1, 2021). These employees’ Item

505 – Account Code field must be updated by the appointing agency once their appointment is extended or the employee returns to active pay status following a leave of absence.

Although Item 505 is not a required field when returning an employee to pay status, the account code must be entered on the PAR in order to reflect the new retirement rate on the employee’s record. If the account code is not entered, the retirement contribution will be withheld at the incorrect rate and will require future adjustments.

RETIREMENT ACCOUNT CODES EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2021

Bargaining Unit 18 SAFETY employees and affiliated members (R18, S18, and M18). See below for impacted employee account code movement:

  • From Retirement Account Code CD to SC
  • From Retirement Account Code CF to SC
  • From Retirement Account Code CK to SC
  • From Retirement Account Code CP to SC
  • From Retirement Account Code CS to SC
  • From Retirement Account Code CV to SC
  • From Retirement Account Code C9 to SC
  • From Retirement Account Code CL to SB
  • From Retirement Account Code 1C to 7J
  • From Retirement Account Code 1D to 7J
  • From Retirement Account Code 1F to 7J
  • From Retirement Account Code 1J to 7J
  • From Retirement Account Code 1K to 7J
  • From Retirement Account Code 1P to 7J
  • From Retirement Account Code 1S to 7J
  • From Retirement Account Code 1E to 7B
  • From Retirement Account Code 1L to 7B
  • From Retirement Account Code 1R to 7B

A Payroll Letter will be forthcoming regarding adjustments to impacted contributions. 

Please contact the Statewide Customer Contact Center at (916) 372-7200 with any questions.

Previous Communications on this Subject:

 

 Contacts: