Saturday, March 17, 2012

SURS Provides Training Covering Retiree Applications

The change in the Money Purchase Factor is understandably causing potential retirees to deeply evaluate their options. Stated plainly, “The new factors will result in a lower monthly benefit payment for those retiring after the [July 1] 2012 effective date. ” According to SURS “It is estimated that the monthly annuity benefit paid from the Money Purchase Formula will be reduced on average by 7% to 8%.”


Employees who choose to not retire may face paying more from every check to maintain the same level of benefits or realize diminished benefits. Employees who participate in the self management plan option will not face the prior two mentioned scenarios.


This situation poses a potentially massive loss of institutional knowledge, with nearly one in every five UIC employees (17%) eligible to retire. Depending upon the normal rate of turnover in any given department, the potential impact for the institution could be even higher.


Campus Human Resources is partnering with the State Universities Retirement System (SURS) to provide a training session for human resource professionals who handle general questions and transaction processing for employees separating or retiring from the university. SURS will be on-site to provide invaluable information related to retirement policies/provisions, processing deadlines and timing, and general retirement processing questions. This session is for unit/department/college human resource professionals only and is not intended for employees who have questions about retirement. The intent is to provide you with information, resources, and tools to prepare you for answering general retirement/separation questions from employees in your units. Separate informational sessions are available for employees considering retirement.


Because of the large number of potential retirements, all HR staff members are strongly encouraged to participate in the upcoming SURS training so they are appropriately prepared to process the retirements submitted in the colleges/departments. The training session will be held as follows:


Chicago - Tuesday, March 20
Student Center West, Rooms 218/219
10:30am – 12:00pm
828 South Wolcott Avenue

Please register for this session at https://hrnet.uihr.uillinois.edu/dart-cf/sessions/index.cfm?act=ListClasses.


If you have any questions about this training session, please contact Susan Balmes at 312.355.5230.