Terminating Employees
Employer Must Notify MCERA
MCERA needs to know about all employees in permanent positions who are leaving employment or moving to positions ineligible for MCERA membership. Communicating status changes and correct termination dates helps MCERA update accounts and assist those employees who are seeking a refund or rollover of their contributions. It is also important for those employees that may be establishing reciprocity with their next public employer’s retirement system.
Notification of employee termination should be done electronically through active payroll reporting as well as by submission of a copy of the personnel action form or other appropriate form used to document the termination in the employee’s file.
MCERA Contacts Terminated Employees
Upon receipt of the notice of termination, MCERA sends a Terminating Employment Handbook that describes the employee’s options with regard to their retirement account, and an Account Distribution Election Form where the employee indicates if they would like to establish reciprocity with a new retirement system, withdraw their contributions, or defer their retirement and receive their earned monthly benefit at a future date.
Termination Pay
For your employees who are leaving for any reason, including retirement, note that while final checks may include cash outs for the following items, they will not be used to calculate the retirement benefit and retirement contributions should not be deducted from these pay types:
- Accrued Vacation Time
- Accrued Comp Time
- Accrued Holiday Time, or
- Other outstanding payroll payments.
Death of Employee while Actively Employed
Employer Must Notify MCERA
Because active payroll reporting only captures the termination of an employee and termination due to death is not specified, employers must also notify MCERA separately of members who die while in active service. Notification may be made through the submission of a personnel action form or via email to MCERA_PAF@marincounty.org.