Visit the Virginia Retirement Sytem website Employer Update: A publication for VRS Employers
July/August 2007 A Publication for VRS Employers

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Surveys Help Guide VRS Modernization Project

VRS completed a survey of members in March 2007. The survey was designed to:

  • Assess how members perceive VRS is meeting their needs overall and through existing VRS service delivery.
  • Profile expected or future needs, based on audience input, trends and other secondary data.

Of the members surveyed, one in four said they use myVRS,and the majority said they would be willing to conduct online transactions with VRS.

Highlights of the survey results are shown below.

Results feed into Modernization Project

Information gathered from customer surveys is helping to guide the VRS Modernization Project, a long-range undertaking to update the agency’s systems, business processes and customer services. Survey findings will be incorporated into a Request for Proposal that will be issued later this summer for a vendor to work with VRS throughout the project.

"The Modernization Project reflects a long-term commitment to improve services to members, retirees and employers, and to build new channels of service," explains VRS Director Robert P. Schultze. A business reengineering team is examining critical business processes in detail and trying to assess how VRS should deliver services five years from now.

Highlights of Member Survey Results

  • One-third of all respondents plan to retire in the next five years - most of the others don’t know when they’ll retire.
  • Half of all respondents are 55 or older.
  • One in four are myVRS users.
  • Among those closest to retirement, two-thirds turn to VRS most often for retirement information, while about one-third turn to family members, investment advisors, co-workers, newspapers, or the Internet.
  • Older respondents tend to trust VRS as their best source of retirement information, while younger respondents tend to trust a family member.
  • Nearly 95 percent have a computer with Internet at work and 90% have a computer with Internet at home.
  • Four in five reported using the Internet daily and three in five see it as a main source of information.
  • Two in five, including those closest to retirement, reported using the Internet for retirement or financial planning.
  • The majority reported the Internet as their preferred channel for gathering information, but preferred the telephone or face-to-face contact for lodging a complaint or asking a specific question.
  • The majority are willing to complete online transactions with VRS, but want to retain the option to go "live".

Thank you!

VRS completed a similar survey of employers in June. Thanks to all employers who participated in the survey. Watch for results in the next issue of Employer Update.

Have You Met the New Web site?

The VRS Web site was redesigned to provide a more consistent image to our customers. The new Web site applies the easy-to-use navigation and design elements of myVRS, the secure, online system that allows access to member information. Find out what changed.

Watch for 2007 Member Benefit Profiles to Arrive in September

VRS will ship the 2007 Member Benefit Profiles (MBP) to employers in late September. Enhancements for 2007 include:

  • More information, including a statement of the present value of the member’s benefit, an estimated value of the benefit over the member’s actuarial life expectancy.
  • A format that’s easier to read.
  • New information about myVRS for members.
  • Reporting of employer-paid contributions from 1980 – 1990, if applicable.

When you receive the MBPs

  1. Please distribute them as soon as possible.
  2. Encourage your employees to review their MBPs carefully and report any discrepancies to you as soon as possible.
  3. Use the Request for Review of Membership Records pdf icon 71kb to report changes to VRS. This form will be mailed to you, along with other instructions for distribution.

Some Public Safety Officers May Exclude Health Insurance Premiums from Taxable Income

The Healthcare Enhancement for Local Public Safety (H.E.L.P.) Retirees Act, a provision of the Pension Protection Act of 2006, allows eligible retired public safety officers to exclude health insurance premiums paid, up to $3,000 per year, from federal taxable income. To be eligible, VRS must be deducting the health insurance premium from the retirement payment and the retired public safety officer must have either (1) retired under service retirement at normal retirement age or (2) retired under disability at any age.

Normal retirement age is age 60 for members of the State Police Officers Retirement System, Virginia Law Officers’Retirement System and members with enhanced benefits for hazardous duty positions, including VRS-covered sheriffs.

VRS will provide employers, members and retirees with more information on how eligible members can elect to receive the exclusion as it becomes available. Look for information on the VRS Web site at www.varetire.org and in VRS newsletters.

Optional Life Insurance Rates Decrease

The VRS Board of Trustees recently approved a reduction in premium rates for optional life insurance for employees, their spouses and dependent children. The rate reduction became effective July 1, 2007. Learn more.

Legislation Makes Changes to Notary Requirements

The National Notary Association (NAA) published an article on its Web site concerning recent changes in Virginia law affecting notarizations. The article references legislation (HB2058 and SB826), which establishes a series of new procedures and requirements for paper-based notarizations as well as electronic notarizations.

Many VRS forms require notarization. The legislation referenced in the NAA article does not require changes to language on VRS forms or the way they are handled. If you notarize on behalf of VRS, you should stamp your notarization with a seal; however, documents that do not contain a seal or have a seal that is not fully legible will not be rejected. While documents should be properly notarized, the lack of a seal on a document does not affect its legality, according to the new law.

Updated Publications Now Available

Employer Manual

An updated Employer Manual is now available online. The manual was revised to include 2007 legislation and other changes since it was last updated. To help you find information quickly and easily, the chapters that contain reporting information are now closer together and some of the chapters have been re-numbered.

Handbooks for Members

The handbook for political subdivision employees in hazardous duty positions is being revised. VRS will ship a supply of the handbooks for new members to all participating employers in July.

The VRS and VaLORS handbooks have been updated with a 2007 addendum. If you have supplies of these handbooks in stock, please print and distribute the addendum with any copies you distribute. The addendum can be downloaded and printed from the electronic copies of the handbooks on the VRS Web site.

News from the Deferred Compensation and Cash Match Plans

Deferrals of Bonuses and Termination Pay Must First Be Processed by Payroll Office

Participants in the Deferred Compensation Plan who work for agencies that report their payrolls through the Commonwealth Integrated Payroll/Personnel System (CIPPS) may make deferral changes online at www.vadcp.com, in addition to calling KeyTalk, the voice response system, at 1-866-226-6682.

However, certain deferrals must first be processed by the agency’s payroll office, then sent to Great-West Retirement Services (GWRS) using a paper form. Types of deferrals that have to be processed by payroll offices first include:

  • bonuses and
  • employment termination pay (payout of unused sick and annual leave and compensatory time).

To defer a bonus or termination pay:

  • The participant completes and submits the Payroll Authorization Form – One-Time Deferral pdf opens new window 24kb , giving direction to have some or all of the bonus or termination payout deferred.
  • The payroll officer calculates the amount of the bonus or termination pay, adjusting for the FICA tax that is paid; enters the amount into CIPPS; signs the form and forwards it to GWRS to be imaged into the participant’s record.

A participant wishing to defer an employment termination payout must submit the payroll authorization form while still an employee and no later than the month before the month the termination payout would be received normally. If the participant is deferring a bonus, the participant’s deferral amount reverts to what it had been previously on the next pay date following the date of the deferral.

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