Upon retirement, an Ending Payroll Verification (EPV) form for the retiring member is requested from all employers who have submitted contributions on behalf of the member within the last three years prior to the member’s effective retirement date. EPV forms are also sent to all employers of a retiring member who has attained the IRS Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) age, regardless of how long ago the member last contributed.
On the EPV, you are first asked to verify the retiring employee’s membership status, by indicating either a Termination Date, Last Day of ASRS Membership, or if the retirement is Not Applicable.
Termination Date
A Termination Date should be the last paid day of employment or the last day of paid leave.
Arizona law allows a member to retire, receive a pension and continue working without first terminating employment if all the following conditions are met:
- Member must have reached normal retirement on or before the date of retirement
- Member’s work hours must be reduced below 20 per week after retirement.
- Member’s employer must agree to the reduced work hours
A note for school employers: Many school employers use either the last day of class or the contract end date if an employee is contracted to be paid through the end of the fiscal year. A member’s retirement date can be impacted if the Termination Date entered on the EPV is after the member’s retirement date submitted on their application. We advise the teachers who contact the ASRS to double-check with their employer to confirm the Termination Date that their employer will use before they submit their application.
Most teachers apply to retire with an effective date of the day after the last school day, i.e. May 20, if their last day of school was May 19. However, if their employer submits a termination date of June 30, per their contract, the member's retirement date will be changed to July 1, resulting in an overpayment of any estimate checks issued in May or June. To avoid such a scenario, we ask school employers to remind their retiring employees to first confirm the termination date with their employer before submitting their retirement application.
Last Day of ASRS Membership
Last Day of ASRS membership should be entered if the retiring employee meets all the above criteria and does not intend to return to a position that meets or exceeds the 20/20 ASRS Membership Criteria, also referred to as a 20/20 position. Any position an employer designates as a position in which an employee is engaged to work at least 20 hours a week for at least 20 weeks in a fiscal year is considered a 20/20 position.
In order for a retired ASRS member to return to work for any ASRS employer in a 20/20 position, they must have attained normal retirement status and have remained terminated (or working below the 20/20 Membership Criteria) for 365 calendar days. Members who retire with a Last Day of ASRS Membership would only be allowed to return to work for an ASRS employer in a 20/20 position once they have terminated all ASRS employment and 365 days have passed from that termination date.
Not Applicable
The Not Applicable box should be used if the employee did not terminate or change their employment to a status that is no longer eligible for active ASRS membership. Comments are required in the Notes and Comments box to explain this selection as the retirement application will then be rejected.
Additional information is available in the Online Ending Payroll Verification Employer User Guide, here: https://www.azasrs.gov/sites/default/files/Online_EPV_Guide.pdf
And beginning on page 4-20 of the ASRS Employer Manual, here: https://www.azasrs.gov/sites/default/files/Employer_Manual_23.pdf
Written by William Roberts, Employer Relations
Published August 2023
