As an employer who interfaces with the ASRS and members, it’s important to understand which processes are your responsibility and when you should point people to us for further assistance. To help clarify, here is an overview of some of the most important employer responsibilities.
Employer Responsibilities
One of the first things all employers should do to assist their employees is to ensure they are enrolled in their online myASRS account, using their ASRS employer’s enrollment code. It is imperative that employers help guide all their new employees through this process, regardless of whether they’re new to the ASRS or have previously worked for an ASRS employer. Enrollment instructions, along with each employer's unique enrollment code, are available under the Manage Enrollments tab of your secure employer account.
When hiring an employee, it is also important to do some research in order to determine their ASRS eligibility or status. This helps you verify whether the employee is brand new to ASRS, an established member, or a Return to Work (RTW) retiree with the ASRS. Determining an employee’s ASRS status helps you as the employer understand if ASRS contribution withholdings should begin immediately, if the 27-week waiting period applies, or if the Alternate Contribution Rate (ACR) should be remitted. This can be done by using the “Check Member Eligibility” feature in your Employer Secure account.
Another important task employers are responsible for assisting ASRS retirees with is their Health Insurance Premium Benefit. When an employee retires with at least five years of service and enrolls in an ASRS employer-provided retiree insurance plan, usually a COBRA plan, they are eligible to receive a Premium Benefit (PB) to use towards the cost of their Dental and Medical premiums. To receive this PB, the employer must complete and submit the Health Insurance Premium Benefit Authorization form. The ASRS will then send a monthly PB payment to the employer to distribute to eligible employees. When the employee comes off of COBRA or has a change in dependents or plans, the employer should submit the Health Insurance Change Deletion form to notify the ASRS. This ensures the ASRS is sending the correct PB amount and helps to avoid a PB overpayment to the employer. These forms are located under Forms and Packets in your Employer Secure account.
Sending Employees to the ASRS
If an employee needs detailed information about their account or requires education about a particular ASRS topic, we’re here to help!
When your employees are ready to retire, refund, go onto long term Disability, are interested in service purchase, or want to estimate their potential future benefits, there are a plethora of resources to assist them on the Member Education page of AzASRS.gov. This page contains useful articles and videos to help keep your employees updated and informed. Our Retirement Central webpage is particularly useful to those members approaching retirement. Here they can learn about their annuity options, retiree health insurance, working after retirement, and even sign up to attend a group meeting covering everything they need to know to make informed decisions during their journey to retirement.
If your employee has detailed questions regarding their ASRS account, please direct them to our Member Advisory Center at 602-240-2000 or have them send us a secure message from their myASRS account, where a friendly retirement specialist can verify and review their account and provide them with further assistance.
by Nichole Fuller, Employer Relations
