PERS Processing - State of California

DEFINITIONS

See pages 3.28 to 3.34 of the Public Agency Manual for definitions of the terms we will use in this document.
The term PAM as a diminutive for the Public Agency Manual.

Numbers in brackets () refer to the page number in the guide.

Field	Move to	Valid values
Pay Code	Employee master	01-Monthly pay rate 02-Monthly pay rate (only LA etc) 04-Hourly Pay rate 08 Daily Pay rate 09 Misc (PAM 3.29)
Unit code	Employee master	Optional 3 digit code (PAM 3.32)
Work Schedule code	Employee master	Function of the pay code (PAM 3.32)

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Field	Description
Normal Cont EBD	EBD for normal member contribution
Tax Def EBD	EBD for tax deferred contribution
Contribution code	Used to report the contribution type on the report. Codes can be 01 – 09 and 11-16. For an explanation of all the valid codes see page 3.28 of the PAM
Pay Code	Will override the pay code in the employee master. Used for special compensation situations where the pay code is something other than the normal pay code. For example where a 09 is used instead of a 01.Each EBD used for PERS will be classified with these codes. Valid values can be seen on page 3.28 of the PAM.
Report Column	Define the report column for this EBD. Column 11 is used for Normal Member contributions (PAM 3.35) and column 16 is used for Tax deferred Member contributions (PAM 3.35)
Use for PERS reporting	Use this EBD for PERS reporting?

We will also revamp the PERS setup screen to re-classify the way we are presenting the fields and will use the proper nomenclature to avoid confusion. All nomenclature is taken from the PAM. The new screen will look like this:

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Note that the rate used for Normal Member Contributions will be an employee deduction whereas the rate in the Tax Deferred Member Contributions will be an employer share and will not be deducted from the employee. So, if you’re plan calls for your member contribution to be totally tax deferred then the rate under the Normal heading would be blank and the rate under the Tax Deferred heading would be filled in (In our example the rate would be .07 representing the full 7%).

Based on the information in the above table we would set up the following EBD’s with the switch settings as illustrated:

The assumption underlying this table is that the Member contribution is split between normal and tax deferred.

EBD	Description	3	4	Type	Contribution Code	Report Column	Pay Code Override
101	Regular hourly	650	651	E	N/A	N/A
102	Overtime	650	651	E	N/A	N/A
103	Double Time	650	651	E	N/A	N/A
120	Salary	650	651	E	N/A	N/A
176	Special Pay	653	654	E	N/A	N/A
650	Normal Member contribution			D	01	11
651	Tax deferred member contribution			ES	11	16
652	Employer contribution (.02921)			ES	N/A	N/A
653	Special contribution – normal member			D	06	11	09
654	Special contribution – tax deferred			ES	16	16	09
655	Survivor contribution			D	N/A	12

{Column 3 = EBD for normal member contribution}
{Column 4 = EBD for tax deferred member contribution}

EBD’s 650 – 655 will be set to report = yes as these EBD’s will be used for the actual PERS report.

If we are dealing with a 100% tax deferred plan then our PERS table would look like this:

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And out EBD setup table would look like this:

EBD	Description	3	4	Type	Contribution Code	Report Column	Pay Code Override
101	Regular hourly		651	E	N/A	N/A
102	Overtime		651	E	N/A	N/A
103	Double Time		651	E	N/A	N/A
120	Salary		651	E	N/A	N/A
176	Special Pay		654	E	N/A	N/A
651	Tax deferred member contribution			ES	11	16
652	Employer contribution (.02921)			ES	N/A	N/A
654	Special contribution – tax deferred			ES	16	16	09
655	Survivor contribution			D	N/A	12

{Column 3 = EBD for normal member contribution}
{Column 4 = EBD for tax deferred member contribution}

EBD’s 650 – 655 will be set to report = yes as these EBD’s will be used for the actual PERS report.

The PERS calculation will follow this algorithm:

Example: John smith receives $2,000.00 for the period and is a member of PERS.

Accumulate all earnings that are PERSable (an earning is considered to be PERSable if it’s EBD PERS switch is set to yes. This allows for exclusion of certain earnings from the calculation).
Check the OASDI Modification chart to determine the adjustment. The adjustment will only apply to one transaction in the period.
Create up to 3 check details based on the information in the EBD table. In our example 3 details would be created: For rate changes we would create multiple sets of these EBD’s; one set per rate change. This way we will be able to print a separate line on the report for the rate change.

EBD	Amount	Calculation
650	67.87	(2000 – 61) x .035
651	67.87	(2000 – 61) x .035
652	56.64	(2000 – 61) x .02921

The PERS report would then use the EBD’s where report = yes to produce the report. The report would check the EBD’s for there column numbers and enter the data in its proper place on the report. So, the amount in EBD 650 would show in column 11 (Normal Member contributions) with a contribution code of 01 and the amount in EBD 651 would show in column 16 (Tax deferred member contributions) with a contribution code of 16. The amount in EBD 652 would not show in the report body (because it has no column number) but will show in the report totals because it represents the employer contribution.