Employer Manual
Revised:
Situation:
Member on leave of absence is earning 50% or more of full pay.*
Employer Steps:
*Full pay is based on regular pay, accumulated sick leave, accumulated vacation, or any combination. Full pay does not include workers’ compensation.
Situation:
Member on leave of absence is earning less than 50% of full pay for 10 consecutive days.
Employer Steps:
Situation:
Member returns to work after a leave of absence.
Employer Steps:
Keep in mind: If employee leaves for health reasons, he or she maintains basic group life insurance coverage for the first 180 days, which is the waiting period for long-term disability eligibility. After 180 days, the employee must convert or port to keep coverage.
Situation:
Member on leave of absence is earning 50% or more of full pay.*
Employer Steps:
*Full pay is based on regular pay, accumulated sick leave, accumulated vacation, or any combination. Full pay does not include workers’ compensation.
Situation:
Member on leave of absence is earning less than 50% of full pay for 10 consecutive days.
Employer Steps:
Situation:
Member returns to work after a leave of absence.
Employer Steps:
Keep in mind: If employee leaves for health reasons, he or she maintains basic group life insurance coverage for the first 180 days, which is the waiting period for long-term disability eligibility. After 180 days, the employee must convert or port to keep coverage.
Situation:
Member is on administrative leave of absence for fewer than 10 consecutive days.
Employer Steps:
*Full pay is based on regular pay, accumulated sick leave, accumulated vacation, or any combination. Full pay does not include workers’ compensation.
Situation:
Member is on administrative leave of absence (paid or unpaid) after 10 consecutive days.
Employer Steps:
Situation:
Member returns to work after a leave of absence.
Employer Steps:
Keep in mind: If employee leaves for health reasons, he or she maintains basic group life insurance coverage for the first 180 days, which is the waiting period for long-term disability eligibility. After 180 days, the employee must convert or port to keep coverage.
Situation:
Member on military leave of absence
Employer Steps:
Situation:
Member returns to work after a military leave of absence.
Employer Steps:
Basic Group Life Insurance continues for employees on active military duty, paid from KPERS fund.
What is a non-covered position?
Some employees might:
It’s important to report these changes to KPERS to avoid refunds or arrearages.
Employer checklist
Benefits & contributions
Non-vested employees moving from covered positions to non-covered positions (same employer):
Keep in mind: If an employee moves to a non-covered position with a different employer, enter "Termination" as the reason code.
Eligibility expectations
Employer Checklist
Reminder: "Termination" is the reason code use for employees who quit, were dismissed or transferred to another KPERS employer.
Breaking School Contracts
If licensed employees resign before the end of the school year, the following applies:
For example:
Teacher’s last day is March 10. The teacher’s school contact is $48,000. Report 1/12 of the contract amount for each month in the calendar year through February $48,000/12=$4,000.
| Month | Compensation | Contributions |
| January | $4,000 | $240 (6%) |
| February | $4,000 | $240 (6%) |
| March (10 days of service) | $1,290.30 | $77.42 (6%) |
| $4,000/31 (days in March) = $129.03 X 10 days of service = $1,290.30 | ||
Employer Checklist
Behind the scenes: We notify our disability service provider when we receive a report of disability. The service provider then sends forms to the member for proof of disability.
Employer Checklist
Reminder: An end date submitted anywhere in the EWP will populate all other areas, including the optional life premium report. There’s no need to do an Optional Life termination or enter a separate end date.
Employees considering retirement should:
Employer Checklist
Behind the scenes: KPERS will enter the application and then send a certification request to the EWP with a notification to your regular email. When you complete the retirement certification, KPERS will finish processing the retirement.
Working After Retirement
No Prearrangements
Active KPERS members and KPERS employers cannot make arrangements for the member to return to work after retirement. Retired KPERS members and KPERS employers must wait either 60 or 180 days before arranging to return (length of waiting period based on employee’s age at retirement).
No Employee Contributions
KPERS retirees who work for a KPERS employer are not considered active members and will not make contributions to KPERS again. But as an employer, you will report wages and pay contributions for retirees you’ve hired in KPERS-covered positions.
Working-After-Retirement Details| Types of LOA | Coverage affected & employee options |
| Employee Health | Covered for 180 days, paid from KPERS fund
After 180 days, employee must convert or port to keep coverage |
| Military | Coverage continues during active military duty, paid from KPERS fund |
| All others | Coverage ends; employee must convert or port to keep coverage. |
| Return to work | Reinstated |
What about a 9-month school schedule? Basic and optional coverage is continued during the summer months for school employees. Premium payments are deducted in advance for optional coverage.
| Types of LOA | Coverage affected & employee options | |
| Employee Health (under age 65) | Coverage ends with option to continue on self-pay basis until employee recovers, retires, reaches age 65 or withdraws from KPERS, whichever is first – employee must convert or port to keep coverage | |
| Age 65 & older | Coverage ends & employee must covert or port to keep coverage | |
| Others | Coverage ends with option to continue up to 12 months on a self-pay basis – after 12 months, employee must convert or port to keep coverage | |
| Return to work | Coverage reinstated if
|
Optional terminated if
|
| Military | Coverage ends with option to continue up to 16 months on self-pay basis — employee must convert or port to keep coverage | |
| Return to work | Coverage reinstated if Employee returned to work within 5 years, per USERRA3 even if employee did not previously elect continuation |
|
1GI = Guaranteed Insurance
2EOI = Evidence of Insurability
3USERRA = Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act
Optional life insurance
Optional life ends when employment ends. In many cases, employees can elect to continue on a self-pay basis, convert or port optional life coverage within 60 days from the last day of the month in which the premium was paid.
Basic life insurance
Basic life coverage ends when employment ends.* Employees can elect to convert or port basic life coverage within 60 days from the last day of the pay period in which the employee goes off payroll.
When employees leave KPERS-covered employment, they can choose to:
Did you know? Employees can convert or port their basic life insurance or their optional life insurance policies or both. Give employees The Standard Group Conversion Packet and Life Portability Application for rates, restrictions and other information
Spouse coverage
Employees can continue any current coverage for their spouse. Spouse coverage can only be ported if they also port some of their own coverage. Spouse coverage may be converted to a whole life policy regardless of whether employees covert or port their own coverage.
Converting to an individual policy
An employee can convert his or her coverage to an individual policy within:
This will change the employee's group term insurance to an individual whole life policy.
The employee can convert up to the full amount of his or her current insurance coverage without proof of good health but cannot convert anymore than he or she already has. The employee can covert spouse coverage regardless of whether he covert his own.
Completing the life insurance conversion form
The employee fills in his or her personal information in the section “To Be Completed by Member” of the conversion form. The conversion form will not be accepted without the employee’s signature and the first premium payment. You will complete the conversion form section: “To Be Completed By Designated Agent”
Portability (porting life insurance)
When leaving KPERS-covered employment, members have the option to port their term life insurance coverage by completing The Standard Life Portability Application. You do not need to sign the form.
A vested employee who leaves a KPERS-covered position before retirement has two options:
All non-vested employees who leave covered positions must withdraw contributions and interest within five years. KPERS 1 and KPERS 2 employee contributions stop earning interest after five years, and KPERS 3 contributions stop earning interest after two years.
Employer contributions are part of the KPERS trust fund and are not credited to member accounts
Remember: A non-vested employee who moves from a covered position to a non-covered position (same employer) can no longer contribute to KPERS, but cannot withdraw his/her KPERS contributions. The IRS does not consider this a “distributable event.” His or her contributions will continue to earn interest while the employee is in the non-covered position at your employer.