6.40 D. Account Corrections Due to Court Order/Settlement of Litigation/Grievance Resolution

A correction to a member’s account may be required by a court order, the settlement of a lawsuit, or the resolution of a grievance. The court order or settlement agreement must affirmatively state that back salary is being paid to the member An employee who works in a position not excluded from IMRF coverage and whose position meets the annual hourly standard for IMRF coverage. For the purposes of an Authorized Agent submitting a petition or casting a ballot in an executive trustee election, an active member also includes an employee receiving an IMRF pension and working in position that does not qualify for IMRF participation or one that provides the employee the option of participating in IMRF, e.g., elected office. in order for IMRF to grant past service A member can receive past service credit for service performed and earnings paid for a period prior to January 1 of the current year (January 1 through December 31). Past service falls into three categories of authorization: Requires Governing Body approval or prior resolution on file: Military leave provided by Illinois Pension Code, Retroactive service for elected officials, Application for prior service IMRF Benefit Protection Leave, and Out-of-state service credit authorization. Requires approval of Authorized Agent: Application for retroactive service credit, Omitted service credit verification, General Assembly application for service, and Certification of Sheriff’s Law Enforcement service. Requires application by member only: Application for reinstatement of service (repay a refund), Military leave provided under Federal law, and Conversion of up to 120 months of Regular plan service to SLEP. credit. The exact time period covered for the back salary must be specified in the order. A mere statement that the member is to be given service credit Service credit is a member's total time under IMRF, stated in years and fractions. Service is credited monthly while a member is working, receiving IMRF disability benefits or while he or she is on IMRF's Benefit Protection Leave. A member earns one month of service credit for each month he or she: (1) works in a qualified position and makes a member contribution. (2) worked in a qualified position prior to his or her employer joining IMRF. (3) receives an IMRF disability benefit. (4) is on an IMRF Benefit Protection Leave (limited to 12 months). (5) purchases a month of past service credit. A member cannot earn more than one month of service credit for any given calendar month. is not sufficient.

These account corrections should be reported to IMRF via Employer Access, "Report Wage Adjustments view Exhibit 4E) for current and past year corrections.

Because online transactions are more accurate, more efficient, and faster than submitting wage adjustments to IMRF via paper forms, effective March 1, 2010, employers with Internet access must submit wage adjustments via Employer Access.

Go to the Employer Access area to Adjust IMRF Earnings

Notification may also need to be submitted to the Social Security Administration. The IRS does not make corrections to past year Social Security Social Security coverage for IMRF members is required, except for a limited number of firefighters and police officers, by an agreement between the State of Illinois and the Commissioner of Social Security under Section 218 of the Social Security Act. IMRF members pay Social Security taxes on wages up to the wage base, and IMRF employers pay an equal amount. IMRF employers remit these taxes to the Internal Revenue Service. Applications for benefits and questions about Social Security should be directed to the local Social Security district office or representative or call 1-800-772-1213. records. This must be done with the Social Security Administration.

For both current and past year corrections, a copy of the court order, settlement agreement, or grievance resolution must accompany Form 3.20 or be mailed to IMRF after submitting a web wage adjustment. After IMRF has audited the documents submitted for the account correction, we will send a remittance advice to the employer A unit of government that joins IMRF. showing the member and employer contributions The employer IMRF contribution rate is computed separately for each employer every year. Employer contributions pay a portion of the cost of retirement pensions, surviving spouse pensions, death benefit coverage, and disability benefits. due.

NOTE: The Illinois Pension Code requires that IMRF members make contributions of 4.5% (7.5% for SLEP IMRF’s Sheriff’s Law Enforcement Personnel plan is available to county sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, forest preserve rangers and airport police and certain police chiefs. IMRF’s Sheriff’s Law Enforcement Personnel plan was revised by P.A. 94-712, which resulted in the creation of two “tiers” as follows: SL01 SLEP Tier 1, members who terminated SLEP participation before July 1, 2004, and SL02 SLEP Tier 2. The contribution rate was increased to 7.50% effective on and after June 1, 2006. P.A. 94-712 also increased the SLEP formula to a flat 2.5%. The new formula applies to SLEP members who were actively participating on or after July 1, 2004. and ECO IMRF’s Elected County Official Plan provides for an alternative benefit plan for Elected County Officials. For an elected county official to participate in this plan, his or her county must first adopt the program. The original ECO plan was revised on January 26, 2000. County officials joining ECO on or after that date participate in the revised ECO program. members) of salary for their pensions. If the employer makes that payment on behalf of the employee, it is additional income to the employee which must be reported for federal, state, and Social Security tax purposes, and to IMRF. This is true even if the employer is required to make the payment on behalf of the employee by a court order, settlement agreement, or grievance resolution.

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