When terminating a member's participation, the date entered in ”Last Day of IMRF Participation” field should be the last day the employer considers the individual to be an employee.
This is an important date and can impact a member’s benefits. For example, if a member is terminating for retirement and the last day of participation is entered as March 15, the member’s pension will be effective April 1.
However, if the employer will pay the member sick and vacation time until May 12 and the employer indicates the termination date is May 12, the pension would not be effective, and therefore payable, until June 1.
Therefore, when an employer terminates a member’s participation because the member is retiring, the employer should tell the member what his or her IMRF termination date is. That way, the member will know when to expect the first pension check.
IMRF calculates a member’s benefit effective date based upon the last day of participation provided by the employer. The employer determines a member’s last day of IMRF participation.