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Last revised: December 2000
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Why the accuracy of your pension data matters
The OPSEU Pension Trust (OPTrust) is responsible for the sound
administration of the OPSEU Pension Plan and for ensuring that all members
receive the pension benefits to which they are entitled. To do this, OPTrust
needs complete and accurate pension data.
The accuracy of your pension data affects your pension entitlement in a
number of ways. First, under the OPSEU Pension Plan, your pension is
calculated based on your pensionable service credit (“credit”) and your best
average annual salary over a period of five consecutive years.
Second, the OPSEU Pension Plan provides for a number of early retirement
options. Under these options, members may qualify for an unreduced pension
before age 65. These early retirement options include the Factor 80
provision, available until March 31, 2002, as well as the permanent Factor
90 and 60/20 provisions. Under all of these provisions, your eligibility is
based on your age and your years of credit in the Plan.
As a result, OPTrust needs accurate pension data to ensure you are paid the
exact pension amount that you have earned, and to confirm whether you may be
eligible for an unreduced early pension. Sound data also allows you to
project your retirement eligibility date(s) and your pension income more
accurately, making it easier for you to plan for your retirement.
Finally, accurate pension data is essential to the administration of the
OPSEU Pension Plan as a whole. As sponsors of the Plan, OPSEU and the
Government of Ontario are responsible for ensuring that the Plan has the
assets to pay for the entitlements of all members and pensioners. Making
sure that members’ pension data is correct will allow OPTrust to ensure that
we have received the funds needed to pay for members’ earned benefits.
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The Pension Data Purification Project
The importance of accurate pension data is reflected in the joint
sponsorship agreement that established the OPSEU Pension Plan in 1994. Under
that agreement between OPSEU and the Government of Ontario, the Province
committed to providing OPTrust with accurate pension data for all members.
This includes complete pension records for members who were transferred to
the OPSEU Pension Plan when it was established.
To meet that obligation, the government has created the Pension Data
Purification Project (PDPP). PDPP’s mandate is to ensure the accuracy of
critical data that relate to OPTrust members’ pension entitlements. In doing
this, PPDP works closely with OPTrust and the Ontario Pension Board
(administrator of the Public Service Pension Plan).
PDPP’s staff at the Management Board Secretariat is now in the process of
reviewing employee files and other sources of information. The objective is
to make sure that key data affecting members’ pensions is accurately
reflected in OPTrust’s records. PDPP will review records for OPTrust members
who work in the Ontario Public Service (OPS) and for agencies outside the
OPS.
Verifying the accuracy of this data, and making corrections where necessary,
will serve several important goals:
- It will help ensure that members have accurate information on their earned
pension benefit well before they retire or terminate from the Plan.
- It will ensure that the Province fully funds the Plan to cover the member
entitlements that were transferred to OPTrust in 1995.
- It will help ensure that the Plan has received the correct contributions
for credit earned since the OPSEU Pension Plan was established.
Once the PDPP process is complete, if the corrected data shows that the
OPSEU Pension Plan is owed money, this will be paid by the Government of
Ontario. If it is determined that too much money has been paid to the Plan,
the Government will get a credit against its future contributions.
There are two major steps in the pension data purification process.
Step 1: PDPP checks the accuracy of your pension data
PDPP’s first step is to perform a number of automated data checks. Members’
records that are found to have errors are then reviewed and corrected
manually. When PDPP’s staff finds an error in a member’s data, they forward
details of the recommended correction to OPTrust. PDPP plans to complete its
review of members’ records by the end of 2001.
Step 2: OPTrust reviews all proposed data corrections
Once OPTrust receives a recommended data correction from PPDP, our staff
performs a quality assurance review to make sure that the change is
appropriate. In some cases – particularly those involving leaves of absence
– OPTrust staff contact members directly for more information before any
final change is made. OPTrust will only change a member’s record where there
is documentation showing that the change is in order.
If OPTrust determines that a recommended correction is appropriate, we input
the change into our computer system and review the rest of the member’s
record to ensure that all other data reflects the correction. When a
correction changes a member’s credit by more than 10 days’ service, OPTrust
will send the affected member a notice of the change. OPTrust will have
completed its review of changes recommended by PDPP and sent correction
notices to all affected members by spring 2002.
If you receive a notice of correction, please review it carefully. The
answers to some common questions are provided below.
If you need more information about the change to your record or have
documentation that indicates that the change is incorrect, please contact
the OPTrust staff member whose name and telephone number appear on your
notice of correction.
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Answers to some common questions
Q: What is “credit”?
A: Credit (pensionable service credit) is the period of employment in years,
months and days for which you contributed to the OPSEU Pension Plan or for
which contributions were made on your behalf. Your credit includes any
periods of prior employment or leaves of absence that you have purchased or
are currently buying back. It also includes any credit you transferred to
OPTrust from another pension plan.
Your credit is based on the proportion of full-time work for which you
contribute to the Plan. If you work full-time, you would normally contribute
based on your full-time salary and earn a full year of credit in the Plan
for every year you work. If you work part-time, your contributions and the
credit you earn are prorated based on the proportion of full-time hours you
actually work.
Q: What effect does a correction to my credit have on my pension?
A: Your credit in the Plan is used to calculate the amount of the pension
you will collect when you retire. Your credit is also used in determining
whether you are eligible for an unreduced early retirement pension under the
temporary Factor 80 option or the Plan’s permanent Factor 90 and 60/20
provisions.
If your credit changes due to a data correction, this will affect the value
of the pension you have earned to date. It could also affect whether you
qualify for an unreduced pension under one of the Plan’s early retirement
options, or change the date on which you would be eligible.
Q: What kind of corrections can reduce a member’s credit?
A: Most corrections that reduce a member’s credit have to do with leaves of
absence or errors regarding part-time or seasonal work.
In some cases, for example, members did not make pension contributions
during a leave, but were mistakenly given credit. Where this has happened,
and no buyback took place, the member’s credit must be reduced to reflect
his or her actual service and contributions. Similarly, where a member
worked part-time but his or her record shows credit for full-time service,
the credit would be reduced to reflect the member’s actual service.
Whatever the cause of the original error, by law a person cannot be given
pension credit for a period when they did not work, and for which no
contributions were made. Your notice includes the details of any adjustment
to your credit. This information will help you predict your pension
entitlements more accurately.
Q: Could a correction increase a member’s pension?
A: Yes. It appears that more than half of all the data corrections resulting
from PDPP will increase members’ credit. This could happen, for example,
where credit a member had bought back following a leave of absence was not
reflected in the member’s record. Similarly, if a period of service were
missed due to a delay in the member’s enrolment in the Plan, the correction
would increase the member’s credit.
An increase in a member’s credit will increase the value of his or her
pension. It could also help the member to qualify for an immediate unreduced
pension at an earlier date.
Q: My credit has been reduced because of a non-contributory leave of
absence. Can I buy back the credit I have lost?
A: Under the OPSEU Pension Plan, you have 24 months from the last day of a
leave of absence to submit an application to buy back credit for the period
of your leave. If you are still eligible to buy back credit for a leave
under this 24-month time limit, contact OPTrust immediately.
The 24-month time limit is established by the text of the OPSEU Pension
Plan, which can only be changed with the approval of the Plan’s sponsors –
OPSEU and the Government of Ontario.
Q: Why isn’t the change in my credit reflected in my most recent Annual
Pension Statement?
A: Each spring, OPTrust mails a personal Annual Pension Statement to every
member. Your statement indicates your earned credit as of December 31 of the
previous year. If your pension data is corrected after the annual statements
are processed, your statement will not reflect the correction, and the
projected pension eligibility dates and amounts on your statement may be
inaccurate.
The data correction will be noted on your next Annual Pension Statement and
your pension projections on that statement will reflect the change. If you
need an up-to-date Annual Pension Statement or a revised pension estimate,
please contact OPTrust. Members should review their Annual Pension
Statements closely, and contact OPTrust if they have any questions or
concerns.
Q: Why were there errors in my records in the first place?
A: Over the years, errors in members’ pension data may have occurred for a
number of reasons. These could include changes or mistakes in manual and
computerized payroll, human resources and pension systems, or
miscommunication between members, employers and OPTrust or the previous plan
administrators.
Q: Why did it take so long for someone to notice the errors in my record?
A: The OPSEU Pension Plan began operations in 1995. At that time, OPTrust
received records for more than 60,000 members from its predecessor, the
Ontario Pension Board. The data in these records was originally supplied by
members’ employers.
Under the agreement establishing the OPSEU Pension Plan, the Government of
Ontario (the employer) agreed to review the accuracy of these records. The
result is the Pension Data Purification Project, which is now providing
OPTrust with the details of recommended corrections to members’ pension
records.
Also, in the past, a member’s pension data was often only reviewed closely
when he or she retired or left the Plan. The Pension Data Purification
Project and OPTrust are now reviewing data concerning each member’s past
service with the Plan and making corrections where errors are discovered.
This will help members plan for the future.
For more information, please
contact OPTrust Member and Pensioner Services.
Note: This Fact Sheet summarizes certain provisions of the OPSEU Pension
Plan. It does not create any rights to benefits not provided for in the
actual terms of the Plan. In the event of any conflict or omission, the
legal documents of the OPSEU Pension Plan will govern in all cases. Members
who have questions about their pension entitlements or are considering a
pension-related decision should contact OPTrust directly.
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Corrections to Your Pension Data