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Did you Know?
A
ll employees of a participating public em- ployer must become members of APERS as a condition of employment, although some employees are excluded by five exclusions.
Above: Michele Williams (left), APERS deputy director, and Alison Woods, APERS member records manager, discuss 2012 APERS changes at the AAC building.
Right: A table of county officials and employees listen to Michelle Williams answer questions about APERS. Pic- tured (from left) are Rhonda Cole, Clark County Clerk and president of the Association of Arkansas County Clerks; Mona Vance, Clark County payroll clerk; and Tammy Bundy, Boone County deputy clerk.
Four new identifiers have been added to the APERS Report Earn- ings & Service form. County managers will find additional columns and identifiers to populate on the form concerning DROP (D), retirees (R), leave (L) and military (M). “Hopefully, this will help you,” Williams said. “We know it will help us. A lot of times when these people return from these respective statuses, you enroll them again in the system [APERS], when in actuality, they are still employees, but with no pay.” Williams also gave an example of the new identifiers and how it would impact military leave notation. “We’re asking that when you have an employee take military leave that
you put the date out there when they leave and then again when they return from that status,” Williams said. “Tis should be beneficial and should eliminate some of the calls you receive from us needing to verify service credits and when a person changes status. So this should be a good thing for both sides of the house.” Woods emphasized the fact that all employees of a public participating
employer must become members of the APERS system. “All [public] employees have to come into the system as a condition of
employment. Every one you hire,” Woods said. “Ten there will be some things that will exclude some employees from the system.”
Exclusions include: n persons who have retired from the system n persons who are members of any other state-authorized retirement
system (except General Assembly members and LOPFI members) n persons employed with intent of working less that 90 calendar days n persons who do not work 80 hours per month during a period of 90
consecutive calendar days n persons whose rate of pay is less than the federal minimum wage
DROP protocols concerning retirees redefined in 2011 legislation was a topic of interest from several participants. “Te law that went into effect in 2011 says that if you went into the
COUNTY LINES, WINTER 2012
DROP March 1, 2011, or after that, you can no longer participate in a position with any public employer,” Williams explained. “Te key here is the date they began to participate in the DROP. If it was on or after March 1, 2011, then they are prohibited to going back to any position with a public employer.” Providing accurate information on APERS forms was a common theme during the presentation in efforts to increase efficiency and limit duplication. Woods expressed how important it is that the information on the
Membership Data Form (MDF) is accurate since that is how the em- ployee’s account will be set up in the APERS system. Part 1 of the MDF is for employees to fill out and part 2 is for the employer. APERS suggests to check over the form carefully to determine prior coverage and to be sure to ask the employee if he/she has ever worked for the state, county, city or for a school in a non-teaching position. She said all state agencies and county offices in Arkansas are covered
by APERS.
Call (800) 682-7377 for more information. On the Web:
www.apers.org
Laws governing military leave Jonathan Greer, Saline County attorney, discussed laws pertaining to
military leave for county employees and conducted a mock interview to illustrate some interview do’s and don’ts. Two major laws cover military leave for Arkansas county employees. Federally, the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) states that a service member is entitled to return to his or her job, with accrued seniority, provided he/she meets five eligi- bility criteria. USERRA’s criteria includes that the service member must have left a civilian job, given written notice, not exceeded the five-year Continued Page 38 >>>
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