Part 5: The Exiting Employee – Retirement, Termination or Death

Table of Contents

The Exiting Employee

Retirement

Members can request Pension Estimates directly from the MEBP Administration Office at any time prior to deciding to retire or they can run their own pension estimates 24/7 using the Online Pension Estimator available on the MEBP website.

If a Member would like to retire, the following procedures should be followed to ensure that the Member receives accurate and timely information about their pension benefit and, if applicable, insurance benefits that they are entitled to receive from the MEBP Administration Office:

Meet with the Member to determine and confirm the date of retirement.

Advise the Member to contact the MEBP Administration Office 2-3 months prior to the date of retirement. The MEBP Administration Office will confirm that the Member is eligible for retirement benefits and will send the Member a Pension Estimate and retirement package.

As soon as the Member’s final pay is processed, a SEPARATION NOTICE (Form #10) will need to be completed and submitted to the MEBP Administration Office. MEBP will not be able to start monthly pension payments until the Separation Notice (Form #10) is received.

If you complete the online version of the Separation Notice (Form #10), you will have the ability to add "notes" to your online submission of the form. If you send in a paper copy, you will have to attach any required notes to the form. Send either the online form or the paper copy, but not both.

Instructions on how to complete the Separation Notice (Form #10) can be found at the end of Section 5 of this Manual.

If the Member is also a participant of the Group Insurance Plan(s), inform them that:

MEBP offers Post Retirement Insurance benefits to Members who at retirement were participating in Basic Life Insurance. If the Member is eligible to participate, information will be included in their retirement package.

Also, inform the Member that they can convert Basic, Family and Optional Life Insurance to an individual policy within 31 days from their retirement date without providing Evidence of Insurability. The conversion option is only available to members who are under age 65. For more information about conversion of insurance benefits, please have the Member contact the MEBP Administration Office directly.

If the Member had been off work prior to retirement from employment and had chosen to not continue paying Basic Life contributions, coverage under the insurance plan will have lapsed and the option to convert to a private policy or participate in the Post Retirement Insurance is not available.

If the Member is under 64 years and 8 months of age and participates in the Disability Income Plan, advise them that their coverage under the Disability Income Plan will stop on the last day they received pensionable earnings.

Ensure that all required MEBP contributions were deducted correctly from the Member 's pensionable earnings. If an error is found, add a note advising the MEBP Administration Office that an adjustment will be made on the next monthly remittance report.

Please refer to the Section 6 – Additional Employer Information for information on pensionable earnings and current contribution rates.

After the Retirement has been processed by the MEBP Administration Office, the retired Member is to be advised to contact the MEBP Administration Office directly in regard to any questions or concerns they have in regard to the MEBP benefits.

Termination of Employment

If a Member is terminated or has resigned from a participating MEBP Employer, the following procedures should be followed to ensure that the Member receives accurate and timely information about pension benefits that they are entitled to receive from MEBP.

As soon as the Member’s final pay is processed, a SEPARATION NOTICE (Form #10) will need to be completed and submitted to the MEBP Administration Office. Upon receipt of the Separation Notice (Form #10), the MEBP Administration Office will determine the Employee’s Pension Plan termination benefit and send the Member a Termination Package providing them with their payment options. NOTE: The Member’s benefit cannot be calculated, and a Termination Package cannot be prepared without a completed Separation Notice (Form #10) being received by the MEBP Administration Office.

If you complete the online version of the Separation Notice (Form #10), you will have the ability to add "notes" to your online submission of the form. If you send in a paper copy, you will have to attach any required notes to the form. Send either the online form or the paper copy, but not both.

Instructions on how to complete the Separation Notice (Form #10) can be found at the end of Section 5 of this Manual.

If the Member is also participating in the Group Insurance Plan, advise them that their insurance coverage will stop on the last day they are paid pensionable earnings.

Also, inform the Member that they can convert Basic, Family and Optional Life Insurance to an individual policy within 31 days from their termination date without providing Evidence of Insurability. For more information about conversion of insurance benefits, please have the Member contact MEBP Administration Office directly.

If the Member had been off work prior to termination of employment and had chosen to not continue paying Basic Life contributions, coverage under the insurance plan will have lapsed and the option to convert to a private policy is not available.

If the Member participates in the Disability Income Plan, advise them that their coverage under the Plan will stop on the last day they work and are paid pensionable earnings.

Ensure that all required MEBP contributions were deducted correctly from the Member's pensionable earnings. If an error is found, add a note advising the MEBP Administration Office that an adjustment will be made on the next monthly remittance report.

Please refer to the Section 6 – Additional Employer Information for information on pensionable earnings and current contribution rates.

Death In Service

If a Member dies, whether it be accidental or not, the following procedures should be followed AS SOON AS POSSIBLE to ensure that the Member 's beneficiary(ies) receive accurate and timely information about pension and if applicable, group insurance benefits that they may be entitled to receive from MEBP:

Ensure that all required MEBP contributions were deducted correctly from the Member 's pensionable earnings. If an error is found, add a note advising the MEBP Administration Office that an adjustment will be made on the next monthly remittance report.

Please refer to the Section 6 – Additional Employer Information for information on pensionable earnings and current contribution rates.

As soon as the Member’s final pay is processed, a SEPARATION NOTICE (Form #10) will need to be completed and submitted to the MEBP Administration Office. Upon receipt of the Separation Notice (Form #10), the MEBP Administration Office will determine the Member’s Pension Plan death benefit and send the Member’s Spouse or beneficiary(ies) information regarding the death benefit. NOTE: The Member’s benefit cannot be calculated without a completed Separation Notice (Form #10) being received by the MEBP Administration Office.

If you complete the online version of the Separation Notice (Form #10), you will have the ability to add "notes" to your online submission of the form. If you send in a paper copy, you will have to attach any required notes to the form. Send either the online form or the paper copy, but not both.

Instructions on how to complete the Separation Notice (Form #10) can be found at the end of Section 5 of this Manual.

If the Member participated in the Group Insurance Plan, please contact the MEBP Administration Office for additional instructions.

A NOTICE OF INSURANCE COVERAGE AT DATE OF DEATH (Form #73) - will need to be completed and submitted to the MEBP Administration Office. The Form #73 is also to be used if a Member has Family Coverage and one of the covered family member has passed away.

Instructions on how to complete the Notice of Insurance Coverage at Date of Death (Form #73) can be found at the end of Section 5 of this Manual.

If the Member had been off work prior to the date of death and had chosen not to continue paying Basic Life contributions, and if applicable, Family Life, Optional Life and Voluntary Accidental Death & Dismemberment (Voluntary AD&D) contributions, the Member 's insurance coverage will have lapsed and a death benefit from the Group Insurance Plan will not be available.

If the Member’s death was accidental, it would be helpful if you could provide the following information:

the date, time, place, and a brief description of the accident, and
if applicable, the name and contact information of the attending Police Officer and/or Police detachment.

Death of a Retiree

If a Retired Member who is receiving a pension from MEBP dies, please provide the MEBP Administration Office as soon as possible with the name, telephone number and mailing address of the individual managing the retiree’s affairs.

Completing Form #10 – Separation Notice

INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING – SEPARATION NOTICE (FORM #10)

A Separation Notice (Form #10) must be completed for ALL employees, or disabled employees, whose membership in the MEBP Pension Plan is ending due to Retirement, Termination of Employment or Death in service or while disabled.

The benefit being paid out of the Pension Plan will be determined based on information provided by the Employer on this Separation Notice (Form #10). As such, it is very important that the information provided be up to date and accurate. If you need assistance completing the Form #10, please contact the MEBP Administration Office.

See the next page for detailed explanation of each item requested.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING – SEPARATION NOTICE (FORM #10)

IMPORTANT: The information reported on the Separation Notice (Form #10) needs to be what SHOULD HAVE been reported for the year – not what actually happened. If there is a discrepancy between what should have been done to what was actually done, the Employer will have to make the appropriate adjustments on their next payroll.

1. Employee Name: Enter the Employee’s Name: first name, middle initial, last name

2. Date of Birth Enter the Employee’s Date of Birth: dd/mmm/yyyy format

3. Address: Enter the Employee’s Current Mailing Address

4. Type of Separation: Check off the appropriate event box: Termination, Retirement or Death

5. If the event is Death Enter the Name and contact information of the next of Kin or Executor

6. Separation Date Information Enter the Date of Separation*

*Retirement: The date of separation for a retirement is determined by the employer, based on employer policies and discussions with the employee or by the employee when written notice of retirement is given to the employer. This date can be a weekday, weekend or statutory holiday. In most cases the date of separation is the last day that the employee was paid pensionable earnings which could include salary continuance for vacation. Review the Vacation Pay Procedures in Section 6 - Additional Employer Information of this Manual. However, if the employee was on a leave of absence or layoff, gave written notice that they would not be returning to work, and had no further pensionable earnings to be paid out, the separation date would be the retirement date requested by the employee in their written notice to the employer or a termination date initiated by the employer

*Termination: The date of separation for a termination is determined by the employer, based on employer policies and discussions with the employee or by the employee when written notice of termination is given to the employer. This date can be a weekday, weekend or statutory holiday. In most cases the date of separation is the last day that the employee was paid pensionable earnings. However, if the employee was on a leave of absence or layoff, gave written notice that they would not be returning to work, and had no further pensionable earnings to be paid out, the separation date would be the termination date requested by the employee in their written notice to the employer or a termination date initiated by the employer.

If the employee is on a leave of absence or layoff, a separation notice is not required unless the employee resigns or is terminated during the leave or layoff period. If the employee is expected to return to work, a separation notice is not required.

*Death: The date of separation for death is the Date of Death.

7. Was the Employee on a Leave of Check the appropriate box – Yes or No Absence or Layoff prior to the Date of Separation?

If you checked yes, Enter the last date of active employment dd/mmm/yyyy (a Form #44 – Pension Plan Leave of Absence should have been submitted to the MEBP Administration Office at the time of the Leave. If not, please submit this Form #44 along with the Separation Notice Form #10)

8. Did this employee contribute to the MEBP Basic Life Insurance Plan at the Date of Separation?

Check the appropriate box – Yes, No or Not Applicable

9. Was the Employee also a participant of the MEBP Disability Income Plan?

Check the appropriate box – Yes, No or Not Applicable

10. If the Employee was paid hourly: Enter the hourly rate of pay in effect at the Date of Separation

11. If the Employee was paid Salary: Enter the annual rate of pay in effect at the Date of Separation.

12. How many pay periods are there in the year of separation:  Enter the number of pay periods in the year of Separation. 

If the Employee is paid monthly, the number of pay periods is 12. If the Employee is paid twice a month, the number of pay periods is 24. If the Employee is paid bi-weekly, the number of pay periods could be 26 or 27. Etc.

13. 1st pay period start date. Enter the 1st day of the 1st pay period of the year of Separation.

14. Did the employee receive vacation pay during the year?

Check the appropriate box – Yes or No If you checked Yes, Enter the amount of vacation pay that was paid.

15. Was the vacation pay pensionable?

Review the Vacation Pay Procedures and Pensionable Earnings List in Section 6 – Additional Employer Information of this Manual. Check the appropriate box – Yes or No

16. Were the vacation hours pensionable?

Review the Vacation Pay Procedures and Pensionable Earnings List in Section 6 – Additional Employer Information of this Manual. Check the appropriate box – Yes or No

17. Current Year Total Pensionable Hours Worked.

Enter the CURRENT year’s total Pensionable Hours worked, or paid for ie: vacation pensionable hours. Reminder: hours worked prior to Pension Plan Entry Date are NOT Pensionable. Review the Pensionable Earnings List in Section 6 – Additional Employer Information of this Manual.

18. Current Year Base Hours

Enter the full-time annual base hours for the job position the Employee occupied at the Date of Separation. If the Employee’s job position has not changed, the base hours should be the same as what was reported on the Employee’s enrollment form and/or the Employer’s previous year end report.

Review Section 6 - How to Determine Base Hours of this Manual.

19. Current Year Pensionable Service

This is obtained by dividing the Total Pensionable Hours by the Base Hours. The result is the Employee’s Pensionable Service for the Year (should be rounded off to 4 decimal places). The resulting service should not be greater than 1.0000. If greater than 1.0000, you will need to review the amounts stated for #17 and/or #18.

20. Unpaid LOA/Non-Pensionable Hours

Check the appropriate box - Yes or No.  If you checked Yes, enter the number of unpaid hours.

21. Current Year Pensionable Earnings

Enter the Employee’s CURRENT year pensionable earnings to the Date of Separation. This amount is pensionable earning received for the current year only and does include retroactive earnings paid in the year for a previous year.

22. Current Year Required Employee Pension Contributions

Enter the Employee’s CURRENT year required pension contributions to the Date Of Separation.

This amount is employee required pension contributions deducted from the Pensionable Earnings entered in #21. This number should be reviewed using your pension plan contribution formula. If the contributions stated do not correspond to the earnings stated, you will need to review item #21 and/or #22.

23. Retro paid in current year for ______Year’s service

If the Employee was paid retroactive pay in the current year for a prior year’s service, enter in the year the retroactive pay applies to.

If the retroactive pay entered in #24 applies to more than one service year, please provide a breakdown of the retroactive pay by applicable service year.

24. Pensionable Earnings (retro pay)

Enter the amount of retroactive pensionable earnings that were paid in the current year for the service year reported in #23.

25. Employee Pension Contributions (on retro pay)

Enter the amount of pension contributions deducted from the Employee’s retroactive pensionable earnings entered in #24.

26. Total Pensionable Earnings

This is the Employee’s TOTAL pensionable earnings received in the year. (Current year pensionable earnings #21 plus Retro pensionable earnings #24)

27. Total Required Employee Pension Contributions

This is the Employee’s TOTAL required pension contributions deducted for the year. (Current year pension contributions #22 plus Retro pension contributions #25)

28. Employer Number Enter the Employer Number assigned to you by MEBP.

29. Employer Name Enter the name of the Employer.

30. Contact Name

Enter the name, email address and telephone number of the individual that has completed this form.

This will be the person that will be contacted if we have any questions about the information provided on Form #10.

31. Authorized Signature The signature of the individual authorized by the Employer to approve this Separation Notice.

32. Date The date this form was signed by the authorized individual.

Completing Form #73 – Notice of Insurance Coverage at Date of Death

INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING – NOTICE OF INSURANCE COVERAGE AT EMPLOYEE DEATH (FORM #73)

IMPORTANT: The Notice of Insurance Coverage at Employee Death (Form #73) should be sent to the MEBP Administration Office along with the completed Separation Notice (Form #10) completed for the Employee. The Form is also to be used if an Employee has Family Coverage and one of the covered family members has passed away.

FORM73 - Notice of Insurance Coverage at Date of Death (2020) 

Type of Coverage: Check the boxes that apply.

Was the Employee on a leave at the time of death: check the appropriate box: yes or no

Employer must complete, date and sign the bottom of the form.

Member Name: Enter the name of the Employee.

S.I.N.: Enter the Employee’s Social Insurance Number.

Employer Number: Enter the Employer Number assigned to you by MEBP. This is used for Identification purposes.

Employer Name: Enter the name of Employer.

Name of Deceased: Enter the name of deceased for whom the insurance benefit is being applied for.

Date of Birth Deceased: Enter the deceased’s date of birth.

Date of Death: Enter the date of death.

Phone Number of Contact Person:

If the deceased is the Employee – enter the name and contact information of the Life Insurance Beneficiary or Executor.
If the deceased is a family member of the Employee, enter the Employee’s name and contact information.

Relationship to the Member:

If the deceased is the Employee – enter the relationship of the Contact Person.
If the deceased is a family member of the Employee, enter the deceased’s relationship to the Employee.

Was the death a result of an Accident? Check the appropriate box.

Member’s Occupation at date of death: Enter the Employee’ job position at the date of death.

Complete for Full-time Permanent Employees only:   Current Annual Earnings Rate at date of death - Enter the Employee’s annual earnings rate at the date of death. Effective Date - Enter what date this rate became effective.

Contribution Frequency: Check the frequency of the Employee deductions

Did the Employee pay all the required contributions up the date of death: Check the appropriate box: yes or no

Amount of Insurance: Enter the amount of current coverage for each applicable Insurance Coverage.