Employer Manual
Revised:
The Retirement Info Center is the resource for members within 5 years of retirement. Find answers to the when, how-much and how-to questions, and a lot more.
| Full Retirement - Unreduced Benefit | Early Retirement - Reduced Benefit | ||
| Age | Years of Service | Age | Years of Service |
| 65 | 5 | 60 | At least 10 years, but less than 30 years |
| 60 | At least 30 | ||
* Two quarters round up to one year; 18 quarters round up to 5 years.
Requesting an estimate from KPERS
Completing retirement application
When a member retires, he or she must do the following.
Documents needed for retirement
Use Secure Upload on the EWP to send documents to KPERS.
Member
Joint annuitant
Non-school retirement date
Non-school members may retire the first of any month after their last day on payroll. KPERS must receive the member’s retirement application at least 30 days before his or her retirement date. Ideally, encourage members to submit their application 60 to 90 days ahead of time. This gives KPERS’ staff time to process the applications with the required documents and time for you to certify member pay.
Example: Kim submits her retirement application in early April. Her last day on the payroll is May 25. The retirement date she selects is the first of the following month, June 1. Kim could also retire the first of any month June 1 or after.
Non-school end date
Using the employer web portal, enter the employee’s last day on payroll as the end date. Choose retirement as the reason code. Quick Vid: End Dates
School non-licensed employees
Non-licensed employees may retire the first of any month after their last day on payroll. KPERS must receive the member’s retirement application at least 30 days before his or her retirement date. Ideally, encourage members to submit their application 60 to 90 days ahead of time. This gives KPERS’ staff time to process the applications with the required documents and time for you to certify member pay.
Using the employer web portal, enter the employee’s last day on payroll as the end date. Choose retirement as the reason code. Quick Vid: End Dates
School licensed employees (including teachers at community colleges)
Licensed employees have special guidelines for selecting a retirement date. School members under the “Continuing Contract Law” must wait until June 1 or after to retire.
If licensed employees choose to retire June 1, they must complete all work on their contract before June 1. Even if your employer’s second quarter does not end until after June 1, you cannot report salary past May 31 if the employee selects a June 1 retirement date. He or she cannot retire June 1 if working any part of June.
| Retirement date | End date |
| June 1 | May 31 |
| July 1 | June 30 |
| August 1 | July 31 |
| September 1 | August 31 |
Using the employer web portal, enter the employee’s last day on payroll as the end date. Choose retirement as the reason code. Quick Vid: End Dates
Note: Employers must pay all compensation owed to the employees by the first payroll date after their selected retirement date.
Do not deduct KPERS 3 contributions from any lump-sum payouts.
Non-school members and non-licensed school employees
Deduct KPERS contributions through member's last day at work.
Whether you deduct KPERS contributions from pay depends on the contract end date and retirement date.
| Retirement date | Contract end date | Contributions |
| June 1 | June 30 | Deduct KPERS contributions from all pay through May 31
Do not deduct KPERS contributions from employee's June pay. |
| June 1 | July 31 | Deduct KPERS contributions from all pay through May 31
Do not deduct KPERS contributions from employee's June and July pay. |
| June 1 | July 31 | Deduct KPERS contributions from all pay through May 31
Do not deduct KPERS contributions from employee's June, July, August pay. |
| June 1 | June 30 | Deduct KPERS contributions from all pay through June 30 |
| June 1 | July 31 | Deduct KPERS contributions from all pay through June 30
Do not deduct KPERS contributions from employee's July pay. |
| June 1 | August 31 | Deduct KPERS contributions from all pay through June 30
Do not deduct KPERS contributions from employee's July and August pay. |
| August 1 | July 31 | Deduct KPERS contributions from all pay through July 31 |
| August 1 | August 31 | Deduct KPERS contributions from all pay through July 31
Do not deduct KPERS contributions from employee's August pay. |
| September 1 | August 31 | Deduct KPERS contributions from all pay through August 31 |
Note: Current statutes provide freedom in how you write contracts for your employees.
However, K.S.A. 74-4940 state that compensation must be paid in 12 equal monthly installments when reporting to KPERS.
Cheat Sheet: Summer Pay for Retiring School Employees
Reminder: Do not deduct KPERS contributions form any early retirement incentives or severance payments.
Early retirement incentive: a bonus paid to all retiring employees because of their pending retirement.
Early notification pay/Early resignation bonus: when an employee notifies the school of his/her plan to resign and in turn receives a stipend/bonus for letting the school know in advance. This stipend/bonus is KPERS wages.
All teachers employed at community colleges are covered by the “Continuing Contract Law.” Please refer to the licensed employees section when helping an employee select a retirement date.
If licensed employees retire before the end of the school year, the following applies:
For example:
Teacher’s last day is March 10. The teacher’s school contract is $48,000. Report 1/12 of the contract amount for each month in the calendar year through February $48,000/12 = $4,000.
| Month | Compensation | Contributions |
| January | $4,000 | $240 (6%) |
| February | $4,000 | $240 (6%) |
| March | $1,290.30 | $77.62 (6%) |
| $4,000/31 (days in March) = $129.03 x10 days of service = $1,290.30 | ||
Board of Education's list of licensed employees:
Throughout their careers, members contribute and earn retirement credits. It grows over time and earns interest. Retirement benefits are based on the contributions account balance and value of retirement credits.
The member may choose a partial lump sum equal to any dollar amount up to 30% of the member’s account balance. The amount is chosen by the member, subtracted from the account balance and paid to the member in a lump sum. The remaining balance is converted to an annuity.
The base benefit is the 10-year life certain option. With a life certain option, the member will receive a monthly benefit for life. But, if the member dies within 10 years of retirement, his or her beneficiary will receive the same benefit for the rest of the 10-year period. Benefits are guaranteed for at least 10 years, no matter who receives them. And the member will receive a benefit for life, no matter what. The member can also choose a 5-year or 15-year life certain option. They work the same way.
Members who want to provide a lifetime benefit for someone after they die can choose a joint-survivor option like the ones available to KPERS 1 and KPERS 2. The options are 50%, 75% or 100%. Should the joint-survivor pass away, the member’s benefit will “pop-up” to the maximum amount before the joint-survivor option reduction.
The spouse must complete the spousal consent section of the retirement application. This verifies that the spouse has read, understands and agrees with the retirement option that the member has chosen. The spouse’s signature must be notarized.
KPERS 3 members can opt for an annual cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA). Their benefit is reduced at the beginning to pay for future 1% or 2% increases every year. The increase happens every year on July 1 and begins after one year of retirement.
Note: Retirement estimate requests will be calculated without the COLA option.
In the event a Retirement System member divorces, any annuity, benefit, or accumulated contributions from the Retirement System may be subject to claims by a former spouse under the provisions of a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO). A QDRO is a court order providing for:
Retirement account assets are considered marital assets to the extent they have accumulated during the marriage. Most QDROs result from an agreement between the parties. A former spouse may not receive payment from the Retirement System under a QDRO unless and until the member:
Notification of certification on EWP message board
When KPERS receives an application for retirement, we will require a last day on payroll and certified year-to-date contributions for that member. A notice will appear on your EWP To-Do List.