APERS will be closed on Monday, November 11, 2024 in observance of Veterans Day. Regular hours will resume on Tuesday, November 12, 2024.

Employee Enrollment

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Employee Enrollment

Your employees must become members of the system as a condition of their employment. Our retirement law defines “employees” as all officers and employees of any office, agency, board, commission, or department of a public employer whose compensations are payable either from funds the public employer appropriated or from federal funds.

Certain people are not considered employees for retirement purposes and are excluded from membership. “Employees” does not include the following:

  • Persons who are members of any other state-authorized retirement system,
  • Persons who are employed with the intent of working less than ninety (90) calendar days,
  • Persons who do not qualify as full-time. A person who works eighty (80) hours per month during a period of ninety (90) consecutive calendar days is considered a full-time employee, and
  • Persons whose rate of pay is less than the federal minimum wage.

When you hire employees, you must determine whether to enroll or exclude them for membership, based on these provisions.

Employer Responsibilities

Employee enrollment consists of two primary tasks: enrolling employees and maintaining employee demographic information. You should perform these tasks whenever employees begin employment and whenever their demographic information changes. How you perform these tasks depends on your user type – AASIS or regular.

Below is a list of key functions, and you can see the Resources section for the myAPERS Tasks and Functions publication which provides a complete list of tasks and functions for employee enrollment.

Key Functions

Employee Enrollment
– Verify prior membership
– Enroll new members
– View the employee roster and member information

User Types

  • Regular Users: Regular users have two options for enrolling employees and maintaining demographic information. You can manually enter data for individual employees or upload a spreadsheet containing data for multiple employees. You receive a confirmation of your transactions, and the results are immediately available for viewing.
  • AASIS Users: AASIS users indirectly enroll and maintain demographic information when they perform related functions in AASIS. Each day we receive a demographic file which provides personal, demographic, employment, and benefit plan data. When you enter this information in AASIS for new employees or employees with demographic changes, we receive that information in the file the following day. You can review the information we receive at any time in myAPERS.

Resources

Disclaimer on Benefits and Rights

Disclaimer Concerning Benefit Calculations, Benefit Projections, Counseling, and Certain Conditions Regarding APERS Benefits and Rights

The purpose of this Disclaimer is to summarize, in plain language, existing APERS policy concerning benefit calculations, benefit projections, counseling, and certain conditions regarding APERS benefits and rights. This Disclaimer does not reflect any alteration or amendment of existing APERS policy. This site includes general information about APERS programs and benefits and may not represent or include completely the law and/or rules that govern APERS. Arkansas law and/or administrative rules will supersede any information in conflict.

APERS strives to provide accurate information and assistance to plan participants who have questions regarding their APERS benefits. All information and calculations concerning benefits are based upon current law and policy, even though information often concerns future benefits. Likewise, laws and policies affecting plan participants are subject to change from time to time. The Arkansas General Assembly, U. S. Congress, federal agencies, and the APERS Board of Trustees may change how benefits are calculated and change other rights of plan participants. Any benefit projection or information provided by APERS is subject to future law or policy that is applicable to APERS.

APERS staff depends upon information provided by the plan participants and offers counseling and projects future benefit estimates based upon that information. Such estimates can vary materially from actual results. Calculations concerning benefits, as well as the information APERS provides during counseling, can be materially affected if the plan participant provides inaccurate or incomplete information, or omits material facts. Plan participants are presumed to have knowledge of all publicly available laws and policies that affect their APERS benefits and rights. APERS is under no duty to ensure that plan participants are specifically informed of a new law or policy unless required within the law or policy itself. If APERS attempts to notify plan participants who may be affected by a change of a law or policy, the failure to notify a specific plan participant does not create any right or cause of action for the plan participant.

APERS does not provide plan participants with specific recommendations regarding retirement options, tax advice, or legal advice. Each plan participant is solely responsible for determining whether benefit calculations, benefit projections, benefit estimates, and retirement plan options are suitable for the plan participant based upon his or her specific retirement objectives and personal and financial situation. APERS encourages plan participants to consult their own lawyer, accountant, tax professional, or other retirement adviser before making a decision that affects their benefits and rights regarding APERS.

Federal law and policy, state law and policy, APERS records and documents, and accurate data always govern the final determination of plan participant benefits and rights. An error by APERS does not create any common law rights on behalf of the plan participant. The rights of a plan participant are solely governed by the rights set forth in law and policy applicable to APERS.