Updates to faculty layoff plan and other stuff

[wiu712]

Is it true that health insurance is paid not only on the retiree, but their spouse/partner as well until they pass?

That is not true.

The retiree can purchase a "Dependent Health Plan". The premium for that plan would be deducted from their retirement check.

[Tere North]

Anyone know what employee and employer SURS rates?

Employee contributions to SURS are equal to 8% of your gross earnings, including earnings for overtime and summer sessions.

Full-time community college employees (except City Colleges of Chicago) pay an additional 0.5% of earnings to fund a health insurance plan devised for community college retirees.

If you began working for a SURS-covered employer on or after April 1, 1986, your employer is required to deduct contributions for Medicare from your gross earnings. Currently, this contribution equals 1.45% of gross earnings.

Traditional and Portable Plans:
The state contribution is a varying amount that is actuarially determined each year. The Illinois pension code requires the state to contribute an amount each year necessary for the System to become funded at 90% of assets to liabilities by the end of the state fiscal year 2045.

Self-Managed plan (SMP)
The state contributions toward SMP equal 7.6% of earnings. Approximately 7.3% of those earnings will go directly to the member's individual SMP account. The remainder is used to provide you with the eligibility for disability benefits.

So as the employer, the university pays nothing toward pension amounts! Why not equal to the employee like it is for social security?

[sealhall74]

Anyone know what employee and employer SURS rates?

Employee contributions to SURS are equal to 8% of your gross earnings, including earnings for overtime and summer sessions.

Full-time community college employees (except City Colleges of Chicago) pay an additional 0.5% of earnings to fund a health insurance plan devised for community college retirees.

If you began working for a SURS-covered employer on or after April 1, 1986, your employer is required to deduct contributions for Medicare from your gross earnings. Currently, this contribution equals 1.45% of gross earnings.

Traditional and Portable Plans:
The state contribution is a varying amount that is actuarially determined each year. The Illinois pension code requires the state to contribute an amount each year necessary for the System to become funded at 90% of assets to liabilities by the end of the state fiscal year 2045.

Self-Managed plan (SMP)
The state contributions toward SMP equal 7.6% of earnings. Approximately 7.3% of those earnings will go directly to the member's individual SMP account. The remainder is used to provide you with the eligibility for disability benefits.

So as the employer, the university pays nothing toward pension amounts! Why not equal to the employee like it is for social security?

No employer contributions? That is surprising. But when you have 667 government pension funds in the state, I guess anything is possible. We should start a petition to rename SURS as the Leslie Heffez Pension Fund. That prof from UIC made out like a bandit, retiring at age 55 for a comfy annual pension sum of $564,298, I think he is still up there in 'burbs pulling teeth as I write this. And he pays no state income tax that pension money. What a mess!

[ST_Lawson]

Anyone know what employee and employer SURS rates?

Employee contributions to SURS are equal to 8% of your gross earnings, including earnings for overtime and summer sessions.

Full-time community college employees (except City Colleges of Chicago) pay an additional 0.5% of earnings to fund a health insurance plan devised for community college retirees.

If you began working for a SURS-covered employer on or after April 1, 1986, your employer is required to deduct contributions for Medicare from your gross earnings. Currently, this contribution equals 1.45% of gross earnings.

Traditional and Portable Plans:
The state contribution is a varying amount that is actuarially determined each year. The Illinois pension code requires the state to contribute an amount each year necessary for the System to become funded at 90% of assets to liabilities by the end of the state fiscal year 2045.

Self-Managed plan (SMP)
The state contributions toward SMP equal 7.6% of earnings. Approximately 7.3% of those earnings will go directly to the member's individual SMP account. The remainder is used to provide you with the eligibility for disability benefits.

So as the employer, the university pays nothing toward pension amounts! Why not equal to the employee like it is for social security?

Well, technically the employer is the state and the state does contribute.
I guess the state could pass that money along to the universities and then have them make the contributions to the pensions, but it's all coming from the same place.

As for the crazy high pensions you hear about. I don't know that there's much they can do constitutionally about them now, but for future pensions, I have no problem with them setting a cap on all future ones...so, like the max that a person can earn is $100k or $120k or something a year (didn't someone say there's a cap like that on social security). I doubt I'll ever get to the point where I'm earning six-figures, but if I ever do, I don't have a problem with getting "only" $100k back per year.

[sealhall74]

Employee contributions to SURS are equal to 8% of your gross earnings, including earnings for overtime and summer sessions.

Full-time community college employees (except City Colleges of Chicago) pay an additional 0.5% of earnings to fund a health insurance plan devised for community college retirees.

If you began working for a SURS-covered employer on or after April 1, 1986, your employer is required to deduct contributions for Medicare from your gross earnings. Currently, this contribution equals 1.45% of gross earnings.

Traditional and Portable Plans:
The state contribution is a varying amount that is actuarially determined each year. The Illinois pension code requires the state to contribute an amount each year necessary for the System to become funded at 90% of assets to liabilities by the end of the state fiscal year 2045.

Self-Managed plan (SMP)
The state contributions toward SMP equal 7.6% of earnings. Approximately 7.3% of those earnings will go directly to the member's individual SMP account. The remainder is used to provide you with the eligibility for disability benefits.

So as the employer, the university pays nothing toward pension amounts! Why not equal to the employee like it is for social security?

h
Well, technically the employer is the state and the state does contribute.
I guess the state could pass that money along to the universities and then have them make the contributions to the pensions, but it's all coming from the same place.

As for the crazy high pensions you hear about. I don't know that there's much they can do constitutionally about them now, but for future pensions, I have no problem with them setting a cap on all future ones...so, like the max that a person can earn is $100k or $120k or something a year (didn't someone say there's a cap like that on social security). I doubt I'll ever get to the point where I'm earning six-figures, but if I ever do, I don't have a problem with getting "only" $100k back per year.

If a university makes a contribution to the employees retirement fund, it becomes an incentive to attract quality personnel. It is a big bargaining factor at the local school district level where about 2/3 of the Illinois school districts contribute something to the teacher's retirement fund. Do the universities have the money to do it? Probably only one in the state could do it right now.

[wiu712]

So as the employer, the university pays nothing toward pension amounts!

The employer is the State of Illinois. The State is suppose to be contributing to the pension system as noted above. But very many years, the State has failed to fully fund their obligation. And several times the State has declared a "Pension Holiday" meaning that they contributed $0 for that year.

It is a big bargaining factor at the local school district level where about 2/3 of the Illinois school districts contribute something to the teacher's retirement fund.

The State of Illinois funds most of the employer portion of the Illinois Teachers Retirement System (TRS). TRS is the retirement system for all public K-12 teachers except those in the Chicago Public Schools which has their own pension system.

Many school districts in the state have been paying some or all of the employee's contribution to TRS. Teachers contribute 9.4% of their salary to TRS.

[Tere North]

So as the employer, the university pays nothing toward pension amounts!

The employer is the State of Illinois. The State is suppose to be contributing to the pension system as noted above. But very many years, the State has failed to fully fund their obligation. And several times the State has declared a "Pension Holiday" meaning that they contributed $0 for that year.

I disagree. Western is the employer, they should be matching the employee contribution. My ID card never said "State of Illinois." Western determines the hiring salary, not the State. Saying the state should pay means Western gets to determine how much the State pays by determining the salary of the employee.

It is a big bargaining factor at the local school district level where about 2/3 of the Illinois school districts contribute something to the teacher's retirement fund.

The State of Illinois funds most of the employer portion of the Illinois Teachers Retirement System (TRS). TRS is the retirement system for all public K-12 teachers except those in the Chicago Public Schools which has their own pension system.

Many school districts in the state have been paying some or all of the employee's contribution to TRS. Teachers contribute 9.4% of their salary to TRS.

In fact, most K-12 districts wrap the TRS into the teacher's salary, thus enabling them to claim a retirement based on that inflated salary the teacher never sees. It's also like cheating to say the school covers the TRS.

Social security based employees and employers each pay 6.2%.

I realize that for K-12, they get property taxes in addition to state support, but they also cannot charge their students tuition. Universities don't get that property tax income, but do charge tuition. (Community colleges get some property tax income, but very little, e.g., for me, Macomb School district gets >50% of my property taxes).

There simply needs to be a shift. The State needs to cover the deficit due to Pension Holidays, but all schools, just like all other employers, need to be paying into the retirement fund along with employees, just like is done in the social security system.

[wiu712]

I disagree. Western is the employer, they should be matching the employee contribution.

The State of Illinois is the employer. The work location in this case is at Western Illinois University.

[sealhall74]

I disagree. Western is the employer, they should be matching the employee contribution.

The State of Illinois is the employer. The work location in this case is at Western Illinois University.

I have to agree with Tere on this one. If you are determining the salary of an employee, you are the employer.

[ST_Lawson]

On my W-2, the employer is listed as "State of IL, Western IL University".
I consider myself an employee of the State of Illinois, working at Western Illinois University.

Also, my salary is determined by the State Universities Civil Service System...not WIU.
http://www.sucss.illinois.gov/