Public Employees Retirement System (PERS)
The University of Alaska partners with the State of Alaska Division of Retirement and Benefits (DRB) to administer the Public Employee's Retirement System (PERS). The DRB is the plan administrator for all PERS plans. All benefit-eligible staff are required to participate in a retirement account. For information on faculty retirement plans, please review the TRS and ORP webpages.
PERS Enrollment
Retirement election paperwork is sent to employees via DocuSign. This is a one-time decision in all except rare cases.
Review the options below to get an idea of staff retirement options depending on past service with the university or the State of Alaska. Official retirement selections will be sent by a member of the UA Benefits team. For questions, please email ua-benefits@alaska.edu.
| Work Status | Retirement Plan |
|---|---|
| I am staff and I have never worked for the University of Alaska or any State of Alaska employer before. | My retirement plan will be PERS DC Tier IV with UA Pension Plan. |
| I am staff and I have worked for the University of Alaska before in a staff benefit-eligible position. | My retirement plan will be the plan I previously selected (either ORP or PERS with or without UA Pension Plan). |
| I am staff and I have worked for the University of Alaska before in a faculty benefit-eligible position. |
If I previously selected ORP with my faculty position, I will be placed back in ORP. If I previously selected TRS with my faculty position, I will be placed in PERS with our without the UA Pension Plan. |
| I am staff and I have worked for a State of Alaska employer before (either faculty or staff) but this is my first staff position with the University of Alaska. |
My retirement plan will be my previous PERS plan if I was a staff member. If I was previously faculty with another State of Alaska employer, I will move to the PERS retirement plan. |
These changes are not allowed.
First/last day of employment
Coverage and contributions begin on the first day of employment and end on the last
day of employment or on the last day of employment in an eligible position.
PERS Basics
Two plans - Defined Benefit (DB) and Defined Contribution (DC)
The State of Alaska Division of Retirement and Benefits (DRB) has two PERS plans -
a Defined Benefit (DB) and Defined Contribution (DC). Whether an employee is in a
DB or DC plan depends on the date of hire into the PERS system.
| PERS Tier | Dates of Eligibility |
|---|---|
| PERS DB Tier I | Hired into PERS through June 30, 1986. |
| PERS DB Tier II | Hired into the PERS from July 1, 1986 through June 30, 1996. |
| PERS DB Tier III | Hired into PERS from July 1, 1996 through June 30, 2006. |
| PERS DC Tier IV | Hired into PERS on or after July 1, 2006. |
PERS Details
Employee contributions are mandatory. These percentages are fixed and cannot be changed. Regular staff in PERS DB Tier I, II or III will contribute 6.75%* of their salary through biweekly pre-tax payroll deductions.
*Firefighters and Peace Officers in PERS DB Tier I, II, or III will contribute 7.5% of their salary through biweekly pre-tax payroll deductions.
Employees are 100% vested in the employee contributions they make to their retirement account. Employer contributions follow the 5 year vesting schedule shown below.
| Years of Service | Employer Vesting Percent |
|---|---|
| Less than 2 years of service | 0% vested in employer contributions |
| 2 years of service | 25% vested in employer contributions |
| 3 years of service | 50% vested in employer contributions |
| 4 years of service | 75% vested in employer contributions |
| 5+ years of service | 100% vested in employer contributions |
UA is Not Authorized
UA is not authorized to provide financial advice to employees. Please contact the
DRB directly to discuss.
Reach out to DRB
An employee who is considering retirement from PERS must reach out to DRB as soon
as possible to review the retirement application process and what to expect. DRB can
be reached at 1-800-821-2251. Planning and/or applying for retirement is slightly
different between the Defined Benefit (DB) and Defined Contribution (DC) PERS plan.
Review the offboarding webpage for up-to-date information.
Review offboarding webpage
Employees who are separating from the university (but are not retiring) have a few
different considerations for their PERS accounts depending on what type of account
they have. Review the offboarding webpage for information on separating from the university.
|
|