Recent economic hardships have forced many municipalities to take a closer look at the dynamics of their workforce. In the recent “National Survey of Local Governments Health and OPEB Funding Strategies,” conducted by Cobalt Community Research, 16 percent of respondents indicated they would be hiring more part-time or temporary employees.

Does your municipality employ part-time employees? Did you know they could be eligible for MERS benefits?

Here are some important points about enrolling your part-time staff in MERS:

• The number of hours they work per month determines whether or not they are eligible for MERS membership. Any employee who regularly works 10 eight-hour days in a month (or the amount of time allocated for service credit, as determined by your governing body) should be a member of MERS and is entitled to a month of service credit
• Even if the individual isn’t eligible for any other fringe benefits offered by your municipality, employees who work the required hours/days to earn service credit are required to be enrolled in MERS
• A written or verbal employment contract may not exclude an otherwise eligible non-union employee from enrollment in MERS, regardless if the municipality and employee agree to the contract
• If the employee is a member of a collective bargaining group, the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) may exclude part-time employees from MERS membership in some situations. The CBA language must specifically state how the MERS retirement benefits are to be administered

What if you employ temporary employees?

Even though regular part-time employees are automatically enrolled in MERS, temporary employees who are employed for less than 12 months can be excluded from MERS membership. Your municipality’s governing body may exclude temporary employees that are hired, by adopting the resolution here.

If you have questions about whether or not your employees are eligible for a MERS membership, please contact a member of your Regional Team by clicking here or calling 800.767.6377.