Section 6 - IMRF

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Member Accounts / Past Service / Employer Resolutions / SECTION 6
Member Accounts
6.00 Introduction
This section explains the procedures and forms to be used to enroll, report, adjust, and terminate a member’s account.
Help for Authorized Agents
We’ve developed several resources to help you maintain member accounts:
Sample completed forms, located at the end of this section, contain instructions on how to fill in and use
forms correctly.
Use the forms charts located in this manual to find the correct form quickly.
Consult the IMRF-developed procedure check lists in the front of this manual when enrolling and terminating
members.
View member account information (participation date, years of service, wages and contributions, etc.)
through the Employer Access area of IMRF’s web site. For details, refer to Paragraph 2.90 Secure Employer
Access Area of www.imrf.org.
6.05 To Open an Account - New or Rehired Member
You should enroll an employee in IMRF as soon as he or she occupies an IMRF covered position (qualified position)
(see Section 3). Failure to enroll an employee promptly with IMRF could eventually delay payment of benefits.
After an employee is enrolled in IMRF, he or she becomes a member. Public Act 96-0889 created a second tier for
IMRF’s Regular and Revised Elected County Official Plan. Effective January 1, 2011, IMRF will assign a benefit
“tier” to an employee when he/she is enrolled in IMRF’s Regular or ECO plans. The plan tier is based on the
member’s participation date:
Tier 1: Members enrolled in any IMRF plan before January 1, 2011. If a Tier 1 member:
Stops participating in IMRF and is again enrolled in IMRF, the member will participate in Tier
1.
Changes IMRF employers, the member will participate in Tier 1.
Terminates participation, takes a refund of his or her contributions and is later enrolled in
IMRF, the member will participate in Tier 1. Member is not required to pay back the refund.
Tier 2: Members first enrolled in IMRF on or after January 1, 2011
EXCEPTIONS: Members enrolled in IMRF on or after January 1, 2011, will participate in Tier 1 if
the member:
Previously participated in IMRF or in a reciprocal retirement system (except the Judges or
General Assembly retirement systems) even if the member took a refund of his or her
contributions and has not yet repaid the refund,
or
Purchases omitted service credit that creates a participation date before January 1, 2011.
Once the member’s enrollment is confirmed, the member receives a “New Member Packet.” In this packet, the
member receives a letter confirming his or her Social Security number, birth date, IMRF employer name, effective
date of IMRF participation and IMRF plan tier. The member also receives an IMRF benefit booklet and other general
information about IMRF.
January 2014 Page 227