In order for a new public
employer to participate in the public retirement systems administered
by the Division, that employer must first be included in the State
of New Jersey's agreement with the Social Security Administration.
The following are the
required steps that new public employers must take to be included
under our agreement, and ultimately to become a participating
employer in one of our retirement systems.
- The new public entity must submit
to the Division a resolution from the governing body stating
that the employer will be responsible for the remittance of
the employer's share for Social Security coverage. A copy
of the statute or ordinance that created or authorized the
creation of the entity must accompany the resolution.
- The new public entity must provide
a statement which includes:
- The Employer Identification
Number (EIN) from the IRS.
- The effective date requested
for Social Security coverage (usually the date of the employer's
first hire.)
- The number of employees to
be covered.
- The name, address, phone number,
fax number and title of the person who will be the Division's
contact (usually the certifying officer.)
- After the required information
is received, the Division executes a formal modification to
extend Social Security coverage under Section 218 of the state's
Social Security coverage agreement.
- The Secretary of Health, Education
and Welfare approves the modification. This process may take
two or more months.
- Once the Division receives notice
of the successful modification, a copy of the modification
is sent to the contact person. Copies of the modification
are also sent to the Enrollment Bureau, the State Health Benefits
Bureau and the Publications/Benefits and Employer Education
(PBE) Unit of the Client Services Bureau within the Division.
Upon receipt of a copy
of the modification, PBE requests a location number to be assigned
for each retirement system in which the new employer has enrolled.
The Division uses the location number to create and identify the
new employer in our data based systems. Most pension documents
submitted to the Division by the employer will request this location
number. The Division cannot accept or process any forms from the
employer, including enrollment applications, until we assign a
location number.
With the appropriate
location number, PBE can then determine which materials should
be included in the new employer package forwarded to the new location.
Materials sent may include: the administration manual, member
handbooks, enrollment and transfer applications, annual reports,
newsletters, fact sheets and other forms needed by employers to
provide information to employees and complete their duties in
delivering the pension programs.
The package will include
information regarding our Employer Education Programs and a cover
letter providing the name and phone number of a contact person
within the PBE Unit should the employer have any questions or
need more information. An important component of the cover letter
will be the location number(s). The employer may now use this
number to submit enrollment and transfer forms to the Division.
The assignment of a
location number(s) and subsequent receipt of an enrollment application(s)
will create a master file for the new location in our data based
system. This will then generate any enrollment certifications
for payroll deductions and the quarterly Report of Contributions
(ROC) form.
Because the Division
does not have complete control of the process involved in granting
approvals for accepting a new employer into the pension system,
this procedure may take many months to complete. During that time
the employer will have employees eligible for membership, but
not able to be enrolled. This means that when the employer receives
a certification to withhold pension contributions, the employee
will have a pension contribution liability to take them back to
their eligible date.
However, the Division
does not promote withholding of pension contributions from employees
before a certification is issued, and we cannot accept pension
contributions withheld by the employer in an effort to avoid a
hardship resulting from back deductions.
Social Security Office
Locator
The Social Security
Administration offers a Social Security Office Locator, enabling
you or your employees to find the Social Security Office nearest
to their home address. To use this, simply provide your zip code.
The Locator can be found at http://s3abaca.ssa.gov/pro/fol/fol-home.html