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1 |
PURPOSE |
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1.1 |
The purpose of this directive is to provide an update on the Pension Data Correction Project (PDCP) activities and to provide further information on the assistance required from the compensation community in the correction of pension data. |
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1.2 |
This directive complements the Compensation Directive 2004-017 issued on August 17, 2004.
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2 |
BACKGROUND |
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2.1 |
In March 2004, Treasury Board approved and funded the PDCP. The project's objective is to correct the data for those contributors who fail the pension data integrity test so that we can continue to move forward with Pension Modernization and self-service. The project will address accounts with pension data discrepancies in two phases. |
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2.2 |
Phase 1, which is now under way and is expected to last three years, addresses accounts with data discrepancies that have occurred since the introduction of the Public Service Pension Fund (Fund 2) on April 1, 2000. Phase 2 of the project will focus on data discrepancies prior to April 1, 2000 (Fund 1) of the Public Service Superannuation Account. However, if during Phase 1 it is found that an account has discrepancies in both funds, all discrepancies will be addressed at the same time. |
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2.3 |
The correction of data focuses on data elements used in the calculation of pension benefits. This includes salary, service and contributions data for Fund 2 and service data only for Fund 1. The review of accounts that fail the automated integrity test for both Fund 1 and Fund 2 will commence at a later time. Annex A of this directive contains a detailed list of data elements that will be corrected. |
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2.4 |
The correction of data will be done through two major processes: |
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- System automated electronic fixes
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- An electronic data fix was done in November 2003 for more than 11,000 accounts that had failed the automated integrity test. This activity allowed for the synchronization of data between the Regional Pay System and the Contributor System. More electronic fixes will be done when applicable.
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- Manual reviews and correction
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- The PDCP team in Shediac, New Brunswick will proceed with a manual review of the accounts that fail the automated integrity test and will identify the data errors.
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- When the data error is related to contribution amounts, the data correction clerk (DCC) will communicate with the pay office to obtain a confirmation of their analysis results and the correction of the member's account.
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- When the supporting documentation is available on file or the Regional Pay System and the information based on the automated integrity tests passes data integrity, corrections to the salary and service data in the Contributor System will be performed by the DCC.
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- When the supporting documentation for salary and service is missing from the file or Regional Pay System and the information based on the automated integrity tests fail data integrity, the DCC will contact the departments to request a confirmation of their analysis results and the supporting documentation to support any salary and service changes.
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3 |
UPDATE ON PRODUCTION START UP |
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3.1 |
From March 2004 to March 2005, a small data correction team was created to develop account reviews and correction processes. The team has been communicating with departments and pay offices on the corrections required. This has allowed us to streamline our correspondence to work more efficiently with them. |
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3.2 |
On April 11, 2005, the first project production team of DCCs was established. This production team will receive training over a six week period, and will begin the review of accounts at the end of May 2005.
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4 |
PROCEDURES/INSTRUCTIONS |
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4.1 |
The PDCP team will contact the pay office when pension data discrepancies are contribution related and the departments when pension data discrepancies are salary or service related. |
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A letter specific to each case will be sent to the appropriate office requesting data correction review and/or supporting documentation and possible correction for specific periods of time since April 1, 2000. |
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The PDCP team will provide as much detail as possible about the specific periods and any other relevant information during which there are pension data discrepancies. |
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4.2 |
The PDCP team does not expect or require that departments make corrections of salary and service information on the legacy system. Departments are only required to inform the PDCP team of the correct data for salary and service and to provide the supporting documentation. The PDCP team will update the Contributor System to reflect the confirmed information. |
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4.3 |
When the PDCP team determines that for specific periods, according to the pensionable salary and service data, insufficient pension funds have been received, a request will be made to the pay office to review the periods and determine the value of the pension contribution deficiencies. The PDCP team will also ask the pay office to create a Master Employee Record (MER) deduction contract schedule to collect the additional pension contributions. The pay office is asked to notify the PDCP team when the corrections have been made. |
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When the PDCP team determines that for specific periods, according to the pensionable salary and service data, excess funds have been received, a request will be made to the pay office to review the periods and determine the excess pension contributions as well as issue a refund of the excess pension contributions. The pay office is asked to notify the PDCP team when the corrections have been made. |
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4.4 |
Pay offices are reminded to advise departments when refunds are to be made or when changes are made to pension contributions schedules based on actions required to correct pension data contribution discrepancies. |
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4.5 |
To ensure the success of the PDCP, it is important that departments and pay offices respond in a timely manner to requests for data review and corrections. Each account, for which supporting documentation and/or data correction is requested, will be set aside for an initial period of 45 days. After this period, if the initial request for data correction and/or supporting documentation has not been received, a second request will be sent. If no response has been received after 30 days of this second request, a third request will be sent and directed to the appropriate manager within the department or pay office. |
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4.6 |
Inquiries related to the correction of pension data should be directed by telephone to the Pension Data Correction Project team at (506) 533-5915 or by regular mail at P.O. Box 5010, Shediac, NB E4P 9B4. E-mail inquiries can also be sent to SHE.DataCorrection@pwgsc.gc.ca. |
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Specific case inquiries should be directed to the appropriate DCC identified in the correspondence sent to the pay office and the compensation advisor. |
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Please note that for security reasons, Personal Record Identifier (PRI) and superannuation numbers should not be sent via e-mail.
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5 |
GENERAL INQUIRIES |
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5.1 |
Any inquiries on the information contained in this document should be addressed to your Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) Compensation Services Office.
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