Pension Support System Changes

COMPENSATION COMMUNIQUÉ

March 23, 2000

SUBJECT: Pension Support System Changes

The following is a description of the changes made to the CONTRIBUTOR and PENSION SUPPORT systems under the STREAMLINING project.

Introduction

The modifications to the Pension Support System (PSS) have been made to accommodate the enhancements to the Contributor System that have been recently made under the Contributor Streamlining project. A number of restrictions have been imposed on the creation of service and LWOP transactions to ensure the integrity of Contributor System service records and associated employee status information. The following is a description of the modifications that have been made that impact the Pension Support System.

Pension Estimates

The ability to modify all salary/service records via the Salary Maintenance (SAQ), LWOP Maintenance (LWQ) and Service (GEQ) screens to provide a Pension Estimate or a Transfer Value estimate has not changed. Users are still able to Delete, Commence and Amend historical and current service records when necessary. All input for estimate purposes will continue to be distinguished by the source indicator code (SI Code = Q or SQ) where Q represents input by a client department and SQ represents input by the Superannuation Directorate.

Conversion

With the implementation of the Contributor Streamlining project the following Service Codes were converted as follows;

Previous Service code 700 (Deferred Annuity - PSSA service) will now appear as service code 100 (prior contributory service - to employee's credit).

Previous Service code 500 (CSC- Operational Service) now appears as either Service code 101 (Current contributory service) or 100 (Prior contributory service - to employee's credit).

Previous Service code 600 (ATC - Operational Service) now appears as either Service code 101 (Current contributory service) or 100 (Prior contributory service - to employee's credit).

Service codes 941, 942 and 995 are no longer valid codes and have been removed from the Contributor System Database. Service code 940 (Qualifying service) now identifies all types of qualifying service.

Service code 901 has been created to represent 900 service that is associated with either a Transfer Value or Reciprocal Transfer Agreement.

Service Maintenance Screen (GEQ)

As mentioned above, modifications to the GEQ screen will not impact the Compensation Specialists capability to perform Pension Estimates. However, restrictions have been imposed to prevent the creation of transactions that will modify specific protected (system generated) service codes.

The system will now not accept creation of transactions to modify Service codes 101, 135, 901, 971 or 900 where there is a Return of Contributions (ROC) payment. The ROC payment is displayed on the Contributor Inquiry SOS screen. If the Compensation Specialist attempts to "CREATE" a transaction for one of these service codes, the transaction will be rejected with the following message;

SNGEQ57P - SERVICE RECORD IS PROTECTED ON A CREATE - CANNOT UPDATE

DELETE a record

The 'D' transaction is used to delete a service record in its entirety from the SNGEQ screen. The delete of a 101, 135, 901, 971 or 900 service type code where there is a ROC payment attached will be rejected on the CREATE command.

The message SNGEQ57P - SERVICE RECORD IS PROTECTED ON A CREATE - CANNOT UPDATE will be produced when the user enters the delete transaction against a system generated service record.

If a service record is deleted on the SNGEQ screen and a Contributor update is processed, the service will be deleted from the SNGEQ screen.

When the user enters a 'D' transaction and there are associated periods of LWOP, the message SNGEQ50 WARNING - LWOP WILL BE LOST IF NO COMMENCE TRANSACTION CREATED will be displayed as soon as the CREATE command is entered. Commence transaction must be actioned immediately to retain the LWOP record.

LWOP records which fall within the GEQ service record identified by the 'D' transaction will also be automatically deleted during the daily Contributor update.

If the user attempts to delete the last remaining service record via the GEQ screen, the action will be rejected and the message SNGEQ54P CANNOT DELETE LAST REMAINING SERVICE RECORD will be displayed when the CREATE command is entered.

AMEND a record

The 'A' transaction is only used to amend the E/D/A Code of a service record on the SNGEQ screen. An amend of a 101, 135, 901, 971 or 900 service type code where there is a ROC payment attached will be rejected on the CREATE command with the following reject message;

SNGEQ57P - SERVICE RECORD IS PROTECTED ON A CREATE - CANNOT UPDATE

If the E/D/A code of a service record is amended on the SNGEQ screen and a Contributor update is processed, the E/D/A code will be modified on the SNGEQ screen.

The LWOP record or records falling within the GEQ service record identified by the 'A' transaction will not be affected.

The Source Code on the SNGEQ screen will be equal to OL when input by a client department or SU when input by the Superannuation Directorate.

DELETE and COMMENCE a record

The "D" and "C" commands are used in combination to amend the FROM DATE or TO DATE or both the FROM/TO Dates for a service record on the SNGEQ screen. The delete and/ or commence of a 101, 135, 901, 971, or 900 service type code where there is a ROC payment attached will be rejected on a CREATE command with the following reject message;

SNGEQ57P - SERVICE RECORD IS PROTECTED ON A CREATE - CANNOT UPDATE

If a service record is deleted and commenced on the SNGEQ screen and a Contributor update is processed, the service record will be modified and the amended FROM and/or TO Dates will be displayed on the GEQ/GEN screens. The Source Code will be equal to OL when input by a client department or SU when input by the Superannuation Directorate.

The LWOP record or records which fall within or are equal to the amended FROM and/or TO Dates will be retained and displayed on the LWOP screens.

If the Service record is modified and a LWOP period falls outside the new Service period the LWOP record will be automatically dropped during the Contributor daily update.

Protected (System Generated) Service records

Previously, Compensation Specialists were required to manually maintain service codes 101, 135 and 971. These service codes are now automatically generated as part of ongoing processing

A 101 service record will be automatically generated by the Contributor System once the employee becomes a PSSA contributor. If the Contributor Effective Date is invalid, contact the Superannuation Directorate to review the eligibility of the employee and amend the contributory status if applicable. This will automatically generate a modified 101 service record.

In order to create a 135 service record, the 35 Year Completion Date must have been certified by Superannuation Directorate. Upon certification the Contributor System will automatically generate a 135 service record. If the 35 Year Date is incorrect, it is likely due to an invalid or missing GEQ or LWQ service record. If the invalid/missing service record can be modified via PSS, correct and re-enter the correct service record. This will generate a message to the Superannuation Directorate to review and amend the certified 35 Year Date, thereby automatically generating a modified 135 service record.

In order to create a 971 service record, submit proof of age to the Superannuation Directorate. Upon receipt, they will certify the date of birth, whereupon the 971 service record will automatically be generated by the system.

New Edits

SNGEQ58P - FROM AND TO DATES EXCEEDS 6 MONTHS - PLEASE CORRECT

Cause : FROM and TO dates of the 940 service must be equal to or less than 6 months.
Action: Correct and re-enter

SNGEQ06P - E/D/A CODE MISSING/INVALID - PLEASE CORRECT

Cause: The Generated Service Code must not be blank and must be one of the following valid codes:

• 100 - Contributory Service (previously to employees credit including service allocated for a Deferred Annuity)
• 900 - Contributory Service - no longer to employees credit (ROC)
• 940 - Qualifying Service
• 965 - Age 65 and in receipt of CPP/QPP (and did not elect to recommence Public Service Contributions)

SNGEQ50P - WARNING - LWOP WILL BE LOST IF NO COMMENCE TRANSACTION CREATED

Cause: This is a warning to advise that the service record and matching LWOP will be deleted from the database. A new service record must be created immediately in order to retain the LWOP which falls within the service record.

SNGEQ54P - CANNOT DELETE LAST REMAINING SERVICE RECORD

Cause: An attempt has been made to try to delete the last remaining service record. At least one
service record must be present on the database.
Action: No action to be taken

Contributor Verification System

As LWOP records are now associated with a corresponding Service record, it is recommended that a Verifier review, to either accept or reject the LWOP transactions on the VAW screen before reviewing the Service records. If the Service record on the VAG screen is verified first all associated historical LWOP records which fall within the service period will automatically be verified. The reverse also applies, in that, when a LWOP transaction must be changed after the GEQ ans LWQ transactions have been verified, it is necesaary to "unverify" the GEQ record within which the LWQ falls, before making this correction.

Ongoing

Regional Pay transactions for Salary, Leave Without Pay and Service will automatically be verified once updated to the Contributor System database. A 'V" will be displayed in the Verification Code (VC ) on both the Contributor Inquiry and Pension Support screens.

Again we are very sorry for the inconvenience this situation has caused all of our users. If more information is required, please contact Pierre Gauthier at (819) 956-0566 or Brian Lillico at (819) 956-2073.

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