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Your Member Statement |
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Once a year, ORS will send you a member statement showing your accumulated service credit, both earned and purchased, as well as pending purchases, interest, and other contributions.
Carefully review your statement for accuracy by comparing it to the previous year's statement and your pay stubs. Be sure to keep your statements with your important papers.
If you are an active member and did not receive a statement, contact our office to ensure that your address is correct. Note: If you are considered an inactive member, a deferred member, or a member of the Defined Contribution plan, you did not receive a Member Statement. You can contact our office and request a Statement of Service Credit.
To learn more about your retirement plan, explore the plan overview and service credit sections of this website. We also recommend these publications available in print or Adobe Acrobat format:
Your Retirement Plan: An Overview of the Defined Benefit Plan
and
Enhancing Your Pension: Earning and Purchasing Service Credit
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If you have any questions about your statement, please review the frequently asked questions below or use this chart to direct your questions.
Who to Contact
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Question(s) or Correction(s)
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Office of Retirement Services (ORS)
800-381-5111
Lansing Area 322-5103
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MI-HR Service Center
877-766-6447
If you work for the Attorney General, Secretary of State, Judicial Branch, or Legislative Branch, contact your human resource office.
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Name and address changes
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Date of birth change
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Wage information
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Tax Deferred Payment (TDP) Agreement information
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Department or Agency Human Resource Office
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Reprinting Your Member Statement
Wage & Contribution Information
Service Credit and TDP Information
Reprinting your Member Statement
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1.
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I need a new copy of my statement. How do I obtain a replacement?
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Please call our office to request a copy. Statements will be mailed through US Postal Service. Statements cannot be faxed or emailed. You should receive your replacement within several business days.
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2.
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Can I get a copy of statements from previous years?
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We can provide you with your account information from past years, however we cannot reprint a previous year's statement.
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3.
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Can a copy of my Member Statement be sent to anyone other than my attorney or personal representative?
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Your statement contains confidential information about your pension. All requests for reprints will be mailed to the address on record with ORS.
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Your Member Statement's Wage & Contribution Information
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1.
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I earned more than what is reported on my Member Statement. Why is there a difference?
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The amount on the statement is reportable income for the period of October 1, 2006 - September 30, 2007. Because it is fiscal-year earnings, it will not match your W2 statement.
You may have earned compensation that is not reportable for retirement purposes. These earnings would not be credited in the calculation of your FAC or used to calculate the cost of service credit. For example, wages, annual leave, sick leave, merit pay, longevity, and overtime pay are examples of the types of income reported to ORS. However, bonus payments and expense payments are examples of the types of income not reported to us. If you have questions about what was reported, please contact your human resource office.
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Your Member Statement's Service Credit and TDP Information
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1.
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How is service credited toward my retirement?
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All service rendered as a state employee is counted for retirement service credit. You will not receive additional service credit for overtime. Also, you cannot receive more than one year of service credit for any year that you work.
Service credit can only be granted for actual hours worked. If you work less than full- time as a permanent intermittent employee, you will receive credit for the hours you have worked, not to exceed 80 hours per pay period. For example, if you have worked on a 50% basis for 20 years, your service credit will equal 10 years.
For more information, navigate to Service Credit-Earning and Purchasing.
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2.
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I worked over 2,080 hours. Why wasn't I credited for a full year of service?
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All wages and hours that may be used toward retirement are reported to ORS. However, there are limits to the amount of service we can credit in a period. You may have worked your hours faster than the law allows us to credit service. If you worked your 2,080 hours in less than 26 pay periods, you will not receive a full year of service credit. We cannot credit more than 80 hours per pay period or 2,080 hours a year.
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3.
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Does the banked leave time and mandatory furlough days from 2003-2005 affect my earned service credit?
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No. Banked leave time and furlough hours were credited as if you had worked and been paid when the hours were scheduled.
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4.
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I am currently repaying a refund of contributions so I can reinstate service credit. Is the time I'm buying reflected anywhere on this statement?
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The service credit that you are repaying is not reflected in the Service Credit box on page 1 of your statement. As no service credit is granted until the refund is repaid in full.
However, if you are repaying your refund of contributions with a Tax-Deferred Payment (TDP) agreement, any activity on your agreement including the service that will be credited once the repayment is paid in full can be found on page 3 of the statement.
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5.
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The amount I've paid on my TDP agreement doesn't seem to match what's listed. How can I verify this?
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To verify the amount you have paid on a TDP agreement, contact our office. If you have established an agreement and deductions have not started, please contact the MI-HR Service Center.
If you participate in the Tax-Deferred Payment (TDP) program to purchase service credit, your service credit will be included after ORS receives the final payment.
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6.
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Why was interest charged to my TDP agreement?
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If your TDP agreement was established on or after October 1, 2004 and has been in effect for one full year, you were charged 8 percent interest on the balance as of October 1. Interest will continue to be assess annually at this time until your agreement is paid in full.
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7.
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Why isn't the continuous hours total my human resource office has on file (in HRMN) the same as the service credit reflected on my Member Statement?
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From time to time, a state employee's retirement service credit with ORS will be different from the continuous hours total provided by your human resource office. This is likely due to specific provisions of the retirement statute that directs how service credit for the purpose of retirement can be credited. ORS relies both on HRMN and a retirement system database to ensure compliance with the statute when determining retirement service credit. Often the reasons for a difference between the two totals may be related to military service, refunds, leaves of absence, or grievance settlements.
Less common reasons for differences between an employee's continuous hours total and retirement service credit total may be related to the inadvertent counting of LTD (Long Term Disability) time by a human resource office, or discrepancies in part-time or intermittent service.
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8
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Will the time I served in the military be applied toward my retirement credit?
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Your time in the military may count toward your retirement credit. The retirement statute specifically directs how the military service must be credited for retirement purposes. Because of this you must submit your military discharge (DD214), directly to ORS to ensure your time is counted in your retirement credit. Even if your continuous hours total on account with your human resource office reflects your military time, you still have to submit a DD214 form to ORS.
If your military time occurred during your state service, you may be entitled to retirement service credit at no cost. If your military time did not interrupt your state service, you may purchase military service credit. For additional information regarding purchasing military service, please refer to the military service credit rules.
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9.
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Will I receive retirement service credit for a period of time that I took a leave of absence and/or have been on workers' compensation?
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Some leaves of absence are creditable for retirement purposes, while others are not. If you received workers' compensation or were paid by the state during your leave of absence, you should have continued to accumulate retirement service credit. However, if you did not receive workers' compensation or payment from the state, you did not earn retirement credit for that period of time.
Please contact usto see whether retirement service credit can be given for your particular type of leave.
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10.
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Are past grievance settlements included in my retirement service credit?
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Yes. If you received a grievance settlement involving retroactive crediting of retirement service, then you should have received retirement credit. Make sure the ORS has received documentation of the settlement. If you are unsure if the settlement has been credited, please contact us.
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11.
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As a part-time employee, how do I accumulate service credit as compared to a full-time employee?
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Part-time employees (including job-share and part-time intermittent positions) earn service credit in proportion to the hours worked. Overtime hours do not increase service credit. The following table shows how full-time and part-time employees earn service credit.
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EXAMPLES OF HOW SERVICE CREDIT IS EARNED
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Type of employment
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Period of Time
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Service Credit Earned
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Full Time
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1 month
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0.0833 of a year
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Full Time
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1 pay period - 80 hours
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0.0385 of a year
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Part Time or Job Share
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1 pay period - 40 hours
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0.0192 of a year
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Part Time or Job Share
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1 year - half-time
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0.5000 of a year
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