Payroll Based Reporting project
Our project to change the data collection process from an annual to a regular payroll based report will result in more timely data and reduced administrative work for employers and the Plan.
Active Payroll Update
December 22
As we approach the end of 2011, we would like to give you a brief update on the status of the Active Payroll activities that we began early this year. In October, we took a step back to evaluate significant issues with the treatment of service and earnings for pension purposes and their impact on the implementation of payroll data collection.
During 2012, we will be undertaking a number of initiatives that will address some of the inconsistencies across the system and move us towards more standardized data collection. Next year will also bring a number of legislative amendments that will result in changes to current practices.
In order to address these issues and successfully launch Active Payroll while minimizing the impact on employers, we have adjusted the timing of implementation, and will not fully launch Active Payroll on January 1, 2013. We will be making some major modifications to our Data Collection Tool in 2013 to capture the data we require to manage the Plan effectively.
We would like to recognize the significant effort of the Payroll Advisory Group who shared their support, advice and suggestions. Their time and effort put into the Active Payroll project to date has been extremely valuable.
We will be communicating further details to you early in the New Year. For now, we would like to thank you for your continued support and wish you the best of the holiday season.
Active Payroll Announcement
August 31, 2011
The CAAT Pension Plan is committed to delivering the pension promise to our members while managing risks and complying with legal requirements. We remain focused on improving the services we provide to our members, in partnership with our employers. A key initiative to support our goals is Active Payroll.
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Active Payroll will ultimately allow the Plan to:
- standardize the processes surrounding annual data collection, enrolments, leaves and terminations
- identify and deal with data issues earlier
- use more current data when responding to member questions and requests
- administer the Plan in accordance with Plan provisions and legal requirements
- assist employers in monitoring eligibility for OTRFT employees
- enable employer and member self-service on our website
As we approach the first milestone in the Active Payroll Rollout and Communication Plan, we are providing all employers with an update on what we have learned to date.
First we want to thank all the employers who have provided useful and frank feedback, it has been very valuable in understanding the potential challenges and opportunities Through the Payroll Advisory Panel members’ and other employer feedback, we have become aware of issues unrelated to the Active Payroll project itself but critical to its success. For example, to reach our ultimate goals there needs to be a standardized definition and treatment of pensionable earnings. It is clear that this and similar issues need to be resolved before we can proceed with realizing the full benefits of Active Payroll.
The amount of work, support, and willingness to move forward has been tremendous. As we approach our next major checkpoint, we want to ensure that employers’ future efforts to implement this important initiative are well spent and productive.
After analyzing the current feedback there are several issues identified that must be resolved before full implementation. To minimize the impacts on employers, the CAAT Plan has decided to pause and re-evaluate our approach and timing for the full implementation of Active Payroll.
However, the continued identification of potential issues remains critical and valuable at this stage. Even while we pause to evaluate our Active Payroll options, we would like to continue discussing the file layout so that additional issues, if any, can be identified as early as possible. We believe that this is crucial in ensuring the ultimate solution can be implemented by all employers. We would encourage you to continue working to create your file since we believe that this activity will highlight issues and concerns you have which we will use as input into the Active Payroll solution.
Before proceeding with full implementation, we want to ensure the Active Payroll solution can be implemented as efficiently as possible while still meeting the stated benefits. The Plan will be taking the next few weeks to determine how to best address the administrative related issues identified to date. We are also evaluating the options and timing for moving forward with the next steps of the Active Payroll project. We will provide more information on next steps and timing in a future communication.
Thank you for your support, effort and feedback to date. We are open to understanding your challenges and are confident that, working together, we will develop a solution that will make Active Payroll a success.
Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
All employer teleconference - August 18, 2011
Join us for an update on the progress of the Active Payroll project and the initial phase of testing. We'll review the outcome of the working session held with the panel members in June, and answer the questions you submitted about the file format and the testing rollout plan.
All employer teleconference - June 16, 2011
On June 16, we held an all-employer teleconference to review the project status, and update everyone on next steps. Thanks to everyone who participated. We had a great question and answer session, which we posted below.
Active payroll Q&A
New questions added June 10 - see below
Payroll Advisory Panel report
Added May 9, 2011
CAAT Plan staff conducted a first teleconference meeting with 8 members of the Payroll Advisory Panel on April 20. The initial results are very encouraging.
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The Panel is helping the Plan develop its new procedures for contribution and data collection, with a new form of payroll reporting scheduled for implementation in 2012.
As Tracey Leask explained during the teleconference, our goal with the Panel is to engage employers at an early stage, to get their feedback and identify any issues and concerns.
Payroll based reporting will simplify the processes surrounding annual data collection, enrolments, leaves and terminations, will identify any data issues earlier and will allow us to use more current data when generating pension estimates and annual statements. Ultimately it will give us the flexibility and timeliness to facilitate member self service on our website.
During the meeting, the Panel also discussed challenges concerning eligibility and data collection for OTRFT employment.
Some volunteer employers from the Panel will be taking part in a payroll based reporting pilot project that will run during the last quarter of 2011.
We will keep you up to date as decisions are made concerning these important changes to our Plan.
Payroll Advisory Panel
Added March 21, 2011
The panel will be launched in early April, and will include up to 6 representatives from your Payroll or HR departments.
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Panel members should have in-depth knowledge and experience both with your payroll system and the pension plan. This is your opportunity to provide your input and share your ideas on upcoming contribution and data collection changes so that we understand any potential administrative challenges before the changes are implemented.
Panel reports
As part of our ongoing commitment to open communication, we’ll be sure to keep you in the loop throughout the process even if you’re not part of this Advisory Panel. We’ll send you occasional updates as we work through these important changes. And, at the end of the process, we will issue a final report of the work accomplished, and the new procedures.
We recognize the ‘up-front’ effort this initiative may present to your organization and appreciate your continuing support as we implement these important changes. Our focus is on operating the Plan efficiently and effectively and ensuring it continues to provide significant value for your organization and your employees.
New questions from all employer teleconference, June 16
Q. What is rollout schedule?
A. The goal is to have the system ready by January 1, 2012. We’ll work with each employer to determine when in 2012 they can launch.
Q. Will we still do the DCT?
A. Yes, in 2012, for the 2011 data. In 2013 we won’t have DCT anymore – we will collect 2012 data during 2012.
Q. Is the plan for colleges to provide both employee and non-employee data?
A. Yes – We’re looking to collect basic data on OTRFT employees so we can track their membership eligibility. This will also help us track concurrent employment situations. Non-member data would be limited by privacy restrictions. We are still exploring the limits of what we can collect. Collecting data on OTRFT members will be phased in.
Q. Will CAAT then notify OTRFT employees when they are eligible to join?
A. We would like to be able to do this. We are exploring the option, and will review it with you further before a final decision is made.
Q. How will errors or discrepancies be handled?
A. Validations will be built into the system. These validations will include categories of errors some of which will mean the data file is rejected. Other validations will simply generate warnings that would allow the file to be accepted, but possibly require your attention.
Q. If a lot of errors are generated, it can create a lot of work to track down issues that are not really errors (for example, a retro payment of some sort can cause a one-time bump up in the biweekly pay, which could look like an error, but isn’t).
A. We understand this, and it is something we’re working on. Our goal is to make the process as simple and useful as possible.
Q. When will we start testing?
A. We don’t have solid dates yet as to when we’ll be ready for you to test the system, but we should have a firm idea in August.
Q. Concurrent employees will have different employee numbers for each employer. How are you going to know who is concurrent?
A. The system is “member-centric” meaning all data pertaining to a member is part of that member’s file and accessible by both employers. We will use SIN as a secondary identifier, and the system will be able to reconcile member records that way, regardless of your employee identifier.
Q. Will employers be able to see member data from other employers?
A. We’re reviewing the privacy issues around that and will report more later. Clearly, we won’t be including earnings, but we are reviewing what we could or should include.
Q. Will CAAT Collect employee addresses?
A. Yes
Q. Will part time employees be submitted as part of the same file as members?
A. That’s our intent, but we’ll work with employers for unique situations. It can be all in one file or separate.
Q. Will multiple uploads of files be required?
A. We’re trying to simplify the process as much as possible, but each employer will have their own schedule.
Q. Will employers be able to get an extract of data to confirm and reconcile?
A. That is our intention. We’re looking into the details of this.
Q. Will the data transfer be via the web or some other method?
A: Ultimately the data transfer will be web-based, but in the interim (2012) it could be ftp or some other method.
Q. Will we be able to send Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 info in the same file?
A. Each employer will have to map the pensionable earnings to the appropriate pensionable earnings fields in the file layout, but one file should be sufficient.
Q. Will your tech people be available to talk to our tech people?
A. Yes.
Q. What about the costs to the employers of making this change?
A. We are open to suggestions to finding ways to minimize the impact on the colleges while still meeting the required data needs to properly administer the pension plan. Although there may be some initial start up investment in time and cost to create the file formats we require, we anticipate that ultimately the cost will be less over time as there will be fewer resources and time required to keep the data up to date.
New questions added June 10
Q. What is the new system like? Is it like the current DCT process?
The purpose of Active Payroll is to transmit member data between employers and CAAT Pension Plan. However, with Active Payroll, employers will transmit the data to CAAT Pension Plan each time the employer payroll is run. The data will consist of the employee’s demographic, payroll and employment status information.
The new process is designed to take considerably less effort than the annual DCT Process.
Active Payroll Reporting is a component of the new pension administration system that we will be implementing at the CAAT Pension Plan. We are currently working with our pension system vendor to finalize the requirements. As part of the process, the CAAT Pension Plan is currently working with an Advisory Panel made up of 10 employer representatives that provide feedback about the file requirements and process at an early stage.
During the summer we will be sending you the file layout so that you and your colleagues can determine how your systems will generate the Active Payroll Report.
Q. Will the new tool be similar to the DCT? Will we be able to upload data at different times during the month?
The new tool is not similar to the DCT. Employers will upload their data on a payroll basis. Based on the research conducted earlier this year, we expect that each employer will have different payroll cycles for different groups (e.g. full-time and part-time members) and we expect to receive more than one payroll file during the course of a month.
Q. Will any additional data requirements be added compared to the existing DCT process?
Yes, there will be additional data requirements. During the summer we will be sending you the file layout that will outline the requirements.
Q. Will our payroll schedule be required to change as we currently pay bi-weekly?
Your payroll schedule will not have to change. Our system will be able to accommodate the receipt of data based on your schedule. When you submit the data, we will also collect the start and end dates of the payroll cycle so that we can deal with periods that span more than one month or cross over a calendar year.
Q. We currently use paydates for reporting and remitting contributions – are we going to change that to “actual days worked in a month” reporting?
You will be able to continue to use paydates for reporting and remitting contributions. The contribution remittance will be based on the paydates in the month.
Q. How will we report service?
Employers will submit payroll data such as pensionable earnings, annual salary rate, hours worked and full-time equivalent hours which will provide our system with the data needed to calculate service. The system will calculate the service based on the payroll information provided.
Q. How will adjustments be handled?
Adjustments will be included in the subsequent payroll file.
Q. How will LTD, WSIB and mat/parental notices be handled?
Employers will report employment status changes through Active Payroll Reporting. We will have a better understanding of the impact to notices once we have finalized requirements with our new system vendor.
Q. How will OTRFT be handled?
Since you will be reporting the payroll information based on your current pay cycle, you will also report for OTRFT members. With payroll information such as hours and full-time equivalent hours, our system will be able to calculate the pensionable service. There will no longer be a need for a year end effort to calculate pensionable service. The Pension Adjustment will still be collected at year-end.
Previous questions
Q. What is "Payroll Based Reporting"?
Rather than reporting member data via one major annual data update (the DCT process), data will be reported throughout the year using payroll data.
Q. What are the upcoming contribution changes?
The change from a 3-tier to a 2-tier contribution rate will simplify the Plan, making it easier to explain and less costly to administer.
The change to an annualized contribution calculation from the current “step-rate” method will simplify administration and minimize under- and over-payments especially for concurrent members and intergroup transfers.