Checklists

The bird’s-eye view to help you understand a process.

e-Form 119 Checklist

Before you begin

• Ensure that you have an e-access account and you log in before January 1

• Run a Membership Data Extract

• Ensure your data maintenance is complete

  • Enrol any members that should have been enrolled but were not (e-Form 102)

  • Report any outstanding normal retirement age or status changes (e-Form 106)

  • Report any outstanding leave periods (e-Form 165a)

  • Report any outstanding disabilities (e-Form 143)

  • Report any outstanding member terminations, retirements, and pre-retirement deaths (e-Form 143)

• Compare contributions remitted to contributions deducted to ensure they balance

January to June

Prepare for your e-Form 119 reporting

• Build your import file using the Import File Builder or create an ASCII file

• Ensure you have all e-Form 119 data

  • Credited service

  • Contributory earnings

  • RPP/RCA contributions

  • Pension adjustments (PAs) (only required if submitted after Feb 28)

• Make sure you’ve included retro-payment details (if applicable)  

Do your e-Form 119 reporting

• Import your data into e-access

  • e-Form 119 

  • Retro (if applicable)

• Submit your data to OMERS

• Resolve exceptions

• Reconcile

  • Ensure all e-Form 119 requests have been submitted or deleted

  • Verify contributions reported vs. remitted

  • Generate Pension Reports

  • Select employer contact information

  • Click the green Reconcile button

  • Call OMERS  Employer Services if you are having trouble with reconciling

Post reconciliation

• Run the Membership Data Extract to obtain PAs (if before Feb 28)

• Review the ANR125 – Form 119 RPP and RCA Reconciliation Report

  • Short remit on the next monthly remittance to recoup a credit balance (if applicable)

  • Remit funds on the next monthly remittance to pay balance owing (if applicable)

We're here to help!

Contact OMERS Employer Services if you need help with any of the steps.

Employer Disability Quick Reference

PART I - Disability benefits eligibility

Who is eligible for disability benefits?

• An employee on leave who is considered to be fully prevented from performing their job due to a mental or physical incapacity for a period of at least four months may be entitled to a disability waiver of contributions or disability pension.

• The member may continue to qualify if they are on an approved rehabilitative work program during the four months.

What is the disability benefits criteria?

The member must meet the definition of totally disabled:

• During the first 24 months of disability, a member is considered to be totally disabled if wholly prevented by mental or physical incapacity from performing the regular duties of the occupation in which the member was engaged immediately prior to the disability (i.e., their own job).

• After the first 24 months of disability, a member is considered to be totally disabled if wholly prevented by mental or physical incapacity from engaging in any occupation or perofmring any work for compensation or profit for which the member is or may become reasonably qualified by education, training or experience (i.e., any job).

Disability pension

The member must meet the definition of totally and permanently disabled, which means that a member suffers a physical or mental impairment which prevents them from engaging in any occupation or performing any work for compensation or profit for which the member is, or may reasonably become, qualified by education, training or experience, and which can be expected to last the rest of the member's lifetime.

In either case, the disability of the member cannot have resulted from willful self-inflicted injury, committing (or attempting to commit) an offence under the Criminal Code (Canada), or the engagement by the member in an unlawful occupation.

Elimination period

• The period of time from the date of disability to the first day of the fifth month following the month in which the disability occurred.

• It is your responsibility to determine if this period of time that the member is absent is due to illness or injury.

• Following the elimination period, a member may qualify for a disability waiver of contributions or a disability pension.

PART II - Disability elimination period administration

During the disability elimination period

If the member receives 100% sick pay

Normal contributions can continue to be deducted until the 100% sick/disability pay ends or until the day 100% contributions stop. However, you must submit a completed Request for an OMERS plan benefit e-form 143 to OMERS when the member is absent beyond the first day of the fifth month.

If the member receives LESS THAN 100% sick pay

Two options are available to the employer:

• Cease contributions

  • Submit a completed Disability Leave period e-form 165 to provide the member with the option to purchase the period (at a single contribution rate).

• Continue regular contributions as if the member was receiving 100% regular pay

  • Be consistent in your approach for all or each class of members.

  • Example: for members receiving 85% of pay, contributions continue as though pay received was 100% of regular pay.

If a member returns to work or a permanent accommodation is made, the elimination period ends and regular contributions begin.

Purchasing the disability elimination period

If the member elects NOT to purchase this period

1. Submit a completed Disability elimination period e-form 165.

2. OMERS will set up the period as broken service on the member’s record.

If the member elects to purchase this period

1. Submit a completed Disability elimination period e-form 165.

2. Submit payment to OMERS using the e-form 105.

3. OMERS will update the member record to reflect the broken service purchase.

Key dates

February 28: Deadline for employer to remit previous year’s elimination period funds to OMERS.
December 31 (of the year the disability occurs): Deadline for member to elect to purchase the disability elimination period.

PART III - Disability benefit administration

Step 1: Initiating the disability process

Requesting the disability benefit

On the first day of the fifth month following the member’s date of disability, submit a completed Request for an OMERS plan benefit e-form 143 to OMERS.

Tips for completing the Request for an OMERS plan benefit e-form 143

Important dates to remember

1. Date the member last worked 100% full-time duties.

2. Date the member last paid contributions on full earnings.

3. Deadline for submitting the Disability elimination period e-form 164 is December 31 of that same calendar year.

If the member elects to purchase their elimination period after the Request for an OMERS plan benefit e-form 143 has been submitted, then:

1. Revise the date the member last paid contributions on full earnings.

2. Send an e-Correspondence with revised financial information via e-access.

Annual salary rate

• Annual rate of contributory earnings at the date that contributions based on 100% of pre-leave earnings stop are used to determine the deemed waiver earnings.

• OMERS will calculate deemed waiver earnings during the disability waiver period.

Forother-than-continuous full-timeTooltip(OTCFT) members

• The annual salary rate is required, not the annualized salary rate.

• Populate the % of time worked for OTCFT members in comparison to a CFT equivalent (e.g., an OTCFT member working a 25-hour week works 62.5% of the time when compared to a CFT member working a 40-hour week).

Step 2: Managing the disability process

Disability review process

1. OMERS receives your completed and signed Request for an OMERS Plan benefit e-form 143 and sends the member a disability package which includes the member's election to proceed with the disability benefit application and a request for medical information.

2. The member returns the election form and medical information.

3. The OMERS medical advisor conducts an initial review to determine the member’s eligibility for disability benefits.

4. OMERS conducts a medical review every 12 months.

5. If the member is deemed permanently disabled, OMERS requires the member to verify that they remain totally disabled every 24 months.

Note: If a member does not comply with OMERS request for information, their disability benefit may be placed on hold. Broken service may result.

Effective July 1, 2018, OMERS is not responsible for any costs associated with the requirements to provide medical documents.

Rehabilitative work

What is it?

Rehabilitative work is usually the transitional period between a member’s total disability status and a return to work or to a new permanent occupation (either full-time or part-time and regardless of pay scale).

OMERS rehabilitative work may include any one of the following:

• a different occupation or a training program, with or without reduced hours, to train for a new occupation

• a different occupation, with or without reduced hours, as a transition to resuming own occupation, with the goal to resume own occupation

• own occupation with reduced hours, as a transition to resuming own occupation, with the goal to resume own occupation

• own occupation with modification to duties, as a transition to resuming own occupation, with the goal to resume own occupation

Occurs after an OMERS disability waiver begins

For members returning to rehabilitative work, submit a completed Notice of rehabilitative work - Employer Certification (152) form to OMERS.

The nature of the rehabilitative work program is an agreement between you and the member. OMERS focus is to ensure that members provide medical documentation to support the need for rehabilitative work.

Note: The duration of rehabilitative work programs should last weeks or months but not years.

If OMERS does not support the rehabilitative work:

• the disability waiver of contributions stops from the return-to-work date;

• retroactive contributions from the return-to-work date or from the date the approval ceased must be deducted and remitted;

• the contributory earnings received during this period must be included in the pension adjustment (PA) for the year and must be reported on the Annual reporting of membership information (119) e-form.

Step 3: Ending the disability waiver

Reasons for ending the waiver

A disability waiver may end when the member:

• returns to regular work duties or a new permanent work accommodation;

• participates in a rehabilitative work program beyond the expected end date reported by the employer or the date the employer can no longer certify further progress;

• meets the requirements for and elects a disability pension;

• elects to retire early (this option is available only if the member has terminated employment);

• transfers benefits from the OMERS Plan (please note that this only applies if the member has not reached eligibility for early retirement at the time of their termination of employment with your OMERS employer);

• reaches their normal retirement date; or

• dies.

Required form(s)

Submit a completed Employment change/benefit request (158) form for any of the reasons ending the disability waiver.

If a member’s permanent accommodation results in a change in status, submit a completed Changing member information (106) e-form.

If a member on disability waiver elects anearly retirementTooltipor requests termination options, the member submits a completed Forfeiting rights to disability benefits (148) form to OMERS.

Note: An Employment change/benefit request (158) form is required when a member terminates employment, however this does not end their disability waiver.

Employer and member form summary

Glossary