9.1 Steps to Help a Member Retire

The following resources are available to members to help them make decisions about their retirement.

Step 1 – Retiring in Three to Five Years
The decisions members make at retirement can impact the amount of their HOOPP pension. For that reason, it is important that members are aware of all their options in advance.

To help members make informed retirement decisions, give members who are within three to five years of retirement (i.e. members aged 50 or over), a copy of the HOOPP retirement booklet, Retirement Planning or refer them to hoopp.com to get a copy. The booklet will help members understand some key factors about their pension including: survivor options; choosing a retirement date; early retirement; and the retirement process. The booklet also includes an early retirement table that shows members how their age and number of years of eligibility service can affect their pension. The early retirement table can be found in the When You Can Retire section of the booklet and on hoopp.com.

The booklet also provides detailed information designed to help members through the many decisions and timelines they will face as their retirement date approaches.

Step 2 – Member Meetings
You should contact your Regional Manager to find out about upcoming pre-retirement presentations that your members can attend, or to schedule one on-site or by webcast. For one-on-one member meetings,
members can contact HOOPP directly to setup an appointment with one of our Member Advisors.

Step 3 – Pension Estimates
HOOPP offers pension estimates for members available through the Pension Estimator on HOOPP Connect or by calling Member Services directly. The estimate provides a projection of how much pension
the member will receive at specified future retirement date(s) based on certain assumptions.

Step 4 – Retirement Notice
Submit a Retirement Notice event through HOOPP Insight to inform HOOPP of a member’s intention to retire.

The Retirement Notice can be processed as early as 120 days before the member's retirement date. HOOPP will contact members directly to advise them of their pension options. HOOPP may also ask for additional information from the member to validate the member’s marital status and their spouse’s proof of age, if applicable. Applicable qualifying spouse documents, and a direct deposit form or void cheque must be received before pension payments can begin.

A member's pension will start on the first day of the month following the retirement date selected on the Retirement Notice. For example, if a member elects to retire on May 31, 2020 and has provided HOOPP with all the required forms and any additional documents requested, they will receive their first pension payment on June 1, 2020.

Severance packages and termination notice periods may affect a member‘s retirement date. For more information about termination and severance packages please refer to Contributions on Termination Payments in section 4.7 Contributions in Other Situations (Click Here).

We caution employers against engaging in re-employment arrangements with HOOPP members for the primary purpose of enabling employees to access their HOOPP benefit. For more information refer to section 8.2 Termination of Employment for Access to Benefits (Click Here).

Step 5 – Retirement Final Data
When submitting Retirement Final Data information for retiring members, use the appropriate reporting method in HOOPP Insight. This information may be reported by initiating a Retirement Final Data event or submitting an Events Final Data data collection.
The purpose of submitting the Retirement Final Data to HOOPP is to provide the following information:

• Employment End Date

• Final weeks and contributions

• Pension Adjustment

• Annualized earnings (if member completed a contribution waiver prior to January 2013)

• Leaves of absence (if applicable)

• Contributory leaves (if applicable)

• Retroactive contributions (Important! Retro contributions should be provided to HOOPP through the Remittance process before you submit the final data)

Retirement Final Data information is required to be submitted immediately after the member's final payroll information is available so that HOOPP can calculate the member’s pension entitlement.

For most HOOPP members, final weeks and contributions information cannot be determined until the member has completed their last day at work and final payroll information is available. This should not, however, delay you from initiating the Retirement Notice through HOOPP Insight.

When providing contributions data for a member who has received a retroactive pay settlement for a previous year, HOOPP contributions for each of the years relating to the settlement must be reported separately from regular contributions. Retroactive pay is considered to be an adjustment to earnings for a prior calendar year. Any adjustment to the current year is not considered to be retro for the purposes of calculating the contributions and should be reflected in the current year's contributions.

When completing the information for leaves and temporary periods of reduced earnings/approved work schedule reduction in the current year, please keep the following in mind:

• Deemed earnings represent the difference between what the member would have earned if the member worked as scheduled during the leave/period, and their actual earnings during the leave period

• If the employee works part-time, base the deemed earnings on the average weekly earnings received by the member during the 10 week period prior to the leave

For more information about leaves and temporary periods of reduced earnings/approved work schedule reduction, please see Temporary Periods of Reduced Earnings in section 4.7 Contributions in Other Situations (Click Here).

Reporting a Retirement Where the Last Pay is Received in the Following Calendar Year

Where an active member elects to retire near the end of calendar year, it is possible that a portion of their regular earnings for that year may be included in the first payroll period for the following year. For example, a member retires December 31, 2019 and a portion of their contributory earnings for late December is received in 2020, as part of the first payroll cycle for that year.

Even though the member’s T4 earnings are based on when the pay is received by the member, it is appropriate in this unique situation to determine the HOOPP contributions with reference to the member’s contributory service in 2019, including the portion of such earnings payable in 2020. This may require you to adjust the final-pay contributions remitted to HOOPP for 2019 and to submit this information with the Retirement Final Data. HOOPP cannot receive any contributions for a period after the member’s retirement date.

Once this information is received, HOOPP will adjust the record for the member accordingly. For information pertaining to reporting retroactive payments for a retired member please refer to section 4.5 Retroactive Pay (Retro) (Click Here) for details.

Checking Calculations

Before submitting the final retirement data and any information about contributions on retroactive settlements, you should check your calculations to ensure they are reasonable. The following formula will give you an idea of the accuracy of the member's annualized earnings for their last year or two on the job. This formula should also be used if you are providing annualized earnings for an inactive member.

Step 6 – Once a Retirement Notice is submitted to HOOPP

Once HOOPP receives the Retirement Notice, the member will receive a benefits package outlining their options

Cancelling a Retirement Application

If a member changes their decision to retire and wishes to cancel their application, they can only do so before their pension payments begin. If the employee does not want to immediately start their pension, please submit a Termination event. Changes or adjustments to a retirement date must be reported to HOOPP by the employer not the member. Please contact HOOPP if a previously reported retirement date should be revised.