ARCHIVED SACCO 2010-001

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February 11, 2010

SUBJECT : Government of Canada Pension Modernization Project (GCPMP) - Release 2.0 (Contributors)

1. PURPOSE

1.1. The purpose of this special advice is to provide Crown corporations and territorial governments with general information regarding the new pension systems that will be implemented with the GCPMP Release 2.0 and the changes these new systems will have on the current business processes.

These changes will come into effect in the fall of 2010.

Subsequent special advices to Crown corporations and territorial governments on business and technical procedures will be issued in the near future.

2. BACKGROUND

2.1. The GCPMP was established to develop and implement the business transformation and Information Technology solutions for the renewal of the Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) pension systems and services. This Project will provide a modern pension administration infrastructure through a phased adoption of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software solutions for both the core pension administration and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). The transition to this software solution will be carried out in parallel with the implementation of a rigorous plan to transform the business organization, functions and processes related to pension administration.

In the fall of 2010, the Project team will implement Release 2.0. This release will provide new core pension administration tools for contributor accounts and will also introduce new Web-based self-service functions. As well, a new Data Capture Tool (DCT) for non Regional Pay System (non-RPS) employers will be implemented for the submission of their Human Resource (HR) and payroll information to PWGSC.

3. DESCRIPTION OF CHANGES

3.1. Main Changes in Release 2.0

3.1.1. The following systems will be decommissioned:

• Contributor System
• Pension Support System and Contributor Verification System
• Crown Process Improvement (CPI) Workbook

With the decommissioning of these systems, Crown corporations will no longer have on-line access to view member pension information.

3.1.2. The following systems will be implemented:

• A new secure Crown Corporation Portal will be introduced. The Portal will provide all Crown corporations and territorial government employers with access to self-service functions such as Secure Messaging and Web Inquiry. There will be on-line access to reference materials such as procedures, bulletins and instructions.
• The new Data Capture Tool (DCT) for non-RPS employers will be accessible through the Portal. The DCT will replace the current CPI Workbook for the submission of Human Resource and payroll information and will streamline the process for submission of information to the new pension system. There will also be improved system edits and business rules to minimize the need to validate salary, service and personal member information.

3.1.1. New Business Processes for Non-RPS Employers

• In addition to the HR/payroll information that is currently provided, additional information will be required to support the automation of business processes in the new pension solution.
• Crown corporations and territorial governments will be required to report HR/payroll information for employees who are not currently plan members regardless of their employment status (e.g. employees appointed for a determinate period of less than six months, casual employees and as required employees).
• HR/payroll data will have to be submitted to the pension system on a monthly basis or can be submitted more frequently depending on the frequency of the Crown corporation's payroll cycles.
• Crown corporations and territorial governments will have to provide contribution details and payments monthly.
• A data integrity process will be implemented to check the integrity of the relationship between contributions, salary and service to ensure that the member's data is accurate and valid.
• The Public Service Pension Centre (PSPC) in Shediac will no longer do input to the pension system on behalf of Crown corporations as they will be responsible for this themselves with the added functionality in the new pension solution.
• Crown corporations and territorial governments will also have direct telephone access to the PSPC's pension experts during operational hours (Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. your local time).

3.2. Implementation and Testing

User Acceptance testing will be conducted during the late spring and fall of 2010. Implementation is scheduled for late fall 2010.

4. CONTENT OF PORTAL FOR EMPLOYERS

4.1. New Crown Corporation Portal

All Crown corporations and territorial governments will access the new secure Crown Corporation Portal via the Internet. To access the Portal, employer representatives of Crown corporations will require a User ID and password, which will be obtained by submitting an application form that will be made available in the near future. Further instructions on accessing the new secure Crown Corporation Portal will be provided in a subsequent Special Advice.

The content of the Crown Corporation Portal will be grouped into three types of information:

1. Policy and Procedures - includes functions and information relevant to the Crown corporations using the Portal. The following is the type of information in this section:
   • Business Procedures
   • What's New
   • Announcements
   • Glossary
   • Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
   • Related Sites
   • Compensation Publications
2. Portal Usage Tools - relates to the Portal itself and includes the following:
   • Feedback
   • Site Map
   • Search Portal
   • Update Email Address
3. Access to New Tools and Pension Experts - contains the various tools and communication functions available to Crown corporations and includes the following:
   Note: The DCT will only be accessible by non-RPS employers with a DCT role.
   
   • DCT for member data entry:
     
     Data Entry (manual and batch);
     
     Self-paced Web-based DCT training presentation; and
     
     DCT User Manual
   • Web Inquiry for initiating a service request at PSPC; and
   • Secure Messaging for receiving the "Monthly Remittance of Superannuation Contributions (Public Service Corporations )" form and for submitting a message to the PSPC containing confidential information.

4.2. Data Capture Tool (DCT) for Member Data Entry:

The purpose of the DCT is to provide Crown corporations and territorial governments that are not serviced by the RPS with an application that allows accurate reporting of HR/payroll data to the new pension system. Crown corporations and territorial governments will be able to view their previous transaction files as the DCT will store this information.

In future releases, members will have Internet access to their pension accounts and they will need complete and current data to obtain accurate pension quotations or past service buy back cost estimates. With the implementation of the DCT, the employer will be required to increase the frequency of submitting the HR/payroll data to at least a monthly basis to support the member self-service as well as pension processing.

4.2.1. Member Data Entry:

Member data entry will be accomplished by one of the following means:

• by importing data from HR/payroll system (batch update), or
• by creating transactions online for an individual member in the DCT.

1. Payroll Import (Batch Update)

   Crown corporations and territorial government users will log onto the DCT and import a batch file (previously exported from their HR/payroll systems) containing data for their members. The DCT will accept files that meet a predetermined format and import the data. This will be accomplished using a template to be provided by the GCPMP at a later date.

   The next step in the process will be to validate the data in the DCT. To perform the data validation, the user will access the DCT facility to execute the first-level validation routine. Errors will be displayed immediately on the screen and the user must then review and correct the errors. The corrections will then be revalidated. The user will have the option of correcting the data immediately or, if this is not possible due to the nature of the error, at another time once the issue has been resolved.

   Only validated data can be submitted for posting to the pension system. Transactions with errors must be corrected and revalidated prior to submitting them for posting to the pension system.

2. Individual Account Update

   In the DCT, Crown employers will be provided with screens to create or modify transactions for individual accounts. Transactions such as a taken on strength (TOS), struck off strength (SOS), leave without pay (LWOP) and status changes will be updated by the employer to the plan member's pension data using this facility. Once the transaction has been entered, the user must perform a validation to initiate the first level edits. Transactions containing errors must be corrected and revalidated prior to submitting for posting to the pension system.

4.2.2. Data Submission

Once the data has been entered and validated for all accounts the user must then submit the information for update to the pension system. Following submission, the pension system will run secondary edits and post all validated data to the individual members' accounts. Data errors from this process will be sent to a pension expert at the PSPC for action and follow-up.

4.3. DCT Template (Interface)

PWGSC is developing a standard template for the import of HR/payroll data in the DCT.

From their workstations, users will have direct interaction with the DCT during the Payroll File transfer into the DCT. Crown Corporations will load or import their payroll files as follows:

1. Select "Posting Utilities".
2. Select "Data Import" - to import the file from the Crown Corporation's computer system.
3. Activate "Data Validation" option - this triggers the first level edits in the DCT, during which errors are flagged.
4. Correct any errors that are flagged.
5. Once errors are corrected, post the file to the new pension system (Penfax).

Crown Corporations and territorial governments will also be able to use the DCT directly to create or update individual employee data.

4.4. Data Requirements

The HR/payroll data that is currently provided will still be required. In addition, the following new information will have to be provided to support the automation of pension processes:

• SOS transactions including termination date and reason,
• member's address and address type,
• province of work on the TOS transaction,
• status changes to amend existing information such as employee type and SOS date in the pay system,
• all LWOP types (pensionable and non-pensionable) on event,
• pension adjustment (PA) values.

It is important to note that service and salary information for all employees will be captured through the DCT, including employees appointed for a determinate period of less than six months, casual employees and as required employees. This data will be used to support employee self-service and for the automation of business processes. Therefore, Crown corporations and territorial governments will have to start reporting HR/payroll data for these employees.

Crown corporations and territorial governments may need to change their HR/payroll systems' program/batch files because of the new data requirements.

4.5. Web Inquiry for Initiating a Service Request

Crown corporations and territorial governments will be able to use a secure Web Inquiry facility to send service requests and inquiries to a pension expert in the PSPC. To assist in sending the inquiry to the appropriate pension expert, the user will be able to select a topic and sub-topic (if available for the topic selected) that best fits the request or comments. The request will be processed within five business days and the Crown user will receive a response in a format appropriate to the request or as specified in the "Comments" section.

4.6. Secure Messaging

This secure facility is also part of the Crown Corporation Portal. This application is intended to be used for exchanges of protected information between Crown corporations or territorial governments and the PSPC.

The main use of the Secure Messaging tool is to send Crown corporations and territorial governments their monthly invoice for pension contributions. It is also available for sending requests or questions to the PSPC that may contain protected information.

Secure messages can be initiated either by a pension expert, a Crown Portal user or by the new Pension System (sending an invoice).

Two mailboxes will be available in Secure Messaging, one for DCT users and another for Accounting users. Non-RPS employers will be given access to both mailboxes. RPS employers will only be given access to the Accounting mailbox. In general, the Crown Corporation may assign different employer representatives for the roles of DCT and Accounting. However, it is possible for an employer representative to have both roles and therefore access to both mailboxes.

4.7. Automated Remittance Calculation Process

The "Monthly Remittance of Superannuation Contributions (Public Service Corporation)" form will be sent electronically on the second working day of each month. The invoice will include the employee and employer share of contributions and will be based on the contributions reported by the employer for the previous month.

The Crown corporations will be required to submit payment of this invoice to the PSPC within five working days of receipt of the invoice.

5. TRAINING

5.1. Training on the new DCT will be available via a self-paced PowerPoint presentation on the Crown Corporation Portal. The training presentation will be similar to a software simulation and will guide the user through the steps of the DCT functionality.

A User Guide will also be available. This guide will be a text-based document outlining the details of the screens, tabs, menu items and functionality.

After implementation, any questions regarding the operation of the DCT or the Portal may be directed to the PSPC Employer Support section.

6. DATA INTEGRITY

6.1. Contribution Variance (Integrity Test)

The pension solution will verify the accuracy of key pension data by comparing salary, service and contributions. The integrity test will use salary and service data to calculate the estimated contributions. The estimated contributions will then be compared to the actual contributions received to determine if the relationship between salary, service and contributions is valid. The PSPC will investigate the cause of any discrepancy identified between the estimated contributions and the actual contributions received. The PSPC may need to contact the Crown Corporation or territorial governments for assistance in correcting any erroneous pension data.

7. INSTRUCTIONS

Please ensure that you provide this information to your employees. Further communications will follow.

8. INQUIRIES

Any requests for information regarding the foregoing should be addressed to:

Judith Ciceri
Government of Canada Pension Modernization Project
1451, Coldrey Ave
Ottawa ON K1A 0S5

Telephone: 613-954-7722

Original Signed by
B. Fortin

Brigitte Fortin
Acting Director General
Compensation Sector
Accounting, Banking and Compensation

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