News from the UUA Retirement Office
Dear Friends at the UUMA, at the UU Retirement Plan, we’re aware of some misunderstandings and confusion about eligibility for the Retirement Plan and employer contributions, so we would like to provide a review of eligibility for UU ministers here.
Employer Contributions: UU Ministers become eligible for employer contributions upon satisfactory completion of your ministerial internship. Or, you might have been eligible before completion of internship if you already satisfied the Year of Eligibility Service (YOES) at a participating employer.
Upon meeting eligibility for employer contributions, you should have started receiving contributions from your participating employer as detailed in their Employer Participation Agreement (EPA). If this did not happen, the employer will need to make these contributions retroactively and may owe lost earnings.
When and if you work for a participating employer, please familiarize yourself with the EPA. As a minister, you may be head of staff and need to ensure that the EPA is administered correctly for yourself and other employees. What the employer has agreed to in the EPA is not a negotiable part of compensation and must be applied the same for all employees, clergy and other staff.
Once you have achieved eligibility for employer contributions, you will always be eligible for the rest of your career with UU employers that participate in the Plan. Once eligible, always eligible. If someone is a W-2 employee, even if it is temporary employment or very part time, they remain eligible and MUST receive the employer contribution as stated in the EPA.
Employee Contributions (Salary Deferral): All W-2 employees aged 18 and older at participating employers are immediately eligible at hire to make their own pre-tax contributions. Some congregations and organizations also offer a matching contribution, which means that in addition to the required employer contribution, the employer will match salary deferrals up to the percent specified on the EPA. In this situation, you would need to make your own contributions from your wages to take advantage of the total possible employer contribution.
Please contact us with any questions!
UU Retirement Plan Team at the UUA:
Richard Nugent, Church Staff Finances Director, Gloria Guldager, Retirement Plan Director, (617) 948-4265, Jackie Toone, Employer Liaison (works with participating employers), (617) 948-4655, Anna Gehres, Retirement Plan Specialist (works with participants in the Plan), (617) 948-6421 retirementplan@uua.org