One of the most important tasks you’ll perform as the administrator of your organization’s LAGERS retirement plan is correctly classifying employees. Every LAGERS member is placed into one of four departments: General, Police, Fire, or Public Safety. Getting this right from the start matters, as it ensures employees receive the benefits they are entitled to and are able to retire at the correct age.
General Department
When your organization joined LAGERS, it selected which departments would be covered. Every employer must cover a General Department at a minimum, and for most organizations, the majority of employees fall here. The General Department includes anyone working at or above the annual hours required for coverage who is not a police officer, firefighter, or elected to be covered as public safety personnel. Civilian employees who work in a police or fire department, such as administrative staff, are also considered general employees for LAGERS purposes.
Police and Fire Departments
Some employers choose to extend coverage to include a Police Department. Employees classified in this group must be POST-certified officers of the police department who meet the annual hours requirement. Civilian staff, even if they work alongside officers, remain general employees under LAGERS.
Employers may also establish a Fire Department for employees whose primary role is fighting fires and who meet the hours requirement. Again, civilian staff working within the fire department do not qualify for the Fire Department classification and are reported in the General Department instead.
Please do not enroll police officers or firefighters in your General Department. If your employer does not currently cover your police or fire department, you may, by vote of your governing body, add these departments at any time. Please contact the LAGERS office if you are interested in adding additional LAGERS-covered departments.
Public Safety Department
LAGERS also offers an optional Public Safety Department. This allows employers to extend age 55 retirement eligibility to EMS personnel, jailors, and emergency telecommunicator first responders who would otherwise be classified as general employees. To qualify, the employee’s job must require them to regularly perform one of these duties. Supervisors or trainers responsible for these employees may also be considered public safety personnel.
It’s important to note that the public safety option does not apply automatically. Each employer must formally elect this coverage. Once elected, the coverage applies retroactively, which means employees immediately become eligible for unreduced retirement benefits at age 55 for all of their service with that employer. If an employee works for multiple LAGERS employers, their benefits are determined separately under the rules elected by each employer. If your organization has not made this selection, public safety employees remain classified as general employees and will have a normal retirement age of 60.
Normal and Early Retirement Ages
One of the reasons it’s important to classify employees accurately is that retirement ages vary by department. General employees are eligible for a full, unreduced benefit at age 60, while police officers and firefighters may retire with full benefits at age 55. Public safety personnel may also retire at 55 if their employer has elected that coverage. Employees who choose to retire early may do so beginning at age 55 for general or 50 for police, fire, and public safety, but their benefit will be reduced by one-half percent for each month early they retire.
Accurate classification ensures that employees receive the benefits they’ve earned and prevents delays or miscalculations in retirement eligibility. Misclassifying an employee could have lasting consequences, both for the organization and for the individual’s retirement security.
If you discover that an employee has been reported under the wrong department, or if you are ever uncertain about how to classify a position, contact your employer services specialist. They can help you correct errors and guide you through the classification process to ensure your reporting remains accurate.
For more information, download the Administrative Handbook from molagers.org or email [email protected].
