Policy 607 - Retirement Plans

Section: Benefits
Policy Number: 607
Responsible Office: HR/Benefits
Clarified: 10/1/02
Revised: 5/1/05; 5/12/15; 7/1/20; 1/1/22

Scope

Administrators and staff hired prior to July 1, 2010 who work 1,000 hours or more in an employment anniversary year are eligible to participate in a University-sponsored retirement plan. (Employees hired on or after July 1, 2010, refer to applicable policy #607-A.)

Summary

Eligible employees can tax-defer salary dollars into one of two retirement contracts: TIAA/CREF and Fidelity Investments. Upon completion of one year of qualifying employment with the University and attainment of age 26, employees are eligible to receive a University contribution to their retirement account of eight percent (8%) of their base salary. Employees who have at least one year of prior employment at an accredited college or university are eligible for the University’s contribution upon receipt by the Employee Benefits Office of a letter from the prior institution indicating dates of employment and full-time employment status. Employees must contribute a minimum of five percent (5%) of their base salary to one of the retirement plans offered in order to receive the University’s contribution.

No University plan contributions will be made based on any participant plan contributions allocated to the TIAA-CREF Supplemental Retirement Annuity.

Employees are fully vested in all contributions. Information packets, summary plan descriptions, and enrollment applications are available from the Employee Benefits office or online.

When an employee leaves the University, he or she has several options:

  1. Leave the retirement accumulation in the current retirement account. The University does not contribute to the account after separation from employment; however, the employee’s accumulation will continue to earn any interest and/or dividends declared.
  2. Rollover the balance of the retirement account into another qualified plan or individual IRA.
  3. Make a cash withdrawal of the balance in the account. Early cash withdrawals are subject to certain taxes and penalties. Employees should contact the Employee Benefits Office for specific information.

For information and guidance on the federal rules that govern retirement and distributions with respect to retirement plans, employees are directed to contact the Employee Benefits Office at extension 2363. If anything stated in this policy differs from the information contained in the plan documents, then the plan documents supersede this policy.

St. John's University, New York
Human Resources Policy Manual