Current through Vol. 41, No. 13, March 15, 2024
(a) Pursuant to 74
O.S. §
932, a
retired, vested or active member's name, age, amount of contributions paid in,
benefits being paid, amount of credited service and documents verifying
credited service or benefits may be released. All other information in a
member's retirement file remains confidential, including information or
documents pertaining to joint annuitants or beneficiaries.
(b) The System will only disclose information
or records that are clearly required to be disclosed under the law. All
requests for information must be in writing and state the specific information
requested and the purpose for the request. The request must also specify the
plan that it applies to. Requests which do not specify the plan name shall be
presumed to apply to OPERS only. In addition, the request must provide
sufficient information to easily identify the member. While a Social Security
number may not be required, the date of birth, agency number, first and middle
initial or other identifying information must be provided. Search and copy fees
will be in accordance with OPERS adopted and published fee schedule.
(c) Information which does not currently
exist does not have to be "created" nor does information have to be provided in
a format or medium that does not currently exist.
(d) In order to comply with this provision,
the following information may be supplied upon request:
(1) Member's name - OPERS, URSJJ and
SoonerSave computer records maintain only first and middle initials, and not
the full name.
(2) Member's age -
In order to protect our members from potential identity theft, only the current
age of the member expressed in whole years shall be provided in response to a
general request for the age of a member.
(3) Amount of contributions paid in -
Contribution statements will show only employee contributions into OPERS and
URSJJ. Employer contributions for individual employees are not complete. In
response to a general request for a member's "contributions", only the employee
contributions will be provided. If a specific request for employer
contributions is made, we will provide a copy of the incomplete record with an
explanation of the time period covered. For the SoonerSave accounts, the
deferral amounts into the 457 Plan are not "contributions" and will not be
disclosed. The employer contributions and the transfer of contributions to the
Savings Incentive Plan will be provided if specifically requested, however, the
amount of interest or earnings will not be released as it is not a
"contribution". All account balances for the SoonerSave plans which reflect
investment earnings will not be released.
(4) Benefits being paid - This information is
available only for retired members of OPERS and URSJJ who are currently
receiving benefits. SoonerSave does not pay "benefits", therefore, payments
from the plan including any distribution amounts, hardship distributions or
distribution schedules will not be released.
(5) Amount of credited service - This
information may not be available for OPERS or URSJJ members who are active and
have never had a benefit estimate completed. Therefore, general requests for
credited service will be provided on retired or vested members only, and
specific requests for credited service for active members will be provided only
if the information exists in the file. Credited service is not relevant to or
contained in the SoonerSave plans' records and cannot be provided.
(6) Any documents verifying credited service
or benefits - This information will be provided only if specifically requested
for OPERS and URSJJ. The decision whether a document is used to verify credited
service or benefits is discretionary and any release of these documents will be
approved by the Executive Director on a case-by-case basis. The documents must
have all confidential information redacted prior to being released. SoonerSave
accounts do not contain information on either credited service or benefits,
therefore, documents will not be released from the SoonerSave files.
(e) Information that is released
must always have all Social Security numbers, home addresses and all telephone,
pager or cell phone numbers redacted from any records or documents released,
pursuant to 74 O.S. §
840-2.11.
This will be done by removing or covering the confidential information to
ensure that the information cannot be seen from either side of the
page.
(f) Certain information
contained in a member's file will remain confidential and will not be released
without the member's permission. Examples of such information are:
(1) Change of address records
(2) Insurance information or
documents
(3) Any health care
information
(4) Any educational
records
(5) Tax records
(6) Payroll deductions and
withholdings
(7) Medical documents
of any kind
(8) Copies of driver's
license
(9) Social Security numbers
or copies of cards
(10) Copies of
birth certificates, death certificates or baptism documents
(11) Copies of military records
(12) Any bank account or banking
information
(13) Copies of
passports or other forms of identification
(14) Any unemployment information
(15) Any worker's compensation
information
(g) This
rule is applicable to any plan or account managed or administered by the
Board.
Added at 22 Ok Reg 126,
eff 10-6-04 (emergency); Added at 22 Ok Reg 1354, eff 5-26-05; Amended at 24 Ok
Reg 1135, eff 5-11-07