This is not legally possible. You might not do full-time employees though. For MPERS's purposes, full-time means mean employment on a permanent, regularly scheduled basis for at least an average of thirty hours per week.
FAQs
Category: Affidavit Municipalities
What if "we don't do MPERS?"
Which municipalities' employees have the ability to opt-out of MPERS via affidavit?
EVERY employer MUST enroll their eligible employees in MPERS. However, the following municipalities' employees are able to opt out via affidavit, but only AFTER they are enrolled in MPERS. If your specific municipality is not listed on here, then your MPERS-eligible employees cannot opt out of MPERS. The employers on the following list must contribute to both MPERS and Social Security.
- ALBANY
- AMITE CITY
- ANGIE
- ARCADIA
- ASHLAND
- BALDWIN
- BASILE
- BENTON
- BERNICE
- BONITA
- BOYCE
- BREAUX BRIDGE
- BROUSSARD
- BRUSLY
- CAMPTI
- CARENCRO
- CASTOR
- CHATHAM
- CHENEYVILLE
- CHURCH POINT
- CLARENCE
- CLAYTON
- CLINTON
- COLFAX
- COLUMBIA
- COTTONPORT
- CULLEN
- DELCAMBRE
- DELHI
- DELTA
- DENHAM SPRINGS
- DIXIE INN
- DONALDSONVILLE
- DUBACH
- DUSON
- ELIZABETH
- ELTON
- EPPS
- ERATH
- ESTHERWOOD
- FARMERSVILLE
- FENTON
- FERRIDAY
- FRANKLIN
- FRANKLINTON
- GEORGETOWN
- GIBSLAND
- GLENMORA
- GOLDEN MEADOW
- GRAMBLING
- GRAND COTEAU
- GRAND ISLE
- GRAYSON
- GREENSBURG
- GUEYDAN
- HARAHAN
- HARRISONBURG
- HENDERSON
- HESSMER
- HODGE
- IOTA
- IOWA
- JONESVILLE
- JUNCTION CITY
- KAPLAN
- KENTWOOD
- KINDER
- KROTZ SPRINGS
- LAKE ARTHUR
- LAKE PROVIDENCE
- LECOMPTE
- LEESVILLE
- LIVINGSTON
- LOGANSPORT
- LOREAUVILLE
- LUTCHER
- MADISONVILLE
- MAMOU
- MANDEVILLE
- MANGHAM
- MANY
- MARION
- MARKSVILLE
- MELVILLE
- MER ROUGE
- MERRYVILLE
- MONTGOMERY
- MOREAUVILLE
- MORGANZA
- NAPOLEONVILLE
- NEW LLANO
- NORTH HODGE
- NORWOOD
- OAK GROVE
- OBERLIN
- OLLA
- PALMETTO
- PARKS
- PATTERSON
- PEARL RIVER
- PINE PRAIRIE
- PIONEER
- PLAIN DEALING
- PLAUCHEVILLE
- PLEASANT HILL
- PONCHATOULA
- PORT BARRE
- ROBELINE
- ROSEPINE
- SALINE
- SCOTT
- SIBLEY
- SIMMESPORT
- SIMSBORO
- SLAUGHTER
- SPRINGHILL
- ST. FRANCISVILLE
- ST. JOSEPH
- ST. MARTINVILLE
- STERLINGTON
- SUNSET
- TANGIPAHOA
- TULLOS
- URANIA
- VIDALIA
- VIVIAN
- WALKER
- WASHINGTON
- WATERPROOF
- WELSH
- WHITE CASTLE
- WINNSBORO
- WISNER
- YOUNGSVILLE
- ZWOLLE
Do employees hired by employers who fall under R.S. 11:157 have to opt in to MPERS?
The short answer is no, and you must enroll them on their date of hire. Under R.S. 11:2214(A)(1) any person who becomes an employee as defined in R.S. 11:2213 on and after September 9, 1977 “shall become a member as a condition of his employment.”
To comply with the mandatory enrollment provisions of R.S. 11:157(A), regulations require that an employer must enroll each employee in MPERS on the first day the employee qualifies for membership. The employer shall remit to MPERS the required employee and employer contributions no later than the fifteenth day of the month following the first day the employee qualifies for membership. If the employee subsequently submits an affidavit under R.S. 11:157(C) before the end of the first calendar month during which the employee qualified for MPERS membership, a prorated amount of employer contributions shall be refunded to the employer.
Should I execute and file an R.S. 11:157 affidavit?
In our opinion, absolutely not. It's not a required form, and you'd be waiving your rights to valuable benefits. Your employer will do everything that it can to talk you into executing and filing it, but it's not in your best interest (it just saves them money). And doing so may prevent you from joining MPERS if you become employed by a different employer.
What happens if I don't enroll my municipality's police employees?
Failure to enroll eligible employees in MPERS means that neither employer nor employee contributions were paid to MPERS. In this situation, the employee must be enrolled, and R.S. 11:2227(J)(1), which provides the following, applies:
J.(1) If any employer fails to transmit either employer's contributions or member's contributions within five days after their due date, the payment shall be delinquent. As used in this Subsection, "due date" means the close of the tenth day after the end of the month for which payment of employer's and member's contributions is applicable or deducted. In addition to the employer and member contributions owed, the employer shall submit an amount determined in accordance with Paragraph (2) of this Subsection.
(2)(a) Interest charged at the legal rate shall be due from the date the payment became delinquent.
(b) Any employer who becomes delinquent for a period in excess of ninety days in the collection and remittance of the amounts due as monthly contributions is also subject to a penalty of twenty-five percent of the aggregate monthly contributions due.
(c) Any employer who becomes delinquent for a period in excess of one hundred and eighty days in the collection and remittance of the amounts due as monthly contributions is liable for the greater of the amounts in Subparagraphs (a) and (b) of this Paragraph and an amount equal to the actuarial cost of a purchase of the service credit for which contributions were not timely paid calculated by the system's actuary pursuant to R.S. 11:158(C).
(d) The employer that failed to transmit the required contributions in a timely manner shall also reimburse the system any legal and actuarial fees paid by the system in the collection of amounts pursuant to this Paragraph.
Once enrolled and all applicable payments have been received, the employee can then choose to opt-out by filing an affidavit. He will then receive a refund for the principal amount of the employee contributions.
How will MPERS determine if we have failed to enroll eligible employees?
Via state supplemental pay reports, public records requests, etc. However, the proper course is for employers to follow the law. We absolutely understand that sometimes mistakes happen. That said, those mistakes will result in costs.