Your new employee is taking in a lot of information about your organization, their compensation, their benefits, and how they fit into their new workplace. Onboarding them to their pension benefits is an integral part of their experience with your organization and with CSS.   

HR Management Tip: Ensure your waiting periods and contribution rates align with your organization’s HR strategy. When these provisions align with your organizational needs, it will be easier to communicate the related benefits, obligations and responsibilities.  

Ideas to support your onboarding efforts 

In your new full-time employee’s offer letter, you may want to clearly articulate that being a member of the CSS Pension Plan is a condition of their employment. This will help to ensure that your employee understands when and why they will be joining CSS Pension Plan, and perhaps will offer an opportunity to discuss the benefits. 

Share information that matters at this point in your employee’s journey. This includes: 

• The New Member Kit (third tab on this webpage) - Members - Joining the plan, 
• Information sheet: How to get the most of your CSS membership 
• Information sheet: Your Pension Your Plan 

Encourage your new hire to visit our website (www.csspension.com) and contact our office. 

Additional information 

You will find valuable information on the Employer FAQ webpage about the onboarding process. Go to this webpage Employer FAQ and review the following questions: 

• What is the waiting period before an employee can join the Plan? 
• How can employees access their account information online? 

The Employer Administration Procedures Manual sets out the administrative details that might be of value to you as you take care of onboarding your new employee to the Plan (see Section 2 of the Manual). Section 2.2.6 provides information on continuous service, as CSS Pension Plan is a multi-employer pension plan, when determining employee's eligibility service with other CSS employer members must be considered. 

In some cases, employees move on to other careers or life transitions. This part of their journey can be smooth or bumpy. Empathy, efficiency and accuracy may be the super-tools you need to support your employees during this time. 

Ideas to support your offboarding efforts 

In your employee’s end-of-employment letter, you may want to outline the impact on their pension benefits clearly. As a terminating member, your employee will remain a member of the CSS Pension Plan, unless they decide to transfer their funds out of the Plan to their credit union or financial institution. To transfer funds out or to begin a retirement income, CSS must receive the “employee termination notice (ETN)” from your organization and the final contributions.  

Share information that matters at this point in your employee’s journey. This includes: 

• Webpage: Life Events – Leaving your employment 
• Webpage: Life Events – Change your contact information 

Encourage your departing employee to visit our website and contact our office. 

Additional information 

You will find valuable information on the Employer FAQ webpage about the offboarding process. Go to this webpage Employer FAQ and review the following questions: 

• Is an employer required to notify the Plan when an employee terminates employment? 
• Is an employer required to notify the Plan when an employee goes on a leave or transfers to another employer member?

The Employer Administration Procedures Manual sets out the administrative details that might be useful to you as you support your employee’s transition away from your employ (see Section 5 (Termination) of the Manual). 

Your employee and your organization are making contributions to the Plan each pay period. 

Their contribution (e.g., 6%) and your matching contributions are sent to CSS and deposited into your employee’s account. 

HR Management Tip: While research indicates that making contributions to a pension plan has been known to reduce financial stress for employees, there are still moments when you may have to have a careful conversation with an employee who is worried about making contributions to their pension plan (perhaps they are faced with current-day financial challenges). Communicating the value of the pension plan confidently and skillfully, yet showing empathy, may be a valuable skill set during such a conversation. Careful onboarding and regular value-based communications will also support your efforts. This article may assist: Communicating the value of your pension plan to your employees.  

Share information that matters at this point in your employee’s journey.  This includes: 

• Webpage: Members – Contributing to the Plan 

• Webpage: Members – Investment Decisions  

Encourage your employee to visit our website and contact our office. 

Additional information 

You will find valuable information about contributions on the Employer FAQ webpage. Go to this webpage Employer - FAQ and review the following questions:

• Can contributions be stopped? 
• How often do employers have to send in contributions 
• Can employers remit contributions electronically? 
• Can employees make additional voluntary contributions (AVCs)?

The Employer Administration Procedures Manual sets out the administrative details that guide you as your administer contributions to the Plan (see Section 3 (Contributions) of the Manual).