MEMORANDUM                                                                                          

TO:                 All RCUH Employees (who are State or County Retirees receiving ERS pension benefits)

                        Principal Investigators & Project Administrators

FROM:            Nelson Sakamoto

                        Director of Human Resources

SUBJECT:     Act 179 – No Action Needed on or before January 1, 2011 – Further Guidance to Follow

We have been in communications with the Employees’ Retirement System (ERS) regarding the impact of Act 179 on current RCUH employees who are also retirants of the State Employee’s Retirement System (ERS).  At our request, the ERS will provide the affected employees of the Research Corporation of the University of Hawaii (RCUH) a reasonable period of time to consider their options in order to comply with Act 179.  Therefore, no decision is needed today, and the ERS has assured the RCUH that retirants will not be penalized during this period. 

The RCUH intends to work with the ERS to develop a set of guidelines that will allow for some flexibility to accommodate individual employee/retirants and program/operational needs.  These guidelines will apply to all employee/retirants and allow Principal Investigators and Project Administrators time to plan and prepare for the impact of Act 179.  We expect to have these guidelines soon and we will be providing them to all employees, Principal Investigators, and Project Administrators.

Principal Investigators or Project Administrators with questions relating to Act 179 may contact me at 956-6965 or email me at [email protected].  Thank you for your understanding.