UBEF - ALBERTA PENSION ADMINISTRATION (APA) SYSTEM#
The Generate Benefit/Payroll Interface (UBEF) screen may be used to generate a pension interface file for the province of Alberta. The following describes the necessary set up required in order to create this type of interface.
Step 1 - Define Plan Type in IBPT#
A plan type must be set up for the Alberta Pension Administration (APA) system. The plan type may be defined by the user, but all pension plans associated with APA must be identified as being in this plan type. The following example illustrates the set up of 'PENSION' plan type in the system.Step 2- Define Plan Definitions in IBPN#
Each APA pension plan must be set up and identified with a 'PENSION' plan type (as illustrated in this document). The plan code can be defined by the users, but keep in mind that the 4th-7th characters of the plan name will be used to report to the Alberta Pension Administration.There are currently three pension plans being supported, they are PSPP, MEPP, and MSRP plans. Since this system passes only the 4-7th characters of the plan code to the Alberta Pension Board, therefore it is mandatory that those positions of the Plan code includes eitherPSPP, MEPP, or MSRP as appropriate.
Please note that it is possible to define the plan code in other ways, in this case, the IDIF file definition must be changed accordingly or it will not produce the desired result.
Due to different contribution rules which apply to different employment statuses, each of these pension plans should have four coverage codes. The currently supported coverage codes are 'Active', 'LTD', 'Leave', and 'Leave No-cont'. (See UBEF Processing section 5.11 for further details of each Coverage).
Only record types 18-4, 18-A, 18-L, 18-M, and 18-W as defined by APA is supported at this time.
Step 3 - Define User Fields in IMUF#
A new 'PN-EMPLOYER NUMBER' user-defined field must be set up for each APA pension plans. This employer number is assigned by the Alberta Pension Administration.Once this UDF is correctly set up, it can then be access through the IBPN screen using the 'Edit User Fields' button in the tool bar.
Step 4 - Define Pay Elements in IPPE#
A number of pay elements must be set up for the APA pension system. These pay elements will be used in the IDIF definition in order to obtain the correct Pensionable Salary and Contributions. (This list contains suggested Pay Element names that are used in the standard supplied IDIF definitions. These Pay Element names can be modified, and new ones added, as long as the corresponding IDIF definition is also modified accordingly).Step 5 - Define Usercalcs in IMUC#
A number of UserCalcs may be required to process any exceptions to the standard function. You are responsible for writing and maintaining your own UserCalcs.Step 6 - Define Interface Format in IDIF#
HL$ABPERS-184 is provided in the IDIF screen as an example of a Pipe Delimited interface file for generating Record Type 18-4 for the Alberta Pension Administration.HL$ABPERS-184C is also provided in IDIF as an example of a Comma Delimited file for generating an audit report of Record Type 18-4.
Standard IDIF definitions are provided for the other supported record types (HL$ABPERS-18A and HL$ABPERS-18AC for record type 18-A; HL$ABPERS-18L and HL$ABPERS-18LC for record type 18-L; HL$ABPERS-18M and HL$ABPERS-18MC for record type 18-M; HL$ABPERS-18W and HL$ABPERS-18WC for record type 18-W).
You should copy (use Copy Definition) definitions into a different Interface code and then enter your own company data.
Interface File Layout for the Alberta Pension Administration#
The file is pipe delimitedEach file contains one header record and multiple detail records. The Transaction code and Detail type for the header record is always '94-1' for all files, while the Transaction code and Detail type for the detail records can be either '18-4', '18-A', '18-L', '18-M', or '18-W'.
UBEF APA Interface File Layout
Supported Transaction Types for the Province of Alberta#
| Transaction Type | Description |
|---|---|
| 94-1 | Batch Header Record, a record of this type will be created together with all other transaction types in the file. |
| 18-4 | Annual Year End Detail Record |
| 18-A | Reports Leave without Salary: earnings and service |
| 18-L | Reports the Leave of Absence detail, or adjustments to this detail, where the member has continued to contribute while on leave |
| 18-M | Reports Parenting Leave without Salary: earning and service |
| 18-W | Reports the Parenting Leave of Absence detail, or adjustment to this detail, where the member has continued to contribute while on leave. |
Step 7 - Run UBEF To Create APA Interface File#
Report Parameters#
| Report Parameters | |
|---|---|
| Entity | You must enter an entity Mandatory |
| From Date | Enter a Pay Period Begin Date |
| To Date | Enter a Pay Period End Date |
| Interface Code | Enter the Interface code from the IDIF screen Mandatory |
| Interface Level | Specify the level for the Interface file to be produced; this must be '10'. Mandatory Lexicon X_INTERFACE_LEVEL values are: 01 - EEM + EASD (not applicable for UBEF processing) 02 - EEM + EASD + Contacts (not applicable for UBEF processing) 10 - BE Plans 11 - BE + Contacts (not applicable for UBEF processing) |
| ER Addr Location | This allows you to enter an overridden location to retrieve the employer’s address. If this is not specified, the entity's location address is used. Optional |
| Sort by Active/Inactive | Check this toggle to sort inactive employees first. |
| Sort Employees By | You should sort employees by Last Name/First Name, however, you may sort by the employee's pay destination or sort by Person code |
| Create File | This field provides an option to create the file |
| Directory Name | Enter a valid directory name |
| File Name | Enter a file name or use the default file name from IDIF screen |
| Exception Level | You should always run with the Exception level unless for tracing In Trace Level 1, the employee header with Person Code and Employee Name are displayed with performance time, this can be used for Progress bar or to locate employee with problem In Trace Level 2, the BE plans are displayed after employee header information People List Code Please specify if People list is to be used (Optional) |
| Person Code | Enter one or more Person Codes (Optional) |
| Location | Enter one or more Location codes(Optional) |
| Authorization | Enter one or more Authorization Areas (Optional) |
| Department | Enter one or more Department Codes (Optional) |
| Org Level Type | Enter one or more Org Level Types (Optional) |
| Org Level | Enter one or more Org Level within Org Level Types (Optional) |
| Unit | Enter one or more Unit codes (Optional) |
| Group | Enter one or more Group codes (Optional) |
| Payroll | Enter one or more Payroll Codes (Optional) |
| Employment Status | Enter one or more Employment Statuses (Optional) |
| Termination Reason | Enter one or more Termination Reasons (Optional) |
| Plan Type | This field is applicable if Interface Level = 'BE plans' (Optional) |
| Plan | This field is applicable if Interface Level = 'BE plans' (Optional) |
