MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of the Employees Retirement System of Texas is to enhance the lives of our customers through the efficient delivery of high quality benefits at the lowest practical cost.

ERS administers benefit programs including retirement, deferred compensation, health, dental, life, disability, death and dismemberment insurance and flexible benefit reimbursement accounts. ERS customers include active state and higher education employees, retirees and their families.

CUSTOMER SERVICE GOALS

ERS emphasizes customer service in every aspect of the organization. The Customer Service Division is the one-stop resource for all ERS customers. Acting Division Director is Debbie Warren. Email available at director@ers.state.tx.us. 

Many of your questions and complaints can be answered through Customer Service Direct.

ERS PRINCIPLES

Trust - ERS will strive always to earn the trust of its members and program participants. ERS will trust its members to use their benefits wisely.

• Fairness - Every participant in each ERS benefit program will be treated equitably.
• Simplicity - ERS will strive to make all of its programs as easy as possible for participants to use.
• Respect - Employee benefits are often accessed during critical times in people's lives. ERS will always respect the needs and sensitivities of the people it serves. In addition, ERS will always work to achieve the respect of its members.
• Service - ERS will always provide prompt, efficient service.
• Strength - Sometimes providing the best service means making hard choices. ERS will have the fortitude to do what is needed, no matter how difficult.

ANNUAL STATEMENT OF BENEFITS

Each year, ERS sends a summary of state retirement benefits known as the Annual Statement of Retirement Benefits. This statement includes estimated annual retirement income, disability retirement benefits, beneficiary information, total service credit and your account balance.

BENEFITS PRESENTATIONS/WEBCASTING

To introduce participants to their benefit programs, ERS provides group presentations on a regular basis throughout the state. Topics include an overview of the Group Benefits Program, retirement, and our "Be BenefitWi$e" seminars. Each summer, employees are given an opportunity to change their health care plans, life insurance, and other optional coverage and to enroll in TexFlex tax-savings programs. ERS gives numerous presentations during agency benefits fairs on these issues and others.

ERS TELEPHONE ASSISTANCE

ERS uses an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system that provides secure 24-hour phone access to your personal benefits information. With access to ERS' automated telephone assistant, you'll be able to get information regarding your retirement benefits, including your first retirement eligibility date and an estimate of your annuity benefits (although you may want to visit our ERS Annuity Benefits Estimator first). You can also check your insurance and TexFlex benefits, and request service purchase information. In Austin, call (512) 867-7711; outside Austin call toll-free (877) ASK 4 ERS (275-4377).

THE ERS WEBSITE

The ERS website is home to ERS' benefits information, publications, laws and rules, profiles of the ERS Board of Trustees and much more. Members can link to our health and dental carriers, which will allow you to see their benefits packages and visit their online provider directories.

ERS POLICY ON COMPLAINTS

All ERS staff has been formally trained on how to accept, log and track complaints. ERS has developed a centralized, automated system for the management of complaints known as Customer Service Direct. Any customer may lodge a complaint with any staff member, including information provided in a telephone call, letter, email or face-to-face communication. ERS has adopted a wide definition of what to consider as a complaint. All complaints are logged, tracked and resolved. Monthly trend reports of complaints are provided to senior management for analysis. Customer Service Direct is an assessment tool vital to the good health of customer service. In many situations it helps ERS identify problems which might impact our members before they become issues.

DEFINITION OF COMPLAINT

"Complaint" means a written or oral expression by a participant of dissatisfaction with any aspect of the system's operation and/or service delivery systems, including but not limited to: appeal of an adverse determination regarding eligibility for benefits; dissatisfaction with customer service, procedures or communications; or delivery of third–party services engaged by the system. A complaint is not a misunderstanding or an issue of misinformation that is promptly resolved by supplying the necessary information to the satisfaction of the participant.

CUSTOMER SERVICE DIRECT

Customer Service Direct is the primary tracking and collection data used to log customer issues and complaints for the members and customers of the ERS. The system is utilized by all the business divisions within the agency to record complaints and document resolution of complaints. Here is how the system works.

• ERS employees enter the details of the customer complaint directly into Customer Service Direct.
• In addition to the biographical data the computerized complaint form has a "complaint summary" section which is used to summarize the specifics of the complaint or issue.
• The complaint is categorized by type.
• The complaint is assigned for research.
• Research may include investigation with a third party such as a participating health care provider.
• When the complaint has been investigated and the resolution has been communicated to the member, the complaint is closed by entering the date of resolution in the system and the name of the ERS division that worked the complaint.
• The complaint, details of the investigation, and other essential information is retained in the system.
• At the end of each month the Customer Service Direct Administrator does an analysis of the information entered into the system.