Social Security Commissioner Jo Anne Barnhart on Nov. 16 approved a notice regarding GPO and WEP that public employers who are outside of Social Security must give to new employees starting Jan. 1.

The notice includes information about the effect the government pension offset (GPO) and windfall elimination provision (WEP) could have on workers' retirement income. GPO reduces or eliminates Social Security spousal and survivor's benefits for most retirees who collect pensions from jobs that were not covered by the program while WEP slashes Social Security retirement benefits for most individuals who are eligible for them in addition to pensions from non-covered jobs. The notice requirement was included in a bill (H.R. 743) signed into law in March that closed the GPO "last-day loophole." The new law also will require employers to have new employees sign the notice and to forward a copy of it to the retirement system that will cover the worker. It is unclear what the retirement system is supposed to do with the signed notices.

The notice and information about its use are expected to be posted soon on the Social Security Administration Web site.