Reporting - psers

Public School
Employees’
Retirement System
Employer
Reference
Manual
2007-2008

PUBLIC SCHOOL EMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENT SYSTEM
Employer’s Reference Manual
for Reporting
Public School Employees’ Retirement System
5 North 5 th Street
PO Box 125
Harrisburg, PA 17108-0125
Employer Service Center
Phone 1.888.773.7748 ext 4002
Fax 717.783.8760
E-mail: ContactESC@state.pa.us
Web Address: www.psers.state.pa.us

Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Accessing the Online System........................................................................................1
Setting Up Your Online User Names and Passwords......................................................................... 4
Create New User Name......................................................................................................................................................5
Edit an Existing User Name ...............................................................................................................................................6
Set User Permissions..........................................................................................................................................................7
Changing Your Security Administrator .............................................................................................................................9
Entering Employer Contact Information .............................................................................................. 10
Membership: Eligibility & Waivers .............................................................................13
Employees Eligible for Membership ..................................................................................................... 13
Full-Time Employees….....................................................................................................................................................13
Part-Time Salaried Employees…....................................................................................................................................14
Part-Time Hourly Employees… .......................................................................................................................................14
Part-Time Per Diem Employees…..................................................................................................................................14
Employees Who Work Part-Time for Several PSERS Employers at the Same Time… .......................................15
Eligible Multiple Service Employees...............................................................................................................................15
Part-Time in Your Employ, Full-Time with Another School Employer ......................................................................16
Conditional Rules for Membership – Dependent on Other Factors ..........................................................................16
Employees Ineligible for Membership .................................................................................................. 16
Independent Contractors ..................................................................................................................................................16
Persons Compensated on a Fee Basis..........................................................................................................................16
School Crossing Guards...................................................................................................................................................17
Retirees Returning to Work ..............................................................................................................................................17
Other Ineligible Employees ..............................................................................................................................................17
Quick Reference Table ............................................................................................................................. 18
Exceptions to Membership Eligibility................................................................................................... 19
Eligibility Questionnaire.....................................................................................................................................................19
Waiving Membership When Employed Part-Time .......................................................................................................20
Member Demographic Information ............................................................................23
What is Member Demographic Information? ...................................................................................... 23
How is Member Demographic Information Sent to PSERS? .......................................................... 24
Member Demographic Info Sub-Menu ...........................................................................................................................24
Member Demographic Information – Create or Change Online..................................................... 25
Entering an Employee’s Member Demographic Information......................................................................................25
Demographic Information Change Request (PSRS-1870).....................................................................................26
Member Demographic Information Window..........................................................................................................26
Member Demographic Information Window..................................................................................................................27
Saving the Member Demographic Information Record ...............................................................................................29
Changing an Employee’s Member Demographic Information ...................................................................................30
Member Demographic Information – Submit by Uploading a File................................................. 31
Format for Member Demographic Information Files ....................................................................................................31
Header of the Member Demographic Information File ................................................................................................32
i

Record Lines in the Member Demographic Information File......................................................................................33
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Uploading a Member Demographic Information File.........................................................................34
Member Demographic Info Work Area – File Window.......................................................................34
Member Demographic Info Work Area – Record Detail Window....................................................35
Access..................................................................................................................................................................................35
Saving Your Changes .......................................................................................................................................................35
Submitting the Records to PSERS.........................................................................................................35
Member Contract Records ...........................................................................................37
What are Member Contract Records? ...................................................................................................37
Employee Working Multiple Jobs for One Employer.........................................................................38
Employee Works a Full-Time Position Plus Other Positions......................................................................................38
Employee Works Multiple Part-Time Positions but NO Full-Time Position .............................................................39
How are Member Contract Records Transmitted to PSERS? .........................................................40
Member Contract Info Sub-Menu....................................................................................................................................40
Member Contract Records – Creating Individually............................................................................41
Member Contract Information Window...........................................................................................................................42
Saving the Member Contract Record .............................................................................................................................45
Work Status Descriptions .................................................................................................................................................46
Work Status for Non-Contributing Leaves that can be Purchased .......................................................................48
Work Status for Non-Contributing Leaves that cannot be Purchased..................................................................49
Work Status Quick Reference Table ..............................................................................................................................51
Member Contract Records – Create by Uploading a File .................................................................52
Format for Member Contract Information Files.............................................................................................................52
Header of the Member Contract Information File.........................................................................................................53
Record Lines in the Member Contract Information File...............................................................................................54
Uploading a Member Contract Information File..................................................................................56
Member Contract Info Work Area – File Window................................................................................56
Member Contract Info Work Area – Record Detail Window.............................................................57
Access..................................................................................................................................................................................57
Saving Your Changes .......................................................................................................................................................57
Submitting the Records to PSERS.........................................................................................................58
Member Contract Records – Changing Information for an Employee ..........................................58
What You Do When an Employee… ..............................................................................................................................59
Changing Member Contract Records Online ................................................................................................................60
End-Dating a Member Contract Record.....................................................................................................................60
Changing Member Contract Records by Submitting a File ........................................................................................62
End-Dating a Member Contract Record.....................................................................................................................62
Examples.............................................................................................................................................................................62
Reporting – An Introduction ........................................................................................65
What You Will Do Monthly, Quarterly, and Annually.........................................................................65
Monthly: ...............................................................................................................................................................................65
Quarterly, Annual, or As-Needed:...................................................................................................................................66
What Earnings Qualify for Contributions and Contribution Rates ................................................66
Qualified Earnings..............................................................................................................................................................66
Part-Time Hourly and Per Diem Employees .................................................................................................................69
Maximum Earnings Subject to Contributions ................................................................................................................70
Unqualified Earnings (Non Retirement Covered Compensation)..............................................................................71
Consequences of Reporting Earnings Incorrectly........................................................................................................74
Determining Employee Contribution Rates .........................................................................................75
Membership Contribution Coverage Group...................................................................................................................75
Membership Class .........................................................................................................................................................75
Quick Reference – When the Contribution Rate Changes.........................................................................................76
Exceptions...........................................................................................................................................................................77
ii

Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Reporting – Monthly Work Report..............................................................................79
Reporting by Pay Periods........................................................................................................................ 80
Reporting by Paycheck Date................................................................................................................... 81
Payment Due Dates................................................................................................................................... 82
Employee Working Multiple Jobs for You ........................................................................................... 82
Changes in an Employee’s Work Status.............................................................................................. 83
How are Work Reports Transmitted to PSERS? ................................................................................ 83
Work Reporting Sub-Menu...............................................................................................................................................83
Monthly Work Report – Create Online.................................................................................................. 84
Monthly Work Report - Create by Uploading a File........................................................................... 85
Format for Work Report Files...........................................................................................................................................85
Header of the Work Report File.......................................................................................................................................86
Record Lines in the Work Report File ............................................................................................................................87
Uploading a Work Report File................................................................................................................. 90
Work Reporting Work Area ..................................................................................................................... 90
File Window.........................................................................................................................................................................91
Work Reports Created by File Upload........................................................................................................................91
Work Reports Created Online......................................................................................................................................92
Record Detail Window .............................................................................................................................. 93
Access..................................................................................................................................................................................93
Adding a Work Report Record.........................................................................................................................................94
Using the Edit Window ......................................................................................................................................................95
Work Report Record Fields ..............................................................................................................................................96
Saving Your Changes .....................................................................................................................................................103
Submitting the Monthly Work Report to PSERS.............................................................................. 103
Reporting – Ensuring the Monthly Work Report Is Complete and Correct ...105
Reporting an Employee Who Works Multiple Positions for You ................................................. 106
When an Employee’s Work Status Changes .................................................................................... 109
If an Employee is Left off a Monthly Work Report........................................................................... 111
Reporting – Leaves of Absence................................................................................113
Reporting an Employee on Leave........................................................................................................ 113
Contributing Leaves.........................................................................................................................................................113
Non-Contributing Leaves that Can Be Purchased Later...........................................................................................114
Non-Contributing Leaves that CANNOT Be Purchased Later .................................................................................115
Notes about Leaves.........................................................................................................................................................115
When the Employee Returns from Leave .......................................................................................... 117
If the Employee Does NOT Return from Paid Leave.................................................................................................118
Reporting – Service Time............................................................................................119
How to Report Service Time ................................................................................................................. 120
How to Calculate Service Time............................................................................................................. 120
Hourly Employees............................................................................................................................................................120
Per Diem Employees.......................................................................................................................................................121
Full-Time Salaried Employees.......................................................................................................................................121
Part-Time Salaried Employees......................................................................................................................................122
Example Service Calculation for Part-Time Salaried Coach....................................................................................124
Employees Working Multiple Positions ........................................................................................................................125
Employees on a Non-Contributing Leave....................................................................................................................125
Employee Terminates Service During the Year ............................................................................... 125
Hourly and Per Diem .......................................................................................................................................................125
Salaried..............................................................................................................................................................................125
Member Contract Record ...............................................................................................................................................126
iii

Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
General Rules ............................................................................................................................................126
Verifying Your Reported Service Time is Correct ............................................................................127
How to Correct Reported Service Errors............................................................................................127
Reporting – Work Report Adjustments...................................................................129
When to Submit a Work Report Adjustment Record.......................................................................129
What Information is in a Work Report Adjustment Record............................................................130
Interest for Late Contributions..............................................................................................................130
Adjustments to Fiscal Years Prior to 2004-2005...............................................................................130
How are Work Report Adjustments Transmitted to PSERS? ........................................................131
Adjustments sub-menu ...................................................................................................................................................131
Work Report Adjustments – Create a Manual Report Online ........................................................131
Work Report Adjustments - Create by Uploading a File.................................................................133
Format for Work Report Adjustment Files .........................................................................................133
Header of the Work Report Adjustment File ...............................................................................................................134
Record Lines in the Work Report Adjustment File .....................................................................................................136
Uploading a Work Report Adjustment File.........................................................................................138
Adjustments Work Area..........................................................................................................................138
File Window.......................................................................................................................................................................139
Work Report Adjustments Created by File Upload ................................................................................................139
Work Report Adjustments Created Online ..............................................................................................................139
Record Detail Window.............................................................................................................................140
Access................................................................................................................................................................................140
Adding a Work Report Adjustment Record .................................................................................................................140
Using the Edit Window ....................................................................................................................................................141
Work Report Adjustment Record Fields.......................................................................................................................143
Saving Your Changes .....................................................................................................................................................149
Submitting the Work Report Adjustment(s) to PSERS ...................................................................149
Work Report Adjustments – Examples ...............................................................................................150
Reporting Information that was Previously OMITTED...............................................................................................150
Salary/Contributions Not Reported ...........................................................................................................................150
Employees Work Report was Rejected ...................................................................................................................151
Adjusting Information that was Reported INCORRECTLY.......................................................................................152
Incorrect Salary/Contributions Previously Reported..............................................................................................152
Incorrect Service Time was Previously Reported ..................................................................................................152
Incorrect Member Purchase of Service Installments .............................................................................................153
Arbitration and Court Decision Payments....................................................................................................................153
Non-Arbitration/Court-Awarded Lump Sum Payments .............................................................................................155
Retroactive Salary Increases Due to Late Contract Settlement ..........................................................................155
Back Pay Award ...........................................................................................................................................................155
Information Sub—Menu ..............................................................................................157
Member Demographics and Contract Records ..........................................................................................................157
Work Reports and Work Report Adjustments .............................................................................................................158
Submitting Records by Uploading Files.................................................................159
Correctly Formatting Files .........................................................................................161
Uploading an Information File...................................................................................163
Work Area – File Window ...........................................................................................167
Created by File Upload ...................................................................................................................................................167
Manual Files Created Online .........................................................................................................................................169
Work Area – Record Detail Window.........................................................................171
Submitting Records to PSERS..................................................................................175
iv

Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
How PSERS Responds to Work Reports and Payments....................................177
Employer Statement of Accounts........................................................................................................ 178
Accounts within the Statement ..................................................................................................................................179
Statement Header........................................................................................................................................................179
Account Transactions..................................................................................................................................................180
Account Totals..............................................................................................................................................................182
Employees Missing from the Employer Statement of Accounts..........................................................................182
Employer SOA Estimated Addendum Letter...............................................................................................................182
Remaining Balance Due After Estimated Payment ...............................................................................................183
Remaining Credit After Estimated Payment............................................................................................................183
No Wages and Contributions Report for Employees Entered as Members of PSERS...................................183
Employer’s Member Current Account Balance Report .................................................................. 184
Payments – Remitting to PSERS ..............................................................................185
Due Dates................................................................................................................................................... 185
Member (Employee) Contributions ...............................................................................................................................186
Member (Employee) Purchase of Service Installments ............................................................................................187
Employer Contributions...................................................................................................................................................188
Employer Share Income Aid Ratio & Reimbursements - Act 29 .........................................................................189
Administering Act 29 Subsidies.................................................................................................................................189
Income Aid Ratio..........................................................................................................................................................189
Subsidy Distribution.....................................................................................................................................................189
Non-School Entities & Act 29.....................................................................................................................................189
Delinquency Interest Calculations ...................................................................................................... 190
Avoiding Interest Charges ..............................................................................................................................................192
When your Employer Statement of Accounts shows a different due amount than you remitted.......................193
If the total amount remitted is lower than the charge.............................................................................................193
If the total amount remitted exceeds the charge ....................................................................................................193
Methods of Remittance .......................................................................................................................... 194
Payment By Check with a Payment Coupon ..............................................................................................................194
Payment By Check WITHOUT a Payment Coupon...............................................................................................195
Completion of Monthly Remittance of Employee Contributions Coupon (PSRS-70) ......................................195
Completion of Monthly Remittance of Member POS Installments Coupon (PSRS-2025)..............................196
Completion of Employer Contribution Remittance (PSRS-608) ..........................................................................196
Payment by Automated Clearing House (ACH) .........................................................................................................197
Internet Method ............................................................................................................................................................197
Touch-tone Method......................................................................................................................................................198
ACH Payment Corrections .........................................................................................................................................198
ACH Assistance ...........................................................................................................................................................198
If Payments Are Not Received by PSERS.......................................................................................... 198
School Districts.................................................................................................................................................................198
Charter Schools................................................................................................................................................................198
Refund of Contributions / Credit for Salary Reported.........................................199
Credit for Contributions for Part-Time Employees.......................................................................... 200
Credit for Salaries & Contributions During a Leave of Absence ................................................. 202
Health Insurance ...........................................................................................................205
Contacting PSERS........................................................................................................207
Contacting PSERS through the Online System ............................................................................... 207
Contacting PSERS by Telephone or Fax ........................................................................................... 208
Contacting PSERS by Mail .................................................................................................................... 208
Contacting PSERS by Email ................................................................................................................. 208
Obtaining PSERS Forms........................................................................................................................ 209
Forms within the Online System....................................................................................................................................209
Forms on the PSERS Website ......................................................................................................................................210
Paper Forms .....................................................................................................................................................................210
v

Chapter
1
Accessing the Online System
The PSERS online system will be used to submit most reports and information.
Before attempting any procedure described in this manual, ensure that you know
how to access the system and that your contact information is correct. These
procedures are described in this section.
To access PSERS’ online system, search in Web browser (Internet Explorer version
5.5 or later) to:
http://www.psers.state.pa.us
You will see the following screen:
This screen will tell you if the Employer Web Applications are currently available.
Click the “Employers” tab on the upper right-hand side of the screen. The following
screen will appear
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Click the yellow arrow on the right hand side of the screen where it reads “PSERS
Pension Administration System”. This will take you to the Terms and Conditions page.
You must first scroll down and accept the terms and conditions in order to reach the
log on screen.
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You will see the following screen:
Enter the User Name and Password set up for you by PSERS or by your Security
Administrator. If you do not have a User Name set up yet, see Setting Up Your
Online User Names and Passwords on page 4.
After entering your User Name and Password, click “Submit.” The system’s
Employer Services main page appears:
This is your main screen for the online system. All of the online functions described
in this Employer’s Reference Manual for Reporting are accessed from the left-hand
menu on this screen.
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Setting Up Your Online User Names and Passwords
Before you can begin using the online system, you (the employer) must designate
someone to be a Security Administrator for the online system. This Security
Administrator will set up users at your location and will maintain these users’
accounts.
Follow the procedures found on page 9, Changing Your Security Administrator, if
your Security Administrator leaves or changes.
Your Security Administrator must be set up with a User Name and Password to begin
using the online system. To request this, you must complete a PSERS Employer
Security Administrator Authorization (PSRS-1270) form and submit this to PSERS.
PSERS Employer Security Administrator Authorization (PSRS-1270) form
You may access the PSERS Employer Security Administrator Authorization (PSRS-1270)
form on the PSERS website or by calling the Employer Service Center toll-free at
1-888-773-7748, extension 4002.
You must fill out the PSERS Employer Security Administrator Authorization (PSRS-1270)
form and return it to PSERS within one month of accepting the role of Security
Administrator so that you can begin submitting your reports. PSERS will process your
request and will send your Security Administrator a letter with an Initial User Name and a
separate e-mail with an initial Password.
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Up to four Security Administrators can be set up per employer. Not all of the
employees who use the online system need to be administrators. Your Security
Administrator has full access to the online system and can set up additional User
Names and Passwords for each employee who will be using the online system on a
regular basis. This setup process is described next.
Create New User Name
To set up a new User Name and Password, the Security Administrator must first log
in with their User Name, because the Security Administrator is the only one able to
set up new users. The Security Administrators initial User Name that PSERS creates
for you has this permission.
After logging in, click “Admin Functions” in the left-hand menu on the screen. The
Admin Functions sub-menu opens. In this sub-menu, click “Create User.” The
following screen appears:
Enter the user’s last name, first name, email address, and phone number in the
indicated fields.
In the User ID field, enter the User Name that this person will use to log into the
online system. The standard for the User Name is to enter the first letter of the user’s
first name, the user’s full last name, an underscore (_), and your 6-digit PSERS
Employer ID number. If your PSERS Employer ID is shorter than 6 digits, add one or
two zeroes to the beginning to make it a 6-digit number.
Example: John Doe works for PSERS Employer 5125. John’s User ID would be
JDOE_005125.
If another user already exists in the online system with this same User ID,
create the additional User ID by adding the consecutive letters of the user’s first
name after the first letter of the User ID.
Example: Jane Doe also works for Employer 5125 and also needs access to the
online system. Enter her User ID as: JADOE_005125.
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After entering information in all fields, click “Submit.”
If the User Name you entered is valid, you will see the message, “Msg – User created
successfully” followed by the User Name. You must communicate the User Name to
the user so that this person can access the system. The system will generate a
Password and email it to the user.
If the User Name you entered is already in use by someone else, you will see the
message, “Error – The User Name already exists. Please choose a different ID.” In
this case, enter a different User Name as described above, reenter the password,
and click “Submit” again.
Edit an Existing User Name
If you have created any User Names, you may edit these. Click “Admin Functions”
in the left-hand menu on the screen. The Admin Functions sub-menu opens. In this
sub-menu, click “Edit User.” The following window appears on the screen:
To view information about any User Name listed, click “Info” next to the appropriate
User Name. This will take you to the screen shown under Create New User Name.
You may edit any field, including the password for this User Name.
To receive a new Password, click “Reset” next to the appropriate User Name. You
will see the message, “Msg – User password has been reset.”
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Set User Permissions
You may set the permissions for any User Name to allow this user access to only the
portions of the online system needed for that person’s job.
Click “Admin Functions” in the left-hand menu on the screen. The Admin Functions
sub-menu opens. In this sub-menu, click “User Permissions.” The following screen
appears:
Locate the person whose permissions you want to edit and click “Edit” next to that
User Name. The following screen appears:
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The permission options allow or block access to each part of the online system.
Each permission option refers to a screen that can be accessed from the left-hand
menu or from a sub-menu. You can allow the user to view a screen but not enter
information into it by selecting “Read” and deselecting “Update.” To block all access
to a screen, deselect BOTH the “Read” and “Update” options for that screen. To
allow the user full access to a screen, select BOTH options.
Example: To allow the user to view the “Contact Info” screen (by clicking “Contact
Info” in the left-hand menu), select the “Read” option next to “Contact Info.” To allow
the user to enter, edit, or delete information within the Contact Info screen, also select
the “Update” option.
Select all permissions this user is allowed to perform. Deselect all functions
this user should be blocked from performing.
Most of the permission options are self-explanatory as you read through this
Employer’s Reference Manual for Reporting. A few functions are described briefly
below:
Account Details: These permission options control whether or not the selected
user is allowed to click “Account Details” in the left-hand menu and go to the
Account Details screen. The Account Details screen shows basic information
about your account with PSERS and also allows you to view your monthly
Employer Statement of Accounts online. See How PSERS Responds to Work
Reports and Payments on page 177.
Adjustments/Create Adjustments: These permission options control whether
or not the user can view and create Work Report Adjustments, as describing in
Reporting – Work Report Adjustments on page 129.
Forms: These permission options control whether or not the user can view and
use PSERS forms within the online system. See Obtaining PSERS Forms on
page 209.
Contact PSERS: These permission options control whether or not the selected
user is allowed to click “Contact PSERS” in the left-hand menu and go to the
Contact PSERS screen. The Contact PSERS screen shows how to reach
PSERS and allows the user to email PSERS directly by filling out an online
form. See Contacting PSERS on page 205.
When done setting permissions for this user, click “Submit.” You will see the
message, “Msg – User screen permission has been changed successfully.” If you
receive an error message, contact the Employer Service Center for assistance.
If you need to reset the permissions to the way they were before you entered this
screen, click “Reset” rather than “Submit.”
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Changing Your Security Administrator
Your Security Administrator has full access to the online system. If the individual who
has been serving as your Security Administrator leaves your employ or changes to
another position, you should remove this person’s access to the system. You must
also establish a new Security Administrator in this case.
To remove the old Security Administrator, fill out the PSERS Employer Security
Administrator Authorization (PSRS-1270) form and check the box marked “Delete
Employer Security Administrator.” In the rest of the form, enter information about the
old Security Administrator who should be removed.
To establish the new Security Administrator, fill out the PSERS Employer Security
Administrator Authorization (PSRS-1270) form and check the box marked “Create
Employer Security Administrator.” In the rest of the form, enter information about the
new individual who will be serving as Security Administrator.
Submit BOTH forms to:
Employer Service Center
Public School Employees’ Retirement System
PO Box 125
Harrisburg, PA 17108-0125
or fax them to: (717) 783-8760
If the Security Administrator replacement is urgent, contact PSERS’ Employer
Service Center by telephone at:
or fax to
1-888-773-7748, extension 4002
1-717-783-8760
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Entering Employer Contact Information
There are many occasions when PSERS needs to contact an employer. To ensure
that PSERS communicates with the correct person about each issue, keep all of your
contact information current.
To update the contact information, click “Contact Info” in the left-hand menu on the
screen. The “Employer Contact Info” window appears.
Use this window to enter information about who handles the various types of work at
your place of business. Start by clicking the drop-down menu button beside “Monthly
Reports” in the Contact Type field, as shown in the following screen sample:
A list of contact types appears in a scroll box, as pictured above. These contact
types are described next:
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Monthly Reports
Employer Newsletter
Refunds
Retirements
Business Manager
Information Technology
Healthcare
Superintendents
Member Newsletter
Purchase of Service
Receivables
Enrollments
Employer Statement of
Accounts
Employee Statement of
Account
Purchase of Service
The person who will submit monthly Work Reports to
PSERS
The person who should receive a PSERS newsletter with
information pertaining to business operations
The person who should be contacted regarding any
refunds of contributions being processed for a former
employee
The person who handles retirement application
processing within your district or entity
The Business Manager or person in charge of Accounting
The person in charge of your Information Technology
(computer) needs
The person who handles the health care
program/insurance for your employees
For a school district, this is the District Superintendent.
For a charter school, this is the Director, Principal, Board
Chairperson, or other relevant position. For a non-school
entity, this is the CEO, President, or other individual who
oversees the activities of the entire entity.
The person who should receive a copy of all newsletters
that PSERS sends to its members (your employees)
The person who coordinates the payments of Purchase of
Service for the members (employees) and employer
The person who enters Member Demographic Records
and Member Contract Records for employees.
The person(s) who receives Employer Statement of
Accounts (billings) from PSERS. This Employer
Statement of Accounts shows the following activity:
• Member Savings
• Employer Share
• Member Purchase of Service Payments
The Employee Statement of Accounts (billings)
information is included in the Employer Statement of
Accounts. See Employer Statement of Accounts above.
The Purchase of Service information is included in the
Employer Statement of Accounts. See Employer
Statement of Accounts above.
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It may be necessary to scroll up or down to see some of the contact types. As part of
the setup process, select each contact type in turn and enter detailed contact
information about the person who handles this type of work.
Example: The NPAS School District enters information about their Business
Manager as follows:
You can click “Delete Contact Info” to clear all the information on the screen or
“Cancel” to exit the screen without saving any information.
When done entering information for a particular Contact Type, click “Update Contact
Info” at the bottom of the window.
• The information you entered will be checked for validity. If any errors or
exceptions occur, you will see an error message in red near the top of the
window. Errors must be corrected. Exceptions are shown for your
information; you may save and exit with the exception still in place. After
correcting any errors, click “Update Contact Info” again.
• When all information passes the validity check, you will see the message,
“Msg - Contact updated successfully.”
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Chapter
2
Membership: Eligibility & Waivers
This section contains guidelines about which employees are eligible for membership
with PSERS. An employee becomes a member when you create a Member
Demographic and a Member Contract Record for PSERS.
Employees Eligible for Membership
The following is a list of employees who are eligible for membership with PSERS.
You must add all potentially eligible employees by the 10 th of the month following
their first day of employment.
Part-time employees may request a waiver from PSERS membership. A waiver
must be requested of each employer, as described in Waiving Membership When
Employed Part-time on page 20.
Full-Time Employees…
• Work 5 hours or more a day, 5 days a week or its equivalent (25 or more
hours a week). Employees who meet these requirements must be
reported as full-time even if the employer considers them part-time.
• Are required by law to become members of PSERS.
• Must have their salaries, retirement deductions, and service units
reported to PSERS through monthly Work Report Records.
• Service time must be reported monthly for hourly and per diem
employees. Salaried employees’ service time may be reported monthly
or annually.
• Must have retirement deductions withheld beginning the first day of
service.
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Part-Time Salaried Employees…
• Are contracted to work less than 5 hours a day, 5 days a week or its
equivalent (less than 25 hours a week).
• Are required by law to become members of PSERS.
• Must have their salaries and retirement deductions reported to PSERS
through monthly Work Report Records. Service time may be reported
monthly or annually.
• Must have retirement deductions withheld beginning the first day of
service unless PSERS membership is waived. See Waiving
Membership When Employed Part-time on page 20.
Part-time salaried employees include coaches and adjunct professors unless
specifically contracted as part-time hourly or part-time per diem. If the coach or
professor is a retiree, see Retirees Returning to Work on page 17.
Part-Time Hourly Employees…
• Work less than 5 hours a day or its equivalent of 25 hours a week.
• Are hired and paid on an hourly basis.
• Must have their wages, retirement deductions (when applicable), and
service time reported to PSERS through monthly Work Report Records.
See Reporting – Monthly Work Report on page 79.
• May have retirement deductions withheld beginning with the first day of
service; however, retirement deductions are required to begin with the
500th hour of service in each fiscal (school) year unless PSERS
membership is waived. See Waiving Membership When Employed Parttime
on page 20.
Part-Time Per Diem Employees…
• Work less than 5 days a week. A workday must be a minimum of 5 hours
to be considered a full day.
• Are hired and paid on a day-to-day basis.
• Must have their wages, retirement deductions (when applicable), and
service time reported to PSERS through monthly Work Report Records.
See Reporting – Monthly Work Report on page 79.
• May have retirement deductions withheld beginning the first day of
service; however, retirement deductions must begin with the 80th day of
service in each fiscal (school) year unless PSERS membership is waived.
See Waiving Membership When Employed Part-time on page 20.
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Employees Who Work Part-Time for Several PSERS
Employers at the Same Time…
• Work for each employer for less than 5 hours a day and/or less than 5
days a week, or its equivalent of less than 25 hours a week.
• Must have their salaries and retirement deductions (when applicable)
reported to PSERS by each employer through monthly Work Report
Records. Service time may be reported either monthly or annually if the
employee is salaried but must be reported monthly if the employee is paid
hourly or per diem.
• Who are paid hourly or per diem may have retirement deductions
withheld beginning the first day of service. Retirement deductions are
required to begin when the member reaches the 80 th day or 500 th hour.
PSERS will track the combined service and notify the employers when to
begin retirement deductions. See Waiving Membership When Employed
Part-time on page 20.
PSERS realizes it is difficult for employers to determine when an employee
qualifies on a combined employer basis, so we determine this automatically:
• If you do not withhold contributions for an employee who qualifies, we
notify you to begin withholding contributions.
• If you withhold contributions from the first day of employment, but the
employee never qualifies for membership during that fiscal (school) year,
we credit your contributions to your account automatically after the end of
the fiscal year. In this case, the contributions you paid for this employee
are credited to your account with PSERS after all of the combined
employers have submitted their final Work Report for the fiscal year. If
the employee requests a refund of withheld contributions, PSERS will
work directly with the employee to refund their contributions.
• If the employee qualifies for membership and the employer did not
withhold contributions from the first day of employment, PSERS will
automatically send a Statement of Amount Due to both the employee and
the employer.
For more information, see Refund of Contributions / Credit for Salary Reported on
page 199.
Eligible Multiple Service Employees
Employees who work in BOTH Pennsylvania state service and Pennsylvania public
school service are eligible for membership with PSERS. Report these employees as
usual. It is up to your employee to complete a Multiple Service membership form.
• Qualifications is based on ONLY the PSERS employment, so an employee
who works part-time for a PSERS employer must qualify for membership just
as any other part-time employee.
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Part-Time in Your Employ, Full-Time with Another School
Employer
Employees who work full-time with another school employer but part-time in your
employ automatically qualify for retirement contributions from the first day of
employment. All salaries must be reported and retirement contributions deducted
from the first day of service.
Conditional Rules for Membership – Dependent on Other
Factors
is eligible if:
is ineligible if:
A Federally Funded
Employee…
A Student age 15 or
older…
A Retiree…
A Community College
or State System of
Higher Education
University Employee…
paid by the school employer
using federal funds.
service was not part of the
student’s curriculum.
he or she does not return to
service under the provisions of
Act 2004-63*.
he or she is not contributing
to an alternate retirement plan
(e.g., TIAA-CREF)
paid directly from federal funds
and not by the school employer.
service was part of the student’s
curriculum.
he or she returns to work under
the provisions of Act 2004-63*.
he or she is contributing to an
alternate retirement plan (e.g.,
TIAA-CREF)
For more information on Act 2004-63 see Retirees Returning to Work on page 17.
Employees Ineligible for Membership
The following types of employees are ineligible for PSERS membership. Do not
create records for these employees or include them in your monthly Work Reports,
except as noted. If an employee does not fall into a clear category, and you are
uncertain whether or not this employee is eligible for PSERS membership, see
Exceptions to Membership Eligibility on page 19.
Independent Contractors
A person performing services as an independent contractor is not eligible for
membership in PSERS. See Exceptions to Membership Eligibility on page 19 if you
are uncertain whether an individual is an employee or an independent contractor.
Persons Compensated on a Fee Basis
A person compensated on a fee basis is not eligible for membership in PSERS.
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School Crossing Guards
An amendment made in 2000 to the (Pennsylvania) Township and Borough Codes
specifically prohibits school crossing guards from membership in PSERS. School
boards do not have the statutory authority to employ school crossing guards. Only
a borough, a first or second-class township or a third class city can employ
persons in such positions. These municipalities can allow school districts to
assume the hiring and oversight of school crossing guards. Even if this is done,
the guards are expressly excluded as school employees and, therefore, are not
eligible for membership in PSERS.
Retirees Returning to Work
With the passage of Act 2004-63, PSERS retirees may return to Pennsylvania public
school employment without suspension of their monthly retirement benefit under
certain conditions. A retiree can be hired in an emergency situation that causes an
impairment of service to the public, shortage of subject certified teachers or other
personnel, or in an extracurricular position under a separate written contract.
• When a retiree returns to work and does not meet the conditions in Act
2004-63, contact the Employer Service Center to report this member’s
return to service. PSERS will need a written confirmation from the
employer and another from the employee indicating the following:
1. The date the employee will return to service.
2. The employee understands that the PSERS pension will be stopped.
• Once PSERS notifies employer that verifications were received, you must
create a Member Demographic Record for the retiree reported from the first
day of employment.
• The retirees monthly pension benefit will be suspended until that time
when the employee is ready to retire again.
• Refer to the Employer’s Reference Manual for Member Benefits chapter 6
entitled Retirees – Employment After Retirement for more details.
Other Ineligible Employees
If an employee does not fit into any category of employment described in this section,
see Exceptions to Membership Eligibility on page 19 for more information.
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Quick Reference Table
Type of Employment
Full-time employee
Part-time salaried
employee*
Full-time employee with
another Pennsylvania
public school employer,
part-time with you
Full-time employee with
the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania (state
employee), part-time with
you
Full-time employee with
the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania (state
employee), part-time with
you
Part-time hourly *
Part-time per diem*
Part-time with several
school employers
Federally funded
PSERS Annuitant
Employment under
provisions of Act 2004-63
PSERS Annuitant
(Non-emergency – return
to service)
Tax Collector, Solicitor,
Doctor, Dentist,
Consultant, Psychologist
Description
Works 5 hours or more a day/5 days a
week, or its equivalent (25 or more
hours a week).
Is contracted to work less than 5 hours a
day/5 days a week, or its equivalent
(less than 25 hours a week).
Works full-time with another
Pennsylvania public school employer,
but only works part-time with you.
Employee elected Multiple Service
status and is working full-time for the
State and part-time for you.
Employee did not elect Multiple Service
status and is working full-time for the
State and part-time for you.
Works less than 5 hours a day and is
paid on an hourly basis.
Works less than 5 days a week and paid
on a day-to-day basis with a minimum
5 hours a day.
Refers to part-time hourly and part-time
per diem.
Same requirements as part-time and
full-time employees unless federal funds
are paid directly to the employee.
Act 2004-63 permits an annuitant to
work for a public school in emergency,
shortage of personnel, and
extracurricular employment under fulltime
and part-time.
The annuitant becomes an active
member. Annuitant’s monthly benefit
stops. Follow requirements for type of
employment under full-time and parttime.
Certain positions may not meet the true
employer-employee relationship for
member eligibility.
Creation of Member Demographic
Record
Mandatory
Mandatory unless waiver approved
Mandatory
Create a Member Demographic Record
immediately, but contributions may begin
later (contribution status is based only on
the employment with PSERS
employers). 1,2
See rules for part-time employment.
Create a Member Demographic Record
immediately, but contributions may begin
later. 1
Create a Member Demographic Record
immediately, but contributions may begin
later. 2
Create a Member Demographic Record
immediately, but contributions may begin
later. 1,2
Create a Member Demographic Record
unless the employee is paid directly by the
federal program.
DO NOT Create a Member Demographic
Record and do not report through
monthly Work Report Records.
Create a Member Demographic Record
immediately, notify PSERS to have the
monthly benefit stopped so that the
member is not overpaid.
See Exceptions to Membership Eligibility
on page 19.
*Can waive membership - See Waiving Membership When Employed Part-time on page 20.
1 Contributions are mandatory beginning with 500 th hour unless waiver approved. 2 Contributions
are mandatory beginning with 80 th day unless waiver approved.
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Exceptions to Membership Eligibility
Eligibility Questionnaire
To prevent creating a Member Demographic Record for an employee who is
ineligible for membership in PSERS, the employer must complete a Questionnaire to
Determine PSERS Eligibility (PSRS-349) for employees in classifications the same
as or similar to those listed below:
• Tax Collector
• Solicitor
• Doctor
• Dentist
• Consultant
• Psychologist
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PSERS will review the questionnaire and will let you know if you must create a
Member Demographic Record for this employee. As a time-saver, information does
not need to be submitted for employees who are clearly ineligible for membership.
Waiving Membership When Employed Part-Time
Any part-time employee (salaried, hourly, or per diem) may waive membership in
PSERS within 30 days of starting employment. Full-time employees cannot waive
membership.
To qualify for the waiver, the part-time employee must -
• Maintain one of the following types of Individual Retirement Account’s (IRA)
as defined by section 408 in the Internal Revenue Code:
Traditional IRA
Roth IRA
Simplified Employee Pension (SEP)
Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees of Small Employers
(Simple) IRA
and…
• request a waiver within 30 days of starting employment. A waiver must be
requested of each employer, using whatever method the employer has
designated for this request.
PSERS will send a Membership Waiver form directly to the employee.
When the employee waives membership in PSERS, all future rights to
benefits for that year are waived.
In response to the employee’s waiver request, you must –
• Verify that the employee has an Individual Retirement Account (IRA)
and…
• Submit a Member Contract Record for this employee, with Work Status set to
“ACTIVW – Waiver Request.” See Member Contract Records – Changing
Information for an Employee on page 58.
Once you submit the Member Contract Record indicating the Waiver
Request, you may discontinue reporting this employee in your monthly
Work Reports. If the employee does NOT qualify for the waiver, PSERS
will notify you.
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When a Member Contract Record is submitted showing the waiver request, PSERS
will respond by –
• Sending the employee a Welcome Waiver Packet containing detailed
information about the waiver process and a PSERS Membership Waiver
(PSRS-51) form. A copy of this form is shown below for reference. The
employee must complete this form and return it directly to PSERS.
Submission of the completed waiver is binding for the entire school year
in which membership is being waived unless the employee becomes a
full-time school employee.
PSERS Membership Waiver (PSRS-51) form
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• If PSERS approves the waiver request, we will change the employee’s status
to waived and will notify the employee. If the employer submitted Monthly
Work Reports, they will now need to submit Work Report Adjustments to
reverse the transaction. PSERS will credit you for any contributions you paid
for this employee during this school year as well as any contributions the
employee paid. It is your responsibility to refund the employee’s contributions
to the employee.
• If a waiver request is denied or if the employee does not return the waiver
form in a timely manner, PSERS will contact both you and the employee
to explain the reason for the denial. In this case, you must submit a new
Member Contract Record for the employee with a Work Status of
“ACTIVE – Actively Working.” Follow the rules for reporting part-time
employees. For hourly or per diem employees, you can deduct
contributions immediately or when the employee reaches 500 hours or 80
days. You must deduct contributions immediately for salaried employees.
You must also submit a Work Report Adjustment showing any earnings
and service time that were not reported in your monthly Work Reports
pending waiver approval. You should report this salary under “Wages No
Contributions”.
• It is not necessary for the part-time employee to complete and submit a
waiver at the start of each school year. PSERS will contact the employee
each year to confirm the waived status and will assume it remains in
place unless the employee responds otherwise.
• You do not need to submit a new Contract Record for employees who
extend their waived status into another school year.
• You may direct the employee to PSERS with any questions about
waivers.
• Deductibility of contributions to an IRA may be limited if the employee or
employee’s spouse was covered by an employer retirement plan during
the year. Employees should consult with the IRS or a tax professional.
• If a part-time employee chose to waive PSERS membership with one
employer and later qualifies for PSERS membership with another
employer, this employee will not be able to extend the approved waiver
with the first employer for the following school year.
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Chapter
3
Member Demographic Information
What is Member Demographic Information?
Member Demographic Information about an employee includes their:
• Name
• Social Security Number (You must see a copy of the social security card.)
• Date of Birth (You must see proof of birth date.)
• Gender
• Address
• Phone Numbers
• E-Mail Address
You must provide Demographic Information for each employee when you first hire
the employee unless employee is a retiree (see Retirees Returning to Work on
page 17). This includes all part-time employees. You must submit a Members
Demographic Record before you can add this employee to your Work Report
Record.
If an employee is coming to you from another employer, you must still submit
Member Demographic Information. If a duplicate Member Demographic Information
Record is received for an employee, PSERS will use the duplicate to update the
information on file.
If you are not sure whether an employee already has a record, you can check this
easily online. See Member Demographic Information - Create or Change Online on
page 25.
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How is Member Demographic Information Sent to
PSERS?
All Member Demographic Information is sent to PSERS through the online system.
Member Demographic Information can be submitted for individual employees, by
entering them into the online system one at a time, or for a batch of employees all at
once, by uploading a file that was exported by your payroll/HR software system.
Either way, you begin by accessing the system:
1. Access the Employer Services window in the online system. If you are not
familiar with how to do this, see Accessing the Online System on page 1.
2. From the Employer Services window, click “Member Demographic Info” in the
left-hand menu. A sub-menu appears, as shown next:
Member Demographic Info Sub-Menu
For further details on the Member Demographic Info Sub-Menu refer to the chapter
titled Information Sub—Menu on page 157.
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Member Demographic Information – Create or Change
Online
Entering an Employee’s Member Demographic Information
Use the process described in this section to create or change employees under any
of the following conditions:
• You have never created a record for this employee in PSERS.
or…
• You already have a record for this employee in PSERS before, but the
employee has returned to service and information needs updating.
Example: An employee worked full-time for you from 1985 – 1999. During
this time, the employee was a member of PSERS and made retirement
contributions. At the end of the 1998 – 1999 school year, the individual left
your employment. This individual has now returned to employment with you.
First, access the Member Demographic Info sub-menu, as described in How is
Member Demographic Information Sent to PSERS? on page 24.
From the “Member Demographic Info” sub-menu on the left side of the screen, click
“Create Demographic Info” to add a new employee. You will be prompted to enter
the SSN (social security number) for the employee you are adding:
The SSN (social security number) is used to identify the employee’s account at
PSERS. It is vital that this number be entered correctly. You MUST REQUEST to
see a copy of the employee’s social security card, though it is no longer necessary to
send a copy of this card to PSERS. Once the social security number has been
entered, click “Submit.”
• If you attempt to add an employee who already has a record, you will see the
message, “Error – Member already exists.” In this case, use the “View/Edit
Demographic Info” option on the left-hand menu to edit this employee’s
information.
• If the social security number was reported incorrectly, submit the Demographic
Information Change Request (PSRS-1870) with both the old and new numbers.
See Demographic Information Change Request on page 26. A copy of the
employee’s social security card must accompany the form.
• If you submit the Demographic Information Change Request (PSRS-1870),
continue to submit monthly Work Report Records for the employee using
the old social security number until you have been notified by PSERS
that the correction has been made.
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Demographic Information Change Request (PSRS-1870)
The Demographic Information Change Request (PSRS-1870) is available on the
PSERS web at:
http://www.psers.state.pa.us/forms/f1870.pdf
Only use this form to change social security, date of birth, or when a person’s gender
has changed. Do not use this form to change any other information. A picture of this
form is shown next:
Demographic Information Change Request (PSRS-1870) Page 1
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Member Demographic Information Window
The Member Demographic Information Window allows you to enter or edit Member
Demographic Information about an individual employee. This Window looks like:
Enter the employee’s information into the fields on this window. Most of these fields
are self-explanatory, but a few details are provided below:
First Name: This field has a maximum entry of 35 letters and/or characters. If an
employee has a double first name, such as Mary Jane or Bobbi-Jo, enter both first
names in this field. You may enter the hyphen in a hyphenated name.
Middle Name: This field can be left blank or can be filled in with just an initial if
desired. If the employee has multiple middle names, these can be entered with a
space or other character between them. Up to 35 letters and/or characters can be
entered.
Last Name: This field has a maximum entry of 33 letters and/or characters. If an
employee has a hyphenated last name, enter the first 33 letters of this name, with the
hyphen included if desired.
Under some circumstances, PSERS requests proof of a name change from an
employee. In this case, PSERS will send the letter to the employee, who will fill it
out and submit it directly to PSERS with the required proof.
Gender: Use this field if the wrong gender was incorrectly used when entering the
original Demographic Information. Use PSRS-1870 when a person’s gender has
changed. See Demographic Information Change Request on page 26. Proof may
be required to determine that is in fact, the same person.
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Birth Date: Enter the date of birth in the format MM, DD, YYYY (2-digit month in the
first part of the field, 2-digit day in the second part, and 4-digit year in the third part).
Example: for July 14, 1950.
Note: The employer’s representative must verify the employee’s date of birth by
examining one of the following documents:
• Birth Certificate
• Baptismal Record
• Passport
• Elementary or Secondary School Record
• Life Insurance Policy Listing Date of Birth
• PA Driver's License
• Naturalization Record
• Alien Registration Record
As with the social security number, you cannot change a date of birth. If the birth
date needs to be changed after an employee’s record is already created, you must
submit a Demographic Information Change Request (PSRS-1870) to PSERS. See
Demographic Information Change Request on page 26. You should include a letter
of explanation and a copy of one of the documents listed above.
Note: When submitting a Demographic Information Change Request (PSRS-1870)
printed from the PSERS website, be sure to either staple the two pages together,
or insert the member’s name and social security number on the top of the second
page.
Residence Address Fields: Enter the employee’s residential address. Complete
as necessary with the apartment number, suite number, floor or any critical
information for accurate mail delivery in addition to the normal street name, post
office box or route number. Enter the zip code plus its additional four-digits, if
available. The U.S. Post Office has a website where you can look up the complete
zip code. The web address is—
http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/welcome.jsp
“Street,” “Apt/Suite #,” and “Care of” each appear as a line of the address
whenever PSERS sends information to this member. When entering this
information, you must type the word “Street,” Apt/Suite #,” and “Care of” in the
field. For example: Care of John Smith or Suite 123.
When the Member Demographic Information is submitted, the system will check the
address to ensure it meets U.S. Post Office standards; if any problems are found,
suggested changes will be displayed. The following is a sample address:
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Phone Number Fields: Enter all phone numbers with the area code in the first part
of the field, the local “exchange” in the second part of the field, and the 4-digit number
in the third part of the field. Example: for 717-555-2222.
Saving the Member Demographic Information Record
When you are done entering information, click “Save.” You will be returned to the
Member Demographic Information Window, with the message, “Msg – Member info
created successfully” near the top of the screen.
At this point, the record has been saved to the member’s account with PSERS. You
may make additional changes and save those, or you may click “Cancel” to exit from
this screen. Clicking “Cancel” will cause you to lose any changes you made since
the last “Save.”
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Changing an Employee’s Member Demographic Information
To change an employee’s Member Demographic Information a record must already
exist in PSERS, first access the Member Demographic Info sub-menu, as described
in How is Member Demographic Information Sent to PSERS on page 24.
From the “Member Demographic Info” sub-menu on the left side of the screen, click
“View/Edit Demographic Info” to view and/or change an employee’s current
Member Demographic Information. You will be prompted to enter the SSN (social
security number) for the employee you are updating.
The SSN (social security number) is used to identify the employee’s account at
PSERS. Always verify that the social security number matches the employee whose
information you are changing. Once the social security number has been entered,
click “Submit.”
• If you attempt to view or change information for an employee who does not
have a record, you will see the message, “Error – Member does not exist.” In
this case, use the “Create Demographic Info” option on the left-hand menu to
enter this employee’s information.
The Member Demographic Information Window appears. See the Member
Demographic Information Window heading later in this section.
• You can change information in any field except SSN (Social Security
Number) and Birth Date. If the social security number or birth date needs
to be changed after an employee already has a record, you must submit a
Demographic Information Change Request (PSRS-1870) to PSERS.
Warning: Do not attempt to change an employee’s social security number
by creating a new Member Demographic Information Record with the new
number. This will create a new employee record with this number, while
leaving the old employee record intact.
Essentially, the online system will think these two social security numbers
represent two different employees who happen to have the same name.
All of the employee’s current information (contributions, service time,
Member Contract Records, etc.) will remain with the old social security
number.
As a result, you will encounter errors when running monthly Work Reports,
and the employee’s benefits calculations will be incorrect. In order to
correct this situation, you must submit a Member Demographic Information
Change Request (PSRS-1870) to PSERS with proof of the employee’s
correct social security number, along with a letter explaining the situation.
PSERS will merge the two member records and will set the social security
number to the correct value. After this, you may need to resubmit or
correct the employee’s Work Report Records.
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Member Demographic Information – Submit by
Uploading a File
You can submit Member Demographic Information for multiple employees at once,
by uploading a file to the online system. In most cases, the file will be exported by
your payroll/HR software system. This file must be in a specific format, defined under
Format for Member Demographic Information Files on page 32.
This method can be used to add new employees as well as to change information for
existing employees. The process is the same for both. You may use this procedure
to submit as few or as many Member Demographic Information Records as you
want, but if you only need to submit a small number of records, you may find it easier
to enter them directly online – see Member Demographic Information - Create or
Change Online on page 25.
Submit Member Demographic Information to PSERS whenever you hire a new
employee and whenever information changes for a current employee. All additions /
changes within a month can be submitted in a file, as long as this is done before you
submit your Member Contract Records and your next monthly Work Report.
For information on how to submit Member Demographic Information by uploading a
file see Submitting Records by Uploading Files on page 159.
After Member Demographic Information has been submitted for an employee, you
can make changes when needed by editing the Member Demographic Information
Record with the correct information. All fields except SSN (social security number)
and Birth Date can be changed. If the social security number or birth date needs to
be changed, the employer must submit a Demographic Information Change Request
(PSRS-1870) to PSERS. See Member Demographic Information—Create or
Change Online on page 25.
Format for Member Demographic Information Files
For information on how to correctly format a Member Demographic File see
the chapter titled Correctly Formatting Files on page 161. The following pages
will illustrate in detail the layout for Member Demographic Information Files.
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Header of the Member Demographic Information File
The Member Demographic Information file must include a single-line header as the
first line in the file. The header line identifies the employer, the type of records in the
file, the number of records in the file, and the date and time the file was created. This
information must be in the following format:
Header
Record
Type
Employer
Code
Detail
Record
Count
File
Creation
Date and
Time
R/O/C
R = Required
O = Optional
C =
Conditional Bytes Start Format & Values Sample Comments
R 1 1 Alpha (D=Demographic)
D
Describes the
incoming file
type.
R 6 2 Numeric 002345 Employer ID
assigned to
you by
PSERS.
R 6 8 Numeric 002680 Total number
of detail
records in this
file.
R 12 14 Date as
MMDDYYYYHHMM
Filler R 338 26 NULL Filler. Space
filled to match fixed
length of detail record.
102520061400 Date and time
in military
format.
338 spaces
All fields are required. “Start” indicates what column that field begins in on the
header line. “Bytes” indicates how many bytes (characters) are in the field. All
fields are a fixed-length.
Example: The following sample header uses the information as shown in the above
table:
D002345002680102520061400
In this example, a Member Demographic Information File from Employer 002345 is
being submitted with 2,680 records in it. The file was created on October 25, 2006 at
14:00 (2:00 p.m.).
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Record Lines in the Member Demographic Information File
Each Member Demographic Information Record must consist of a single line of
information, in the following format:
R/O/C
R = Required
O = Optional
C =
Conditional Bytes Start Format & Values Sample Comments
SSN R 9 1 Numeric 149250245 Social Security
Number
Last Name R 33 10 Alpha SMITH Required
First Name R 35 43 Alpha AARON Required
Middle O 35 78 Alpha JOHN Optional
Name
Suffix O 3 113 Alpha as JR, SR, I, II, JR
Must be a valid value
III, IV, V
Gender R 1 116 Alpha/M = Male or F M
= Female
Birth Date R 8 117 Date as MMDDYYYY 07231958
Care Of / O 35 125 Alphanumeric Care Of John
Address1
Smith
Apt/Suite/Fl
oor /
Address2
listed. No punctuation.
Must be a valid value
listed. No punctuation.
Compliant with Postal
Regulations.
O 35 160 Alphanumeric Apt A Compliant with Postal
Regulations.
Street /
Address3
O 35 195 Alphanumeric 123 MAIN ST Compliant with Postal
Regulations.
City R 21 230 Alphanumeric HARRISBURG Compliant with Postal
Regulations.
State R 2 251 Alphanumeric PA Compliant with Postal
Regulations.
Zip Code
with Zip+4
R 9 253 Alphanumeric; 5-digit
zip code followed by
4-digit “zip plus 4
code” if known or
0000 if unknown
171080125 Compliant with Postal
Regulations. No
dashes.
Country O 2 262 Alpha US If blank, PSERS will
default to US.
Day Phone O 10 264 Numeric 7177878540 Area Code &
Telephone Number.
No parentheses or
dashes.
Day Phone
Extension
Evening
Phone
Evening
Extension
Other
Phone
Number
O 5 274 Numeric 00245 No parentheses or
dashes.
O 10 279 Numeric 7175558540 Area Code &
Telephone Number.
No parentheses or
dashes.
O 5 289 Numeric 00032 No parentheses or
dashes.
O 10 294 Numeric 7175558540 Area Code &
Telephone Number.
No parentheses or
dashes.
Fax O 10 304 Numeric 7175558540 Area Code &
Telephone Number.
No parentheses or
dashes.
Email O 50 314 Alphanumeric A@US.COM Member’s email
address
For more information on any field, see Member Demographic Information – Create or Change
Online on page 25. “Start” indicates what column that field begins in on the header line. “Bytes”
indicates how many bytes (characters) are in the field. All fields are a fixed-length.
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Uploading a Member Demographic Information File
You must first access the Member Demographic Info sub-menu, as described on
page 157.
For further information on how to upload a Member Demographic Information File
see Uploading Information Files on page 163.
Member Demographic Info Work Area – File Window
After uploading a file, go to the Member Demographic Info Work Area, either by
clicking “Work Area” in the File Upload window or by clicking “Work Area” in the
Member Demographic Info sub-menu. The File window of the Work Area appears:
For information on how to navigate in the Member Demographic Information File
Window see the chapter on Work Area—File Window located on page 167.
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Member Demographic Info Work Area – Record Detail
Window
The Record Detail window in the Member Demographic Info Work Area is used to
add to, delete, or edit the individual employee records that are included in an
uploaded file.
Access
To access the Record Detail window, go to the File window (see Member
Demographic Info Work Area – File Window on page 34) and click “Detail” next to
the desired file.
Note: The file must be validated before the Record Detail window can be accessed
for that file.
The Record Detail window looks similar to the following example:
For more information on how to navigate the Member Demographic Information
Record Detail Window refer to the chapter titled Work Area—Record Detail Window
on page 171.
Saving Your Changes
After adding, deleting, or editing any records in the Record Detail window, always
save your work. To save, click “Save” twice. The first “Save” will save the information
to a temporary file and the second “Save” will save the information permanently.
If you log out or go to another part of the system without clicking “Save” twice, you
will lose ALL changes you made since the last save. In this case, any records you
added will be lost, any records you deleted will be restored, and any records you
edited will be returned to their previous information.
Submitting the Records to PSERS
For information on how to submit Member Demographic Files to PSERS see
Submitting Records to PSERS on page 175.
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Chapter
4
Member Contract Records
What are Member Contract Records?
Member Contract Records provide a way to define the position(s) each employee
works, in a way that helps automate the pension process. You must create a Member
Contract Record before you can add your employee to your Work Report Record.
A Member Contract Record contains the following information:
• Employer’s Name and Employer Code
• Employee’s Job Title
• Employment Type (part-time or full-time)
• Wage Type (hourly, per diem, or salaried)
• Work Status (actively working, on some form of leave, terminated, deceased, a
waiver has been requested, etc.)
• Start Date of the work status described in this Member Contract Record
• End Date of the work status described in this Member Contract Record
• Number of months normally worked for this position in a school year
• Number of days or hours normally worked for this position in a school year
• Voting Status (certified or non-certified position)
• Items relating to a terminated or deceased employee (Balance of Contract and
Outstanding Service Credit status)
You must submit at least one Member Contract Record in order for en employee
to be added as a member of PSERS. Remember, you must first enter the
employee’s Member Demographic Information. See the How is Member
Demographic Information Sent to PSERS? sections starting on page 24.
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In general, a Member Contract Record should be created for EACH job an employee
works. If an employee works for multiple employers, a Member Contract Record
needs to be submitted by each employer. If an employee works multiple positions for
a single employer, this may or may not require multiple Member Contract Records.
To determine this, see the next section Employee Working Multiple Jobs for One
Employer.
Employee Working Multiple Jobs for One Employer
It is not unusual for an employee to work more than one job for a single employer. For
example, a teacher may coach a sports team or help at lunchtime. In this case,
depending on the types of jobs worked, it may or may not be necessary to submit
multiple Member Contract Records for the employee.
Employee Works a Full-Time Position Plus Other Positions
Only one Member Contract Record is needed. Enter a Member Contract Record for
the full-time position. If more than one full-time position is worked, enter a Member
Contract Record for the salaried position, if there is one. If more than one position is
salaried, or if there is no salaried position, select the position that you feel best
categorizes the employee’s work. The other positions do not require their own
Member Contract Records.
• Only one Member Contract Record is required for all part-time HOURLY
positions the employee works.
• Only one Member Contract Record is required for all part-time PER DIEM
positions the employee works.
Example: A full-time teacher chaperones a school activity, takes tickets for an event,
and oversees a yearbook club. Enter a single Member Contract Record for the fulltime
teaching position. Report the additional work on the employee’s monthly Work
Report as follows: Record the additional wages in the “Supplemental Wages” field.
Record the extra contributions in the “Contributions” field. Record the extra service in
the “Hours” or “Days” field.
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Employee Works Multiple Part-Time Positions but NO Full-
Time Position
Each part-time SALARIED position requires its own Member Contract Record. All
other part-time positions require only one contract record per wage type (e.g. per
diem or hourly).
Example #1: An employee works a part-time per diem job as a substitute teacher.
She also works a part-time hourly job in the cafeteria and another part-time hourly job
teaching a high school science class. You would need to create two Member Contract
Records for this employee: one for her per diem position and one for the two hourly
positions.
Example #2: An employee works a part-time per diem job as a substitute teacher.
He also works a part-time salaried job teaching a high school English class and
another part-time salaried job coaching a football team. You would need to create
three Member Contract Records for this employee: one for his per diem position, one
for his salaried teaching position, and one for his salaried coaching position.
In general, there is no harm in creating a Member Contract Record even if it is not
required. If you find it easier to create a Member Contract Record for every position
an employee works, this is fine.
Note: You will not necessarily submit a separate monthly Work Report Record for
each Member Contract Record you create. If multiple Member Contract Records for
an employee have the same Wage Type (hourly, per diem, or salaried), earnings for
these Member Contract Records will be reported on the same Work Report Record in
your monthly Work Reports.
Example: A member has two part-time hourly positions. The wages from both
positions are reported on one line in the work report. The wage type for this member
is hourly.
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How are Member Contract Records Transmitted to
PSERS?
All Member Contract Records are transmitted to PSERS through the online system.
Member Contract Records can be submitted for individual employees by entering
them into the online system one at a time. Member Contract Records can also be
submitted for a batch of employees all at once by uploading a file that was exported by
your payroll/HR software system. Either way, you begin by accessing the system:
1. Access the Employer Services window in the online system. If you are not
familiar with how to do this, see Accessing the Online System on page 1.
2. From the Employer Services window, click “Member Contract Info” in the lefthand
menu. A sub-menu appears, as shown next:
Member Contract Info Sub-Menu
For further details on the Member Contract Info Sub-Menu refer to the chapter titled
Information Sub—Menu on page 157.
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Member Contract Records – Creating Individually
You can enter Member Contract Records for your new employees one at a time, by
completing an online form. Use this procedure if you only need to enter a small
number of employees. Otherwise, you may find it easier to submit a file with multiple
Member Contract Records at once – see Member Contract Records - Create by
Uploading a File on page 52.
First, access the Member Contract Info sub-menu, as described on page 40.
From the “Member Contract Info” sub-menu on the left side of the screen, click
“Create Member Contract.” You will be prompted to enter the SSN (social security
number) for the employee you are adding. Enter the social security number and click
“Submit.”
• If there is no Member Demographic Information on file for the social
security number you entered, you will see the message, “Error – Member
does not exist.” In this case, see the How is Member Demographic
Information Sent to PSERS? on page 24 to enter Member Demographic
Information for the employee before continuing.
If the employee has Member Demographic Information on file, the Member Contract
Information window appears.
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Member Contract Information Window
The fields at the top of this screen are displayed for reference but cannot be edited. In
the other fields on this screen, enter information about the job this employee works for
you.
If the employee works more than one job for you, it may or may not be necessary to
enter multiple Member Contract Records for this employee. To determine this, see
Employee Working Multiple Jobs for One Employer on page 38.
The fields on this screen are:
• Job Title: A Job Title must be entered for every Member Contract Record.
This is a required field. This field has a maximum entry of 50 letters and/or
characters.
Independent contractors are not eligible for PSERS membership. If you are
not sure whether a Job Title is an employee or an independent contractor, see
Exceptions to Membership Eligibility on page 19.
• Employment Type: Select “Full Time” or “Part Time” from the drop-down
menu. Full-time employment is defined as 5 hours or more a day, 5 days a
week or its equivalent (25 or more hours a week). Employment Type must
be entered for every Member Contract Record. This is a required field.
• Wage Type: Select “Hourly,” “Per Diem,” or “Salaried” from the drop-down
menu based on how this position is paid.
• Work Status: Use the drop-down menu to select the appropriate work
status for this Member Contract Record, such as “ACTIVE - Actively
Working.”
Work Status is reported in all monthly Work Reports, and the status that is
reported must match a Member Contract Record for that employee.
The various Work Status options are described in Work Status Descriptions on
page 46.
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• Work Status Start Date – MM/DD/YYYY: Enter the date the Work Status
described in this Member Contract Record begins. For an actively working
part-time hourly or per diem employee, enter the first day of actual
employment, not the first day contributions were withheld from the employee’s
salary and reported to PSERS. If the Member Contract Record is for an
employee who went on leave, died, or terminated all employment with you,
set the Work Status appropriately and enter the date the leave began, or the
date of death, or date of termination as the Start Date.
Example: A teacher is hired to begin work August 16, 2006. Enter the Work
Status as “ACTIVE - Actively Working” and enter the Start Date as 08/16/2006.
Example: When an employee resigns, his last day of paid work will be
the start date of his termination contract. If the employees last paid day
of service was on June 15, 2006 and the resignation is received on
August 1, 2006, the Work Status Start Date is 06/15/2006 unless the
employee is granted a leave after June 15, 2006.
• Work Status End Date – MM/DD/YYYY: Enter the date the Work Status
described in this Member Contract Record will end or has ended.
For an employee who is expected to work multiple years, the End Date should
be left blank. In this case, the Member Contract Record will renew
automatically each school year, remaining in effect until you enter an End Date
later (such as when the employee ends work in this position or goes on leave).
Example: A teacher is hired. The teacher is expected to continue working for
multiple school years, so no End Date is entered. In January, the teacher
takes a job as Principal, which requires leaving the teaching position. On the
existing teacher Member Contract Record, the End Date should be updated to
be the last day the employee works as a teacher. A new Member Contract
Record must be created for the Principal position.
Note: In some cases, the End Date is modified automatically by PSERS. If
an employee goes on a non-contributing leave, dies, or terminates all
employment with you, you do not need to set the End Date on the employee’s
existing Member Contract Records. Instead, create a single new Member
Contract Record for that employee with the new Work Status (the type of
leave, “DECESD - Deceased,” or “TRMNTN – Termination”) and with the Work
Status Start Date set to the date the leave began or the date of death or the
date of termination. In response to this new Member Contract Record,
PSERS will change the End Date on all of this employee’s other Member
Contract Records appropriately. When the employee returns from leave,
create a new Member Contract Record for each position the employee
resumes.
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• Expected Months: Enter the number of months that a full-time employee
would normally be expected to work in this position each fiscal (school)
year. This field must be set if Work Status is set to “ACTIVE - Actively
Working” or “ACTIVW - Waiver Request” AND Employment Type is set to
“Full Time”; otherwise, this field is optional. If left blank, this field will
default to 10 for part-time salaried employees.
Example: If a full-time teacher is hired to work a 10-month school year,
whether or not they are paid over the summer, enter “10” months.
Note: The employee’s actual service time will be determined from Work
Reports, not from the value entered into this field. This field is used only for
certain types of benefit calculations.
• Expected Units: Enter the number of days or hours that a full-time
employee would normally be expected to work in this position each fiscal
(school) year. This field must be set if Work Status is set to “ACTIVE -
Actively Working” or “ACTIVW - Waiver Request” AND Employment Type
is set to “Full Time”; otherwise, this field is optional. If left blank, this field
will default to 180 for part-time per diem employees and 1100 for part-time
hourly employees.
Full time hourly employees that work 9 or 10 months must have the
correct hours posted in the Expected Units field in order to receive
credit for the correct service.
Example: A full time hourly secretary works for 9 months at 25 hours per
week. The Expected Units for this employee is 900 (9 months times 100
hours). The employee will receive credit for a full year of service if the
employer reports 900 hours in the Monthly Work Reports. This only
applies to full time hourly employees who work 9 to 10 months.
If an employee is hired partway through the school year, enter the Expected
Units that would apply if the position lasted an entire school year. The
employee’s service time will be determined from Work Reports, not from
Expected Units.
Example: If a full-time teacher is hired for a 9 or 10 month school year, the
expected number of units would be 180 – 195 days. It is assumed there are
18-22 workdays per month. Entering a value outside this range will generate
an exception message. To determine expected units for a part-time, salaried
position, such as a coach, see Reporting – Service Time on page 119.
Note: The employee’s actual service time will be determined from Work
Reports, not from the value entered into this field. This field is used only for
certain types of benefit calculations.
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• Voting Status: Use the drop-down menu to select “Certified” if this
Member Contract Record describes a position that requires certification
through the Pennsylvania Department of Education or other licensing
agency, such as a teacher position. Otherwise, select “Non-Certified.”
This classification is used to determine in which election the employee will
vote to fill a seat on the PSERS Board. This field must be set if Work
Status is set to “ACTIVE - Actively Working” or “ACTIVW - Waiver
Request”; otherwise, it is optional.
• BOC Flag: This field is to be completed as a result of a termination or
death of an employee. You must select either “Yes” or “No” from the dropdown
menu. Select “Yes” if additional salary is to be reported in the month
following termination or death of the employee; otherwise, select “No”.
• Outstanding Service Credit Flag: Use the drop-down menu to select
“Yes” if the employee has outstanding service time to be reported after
termination or death. Only set this field to “Yes” if the employee has been
terminated or has died and has additional service time to be reported later.
• BOC/SVC End Date – MM/YYYY: If either the BOC Flag or the
Outstanding Service Credit Flag is set to “Yes,” enter the month in which
the last portion of the outstanding service or Balance of Contract will be
paid. After the Work Report for that month has been submitted, PSERS
will assume that all information has been reported, and Final Benefit
Calculation will take place.
The BOC/SVC End Date cannot be more than six months from the Work
Status Start Date. Example: If an employee dies on June 3 rd , the BOC/SVC
End Date must be November or earlier.
Saving the Member Contract Record
When you are done entering information, click “Save.” You will be returned to the
Member Contract Information Window, with the message, “Msg – Member contract
created successfully” near the top of the screen.
At this point, the record has been saved. You may not make additional changes to
the contract except to enter a contract end date. You may click “Cancel” to exit from
this screen.
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Work Status Descriptions
For employees on leave, select the Work Status that matches the reason for the
leave, as well as whether or not the employee is contributing to their retirement
account while on leave. Work Statuses that describe leaves of absence are divided
into two categories: The final letter of the Work Status code for any type of leave is
either “C” for contributing or “N” for non-contributing, based on whether or not the
employee is making retirement contributions while on leave. Some of the noncontributing
leaves are eligible for Purchase of Service, while others are not, as
indicated for each.
For information on how different Work Statuses affect Work Reports, see Reporting –
Leaves of Absence on page 113.
• ACTIVE - Actively Working: This is the most common status. It is used
when an employee is actively working, whether or not the employee is
making contributions.
• ACTIVW - Waiver Request: Select this Work Status if a part-time
employee has requested a waiver from PSERS membership. PSERS will
send a packet of information to the employee automatically, explaining
how waivers work and providing a Membership Waiver (PSRS-51) form.
• ACTMLC - Activated Military Leave (Contributing): You must use this
Work Status for active employees who make retirement contributions while
on leave to fulfill an obligation in the Armed Forces of the United States in
time of war or armed conflict. This leave also applies to a reserve member
of the armed forces pursuant to an order on or after July 1, 1990, to enter
active military service for an order other than to enter into active duty to
meet periodic training requirements.
An employee serving the regular 15 days of active duty for Reserves should
be reported as if in regular employment (with Work Status set to “ACTIVE -
Actively Working”).
“ACTMLC - Activated Military Contributing Leave” should not be used to
report an employee who volunteers to join the Military Service or National
Guard. In that case, the Work Status should be “LEAVEN – Any Other
Leave Not Listed (Non-Contributing)” or “TRMNTN – Termination” as
appropriate.
• SSLSSC - Special Sick Leave, School Sponsored (Contributing): This
leave is granted to an employee who is ill and wishes to receive credit
towards retirement. Granting of special sick leave is optional and must be
approved by your (the employer’s) board of directors. The leave may not
exceed one year.
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To qualify for the leave, the employer must pay for disability insurance
sufficient to provide the employee with at least one-half regular salary.
Both you and the employee must be willing to contribute based on the
employee's full contract salary.
• SSLWCC - Special Sick Leave, Worker’s Compensation
(Contributing): This leave is granted to an employee who has been
injured on the job and wishes to receive credit towards retirement.
Granting of special sick leave is optional and must be approved by your
(the employer’s) board of directors. The leave may not exceed one year.
To qualify for the leave, the employee must receive at least one-half
regular salary through Worker’s Compensation. Both you and the
employee must be willing to contribute based on the employee's full
contract salary.
• SABTLC - Sabbatical Leave (Contributing): Select if the employee is on
a paid sabbatical. The employee must receive at least one-half regular
salary during the period of the sabbatical leave. Both you and the
employee must make retirement contributions on the full salary that would
have been earned had the employee been working. The difference
between the salary actually paid and regular full salary must be reported in
the “Unpaid Retirement Covered Compensation” field on Work Reports.
For more information, see Reporting – Leaves of Absence on page 113.
• STUDYC - Professional Study Leave (Contributing): This Work Status
is used for an employee who has been granted a leave for professional
study and growth and who wishes to make retirement contributions while
on leave.
When your board of directors approves a Professional Study Leave, the board
minutes should contain a note that the leave is for professional study and
growth.
• EXCHGC - Exchange Teacher Leave (Contributing): This leave is
granted to a school employee who exchanges teaching positions with a
teacher from another country and wishes to make retirement contributions
while on leave. The foreign exchange teacher should not be added as a
PSERS member and should not be reported through monthly Work
Reports.
• UNIONC - Collective Bargaining Unit Leave (Contributing): Select if
the employee has been granted a leave for collective bargaining unit and
wishes to make retirement contributions while on leave. Report the full
contracted salary and service the employee would have worked for your
school.
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Work Status for Non-Contributing Leaves that can be
Purchased
• ACTMLN - Activated Military Leave (Non-Contributing): This Work
Status is used for an employee who is on activated military leave and has
decided to discontinue making retirement contributions to PSERS during
the leave. The service time from this leave may be purchased later if the
employee chooses. This full salary should be reported under “Wages No
Contributions” (WNC) in the Monthly Work Reports. You should also
report full service.
Military leaves are different from other leaves in that you, the employer, must
continue to contribute the employer’s share of retirement contributions whether
or not the employee chooses to contribute. You CANNOT receive a credit for
these contributions, even if the employee does not elect to purchase credit for
this service later or does not return from the leave.
When the employee returns to school employment, the employee must
provide a copy of the discharge documentation to you, the employer. A copy
of this documentation must be submitted to PSERS.
• SSLSSN - Special Sick Leave, School Sponsored (Non-Contributing):
This leave is granted to an employee who is ill and who does not wish to
make retirement contributions while on leave. The employee may choose
to purchase the service time from this leave at a later date. Granting of
special sick leave is optional and must be approved by your (the
employer’s) board of directors. The leave may not exceed one year.
The full contracted salary should be reported under “Wages No
Contributions” (WNC) in the Monthly Work Reports.
To qualify for the leave, the employer must pay for disability insurance
sufficient to provide the employee with at least one-half regular salary.
• SSLWCN - Special Sick Leave, Worker’s Compensation (Non-
Contributing): This leave is granted to an employee who has been injured
on the job and who does not wish to make retirement contributions while
on leave. The employee may choose to purchase the service time from
this leave at a later date. Granting of special sick leave is optional and
must be approved by your board of directors. The leave may not exceed
one year.
This salary should be reported under “Wages No Contributions” (WNC) in
the Monthly Work Reports.
To qualify for the leave, the employee must receive at least one-half regular
salary through Worker’s Compensation.
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• STUDYN - Professional Study Leave (Non-Contributing): This Work
Status is used for an employee who has been granted a leave for
professional study and who does NOT wish to make retirement
contributions while on leave. The employee may choose to purchase the
service time from this leave at a later date.
This salary should be reported under “Wages No Contributions” (WNC) in
the Monthly Work Reports.
When your board of directors approves a Professional Study Leave, the board
minutes should contain a note that the leave is for professional study and
growth.
• EXCHGN - Exchange Teacher Leave (Non-Contributing): This Work
Status is used for an employee who exchanges teaching positions with a
teacher from another country and who does NOT wish to make retirement
contributions while on leave. The employee may choose to purchase the
service time from this leave at a later date.
This salary should be reported under “Wages No Contributions” (WNC) in
the Monthly Work Reports.
Work Status for Non-Contributing Leaves that cannot be
Purchased
• WKCMPN - Worker’s Compensation Non-Contributing Leave: This
leave is granted to an employee who has been injured while on the job, is
receiving Worker’s Compensation, is not making retirement contributions
while on leave, and is NOT eligible to purchase service time from this
leave. This leave may last up to two years.
The employee may NOT purchase service time from this leave. Use this Work
Status if you, the employer, have not approved a special sick leave as a
contributable or purchasable leave.
Do not report any earnings or service to PSERS while an employee is on this
type of leave.
• LEAVEN – Any Other Leave Not Listed (Non-Contributing): Use this
status when the employee is on leave, is not making retirement
contributions, and the leave does not match any of the non-contributing
leaves listed. This leave may last up to 24 months.
The employee may NOT purchase service time from this leave. Use this
Work Status if you, the employer, have not approved a leave as a
contributable or purchasable leave.
Do not report any earnings or service to PSERS while an employee is on this
type of leave.
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• TRMNTN - Termination: Select if the employee has ended ALL work for
you, the employer. Any other Member Contract Records this employee
has with you will be ended automatically. If the employee has only ended
one position but is still working for you in another position, do not set the
Work Status to “TRMNTN - Termination.” Instead, set the Work Status
End Date to indicate this position has ended. If necessary, enter another
Member Contract Record to describe the continued employment.
• DECESD – Deceased: Select if the employee died while in active, waved
or leave status. Entering this status on any Member Contract Record
automatically ends ALL Member Contract Records for this employee.
Because it is important to begin benefits processing quickly after an
employee’s death, Work Status should be changed within one day of when
you learn about the death. Do not wait until the next batch of Member
Contract Records is being submitted unless a file will be uploaded that day
anyway.
Note: Jury Duty is considered to be active employment rather than a leave.
Report employees on Jury Duty as if they were working normally, with a Work
Status of “ACTIVE – Actively Working.” If you have a policy of paying
employees on Jury Duty the difference between their regular, full salary and
the amount they are paid for Jury Duty, see Reporting – Leaves of Absence on
page 113.
Note: To be eligible to purchase a non-contributing leave, the employee must
meet the eligibility criteria.
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Work Status Quick Reference Table
Work Status
ACTIVE - Actively Working
ACTIVW - Waiver Request
ACTMLC - Activated Military Contributing
Leave
SSLSSC - Special Sick Leave, School
Sponsored (Contributing)
SSLWCC - Special Sick Leave, Worker’s
Compensation (Contributing)
SABTLC - Sabbatical Leave
(Contributing)
STUDYC - Professional Study Leave
(Contributing)
EXCHGC - Exchange Teacher
Contributing Leave
UNIONC - Collective Bargaining Unit
Leave (Contributing)
ACTMLN - Activated Military Leave
(Non-Contributing)
SSLSSN - Special Sick Leave, School
Sponsored (Non-Contributing)
SSLWCN - Special Sick Leave,
Worker's Compensation (Non-
Contributing)
STUDYN - Professional Study Leave
(Non-Contributing)
EXCHGN - Exchange Teacher Leave
(Non-Contributing)
WKCMPN - Worker's Compensation
Leave (Non-Contributing)
LEAVEN - Any Other Leave Not Listed
(Non-Contributing)
TRMNTN - Termination
DECESD - Deceased
Description
The employee is actively working, whether contributing or not.
A Waiver Request has been made by an actively working employee,
whether contributing or not.
The employee is contributing while on activated military leave.
The employee is contributing while on a special sick leave. The board of
directors must approve this leave. The employer must pay for disability
insurance sufficient to provide the employee with at least 1/2 regular
salary.
The employee is contributing while on a special sick leave. This leave
must be approved by your board of directors, and the employee must be
receiving at least 1/2 regular salary through Worker’s Compensation.
The employee is contributing while on sabbatical. The employee must
receive at least 1/2 regular salary during this leave.
The employee is contributing while on a leave for professional study.
The employee is contributing while working in a foreign teacher
exchange program.
The employee is contributing while on a leave for collective bargaining.
The employee is NOT contributing while on activated military leave. The
employee may choose to purchase the service time from this leave at
a later date.
The employee is NOT contributing while on a special sick leave. The
board of directors must approve this leave. The employer must pay for
disability insurance sufficient to provide the employee with at least 1/2
regular salary. The employee may choose to purchase the service
time from this leave at a later date.
The employee is NOT contributing while on a special sick leave. The
board of directors must approve this leave and the employee must be
receiving at least 1/2 regular salary through Worker’s Compensation.
The employee may choose to purchase the service time from this
leave at a later date.
The employee is NOT contributing while on a leave for professional
study. The employee may choose to purchase the service time from
this leave at a later date.
The employee is NOT contributing while working in a foreign teacher
exchange program. The employee may choose to purchase the
service time from this leave at a later date.
The employee is NOT contributing while on leave and receiving partial
salary from Worker’s Compensation. The employee CANNOT purchase
the service time from this leave.
The employee is NOT contributing while on a leave that does not match
any of the other leaves listed. The employee CANNOT purchase the
service time from this leave.
The employee has ended ALL employment with you. If only some
positions have ended, instead set the Work Status End Date on the
appropriate Member Contract Records.
The employee has died.
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Member Contract Records – Create by Uploading a File
You can submit multiple Member Contract Records at once, by uploading a file to the
online system. You may use this procedure to submit as few or as many Member
Contract Records as you want, but if you only need to submit a small number of
Member Contract Records, you may find it easier to enter them directly online – see
Member Contract Records – Creating Individually on page 41.
Submit Member Contract Records to PSERS whenever you hire a new employee and
whenever an employee’s work status and/or positions change.
Before a Member Contract Record can be submitted for an employee, Member
Demographic Information must be on file with PSERS for that employee. See the
How is Member Demographic Information Sent to PSERS? sections starting on
page 24 for more information.
For information on how to submit Member Contract Records by uploading a file see
Submitting Records by Uploading Files on page 159.
Format for Member Contract Information Files
For information on how to correctly format a Member Contract Record see the
chapter titled Correctly Formatting Files on page 161. The following pages will
illustrate in detail the layout for Member Contract Information Files.
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Header of the Member Contract Information File
The Member Contract Information file must include a single-line header as the first line
in the file. The header line identifies the employer, the type of records in the file, the
number of records in the file, and the date and time the file was created. This
information must be in the following format:
Header
Record
Type
Employer
Code
Detail
Record
Count
File
Creation
Date and
Time
R/O/C
R = Required
O = Optional
C =
Conditional
Byte
s Start Format & Values Sample Comments
R 1 1 Alpha (C=Contract) C Describes
the incoming
file type.
R 6 2 Numeric 002345 Employer ID
assigned to
you by
PSERS.
R 6 8 Numeric 002680 Total
number of
detail
records in
R 12 14 Date as
MMDDYYYYHHMM
Filler R 151 26 NULL Filler. Space
filled to match fixed
length of detail record.
this file.
102520061400 Date and
time in
military
format.
All fields are required. “Start” indicates what column that field begins in on the header line.
“Bytes” indicates how many bytes (characters) are in the field. All fields are a fixed-length.
Example: The following sample header uses the information as shown in the above
table:
C002345002680102520061400
151 spaces
In this example, a Member Contract Information File from Employer 002345 is being
submitted with 2,680 records in it. The file was created on October 25, 2006, at 14:00
(2:00 p.m.).
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Record Lines in the Member Contract Information File
Each Member Contract Record must consist of a single line of information, in the
following format:
R/O/C
R = Required
O = Optional
C =
Conditional Bytes Start Format & Values Sample Comments
SSN R 9 1 Numeric 14925024
5
Social Security
Number
Last Name R 33 10 Alpha SMITH Required
First Name R 35 43 Alpha AARON Required
Date of R 8 78 Date as MMDDYYYY 07231958 Required
Birth
Job Title C 50 86 Alphanumeric; No
predefined values.
Space-filled if no
value.
Employment
Type
C 2 136 Alpha (PT= Part-time,
FT= Full-time, spacefilled
if no value)
Wage Type C 2 138 Alpha
(SA = Salary, HR =
Hourly,
PD = Per Diem,
space-filled if no
value)
Work R 6 140 Alpha (status from
Status
Work
Status Start
Date
Work
Status End
Date
Expected
Months
Expected
Units
Voting
Status
Teacher
PT
SA
ACTIVE
Required if Work
Status = ACTIVE or
ACTIVW, else
Optional.
Required if Work
Status = ACTIVE or
ACTIVW, else
Optional.
Required if Work
Status = ACTIVE or
ACTIVW, else
Optional.
Required
table on page 46)
R 8 146 Date as MMDDYYYY 10252006 Required. The date
the Work Status
started.
C 8 154 Date as MMDDYYYY 10252006
or
00000000
C 2 162 Numeric ## (01-12,
00=NULL)
C 4 164 Numeric ####,
0000=NULL
C 1 168 Alpha
(Y=Certified,
N=Non-certified,
space=NULL)
The date the Work
Status ended.
10 or 00 Required if
Employment
Type=FT AND Work
Status = ACTIVE;
Optional if
Employment
Type=PT AND Work
Status = ACTIVE.
0180 or
0000
Y
Required if
Employment
Type=FT AND Work
Status = ACTIVE;
Optional if Work
Status = ACTIVE
and Employment
Type = PT.
Required if Work
Status = ACTIVE,
else Optional.
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R/O/C
R = Required
O = Optional
C =
Conditional Bytes Start Format & Values Sample Comments
BOC Flag C 1 169 Alpha
(Y=Balance Due,
N=No Balance Due,
space=NULL)
Y
Required if Work
Status =TRMNTN or
DECESD, else
Optional.
Outstanding
Service
Credit Flag
BOC/Svc
End Date
C 1 170 Alpha (Y= Member still
has service to be
reported, N= Member
does not still have
service to be reported,
space=NULL)
Y
C 6 171 Date as MMYYYY 102006
or
000000
Required if Work
Status = TRMNTN
or DECESD,
Required, else
Optional.
If BOC Flag is set to
“Y” or the
Outstanding Service
Credit Flag is set to
“Y” then Required,
else Optional
For more information on any field, see Member Contract Records – Creating Individually on
page 41. “Start” indicates what column that field begins in on the record line. “Bytes”
indicates how many bytes (characters) are in the field. All fields are a fixed-length.
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Uploading a Member Contract Information File
First, access the Member Contract Info sub-menu, as described in How is Member
Demographic Information Sent to PSERS? on page 24.
From the “Member Contract Info” sub-menu on the left side of the screen, click “File
Upload.” The following screen appears:
For further information on how to upload a Member Contract Record see Uploading
Information Files on page 163.
Member Contract Info Work Area – File Window
After uploading a file, go to the Member Contract Info Work Area, either by clicking
“Work Area” in the File Upload window or by clicking “Work Area” in the Member
Contract Info sub-menu. The File window of the Work Area appears:
For information on how to navigate in the Contract Records Info File Window see the
chapter on Work Area—File Window located on page 167.
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Member Contract Info Work Area – Record Detail
Window
The Record Detail window in the Member Contract Info Work Area is used to add to,
delete, or edit the individual Member Contract Records that are included in an
uploaded file.
Access
To access the Record Detail window, go to the File window (see Member Contract
Info Work Area – File Window on page 56 and click “Detail” next to the desired file.
Note: The file must be validated before the Record Detail window can be accessed for
that file.
The Record Detail window looks similar to the following example:
For more information on how to navigate the Member Contract Record Info Record
Detail Window refer to the chapter titled Work Area—Record Detail Window on
page 171.
Saving Your Changes
After adding, deleting, or editing any records in the Record Detail window, always
save your work. To save, click “Save” twice. The first “Save” will save the information
to a temporary file and the second “Save” will save the information permanently.
If you log out or go to another part of the system without clicking “Save” twice, you will
lose ALL changes you made since the last save. In this case, any records you added
will be lost, any records you deleted will be restored, and any records you edited will
be returned to their previous information.
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Submitting the Records to PSERS
For information on how to submit Member Contract Record to PSERS see Submitting
Records to PSERS on page 175.
Member Contract Records –
Changing Information for an Employee
You must create a new Member Contract Record when the employee does one of the
following:
requests a waiver from PSERS membership
goes on leave
returns from a leave
begins a new job with you
terminates one or more jobs with you
dies
changes positions
Member Contract Records cannot be changed once they are created.
Employers may only edit the End Date of a contract.
If an error is found in an old Contract Record, call the Employer Service Center for
assistance.
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What You Do When an Employee…
• goes on leave
• terminates all jobs with you
• dies
…submit a single new Member Contract Record with Work Status set to the
appropriate leave, or “TRMNTN - Termination,” or “DECESD - Deceased.” Set the
Work Status Start Date to the date the leave began, or the date of termination or the
date of death. In the case of termination or death, also set the BOC Flag, Outstanding
Service Credit Flag, and BOC/Svc End Date fields to appropriate values. All of the
employee’s other Member Contract Records will be end-dated automatically.
• returns from a leave
• begins a new job with you
• receives a waiver denial
…submit a new Member Contract Record for each job the employee will be working
for you. If the employee is returning from leave, the Member Contract Record(s)
showing the leave will be end-dated automatically. (Waiver denials require the
employer to manually end-date previous “ACTIVW” record.)
• requests a waiver from PSERS membership
…submit a single new Member Contract Record with Work Status set to ”ACTIVW -
Waiver Request” and Work Status Start Date set to the date the waiver was
requested. Do not edit the existing Member Contract Record(s) for this employee.
• terminates one job with you but continues working for you in another job
…end-date the Member Contract Record for the position being ended, as described
under End-Dating a Member Contract Record.
• requires a Work Report Adjustment for a fiscal year prior to 2004-2005
…contact the Employer Service Center for further assistance. See Contacting PSERS
on page 205.
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Changing Member Contract Records Online
You can only EDIT a Member Contract Record if you need to end-date it. In all other
cases, you will be submitting a new Member Contract Record, as described in
Member Contract Records – Creating Individually on page 41. Contact PSERS
Employer Service Center to make changes to an existing Contract Record.
End-Dating a Member Contract Record
In some cases, you must “end-date” an existing Member Contract Record.
Example: An employee works per diem as a substitute teacher and also works a
part-time, hourly position providing office help. As her office hours increase, she
decides to stop working as a substitute teacher. Edit the Member Contract Record
that describes the per diem substitute teacher position. Set the Work Status End Date
to the final date of work at this position.
From the “Member Contract Info” sub-menu on the left side of the screen, click
“View/Edit Member Contract.” You will be prompted to enter the social security
number for the employee. Enter the social security number and click “Submit.”
• If the social security number you entered already has at least one Member
Contract Record set up, you will see a list of these records:
• Click “Detail” next to the Member Contract Record to be viewed or edited.
You will see the Member Contract Information window.
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For more information on this window and the fields on it, see Member Contract
Records – Create Online on page 41.
• Edit the Work Status End Date. Enter the last date the Work Status
described in this Member Contract Record was / will be valid. For example, if
the employee is ending work in this position as of March 1, 2006, enter
03 01 2006.
• Click “Save”.
After saving, you will be returned to the above screen, with the message, “Msg –
Member contract created successfully” near the top of the screen. At this point, the
record has been saved. You may make additional changes and save those, or you
may click “Cancel” to exit from this screen. Clicking “Cancel” will cause you to lose
any changes you made since the last “Save.”
Correcting an Error in a Member Contract
If you make an error when you submit a Member Contract Record, follow the
directions under End-Dating a Member Contract Record.
If you do not catch the error until after you have submitted your next monthly Work
Report, you can only change the Work Status End Date field. To change another
field, contact PSERS Employer Service Center.
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Changing Member Contract Records by Submitting a File
This process is the same as submitting new Member Contract Records. See Member
Contract Records - Create by Uploading a File on page 52 for details on this process.
The only field that you can edit on a Member Contract is the End Date field.
End-Dating a Member Contract Record
In some cases, you must “end-date” an existing Member Contract Record, as directed
under What You Do When an Employee….
In order to end-date a Member Contract Record, submit a Member Contract Record
where all information matches the current Member Contract Record, except for the
Work Status End Date. Submit the appropriate date in this field.
Example: An employee works per diem as a substitute teacher and also works a
part-time, hourly position providing office help. As her office hours increase, she
decides to stop working as a substitute teacher. Submit a Member Contract Record
where all information matches the Member Contract Record for the per diem
substitute teacher position, except for the Work Status End Date. In this field, submit
the final date of work as a substitute teacher.
Examples
The following examples detail how to create Member Contract Records when an
employee’s work status changes. For information on how to REPORT the employee
during a time of change, see When An Employee’s Work Status Changes on page 109.
Example #1: A teacher takes on a job as Principal, which involves leaving the
teaching job. End-date the existing teacher Member Contract Record by setting Work
Status End Date to the last date the employee will work as a teacher. Then, create a
new Member Contract Record for the Principal position, with Work Status Start Date
as the following day. (The first day working as a Principal.)
Example #2: An employee works multiple positions for you and goes on leave.
Submit a single new Member Contract Record with Work Status set to the appropriate
type of leave and Work Status Start Date set to the date the leave began. PSERS will
modify all of the employee’s existing Member Contract Records with you automatically
to reflect the leave.
If an employee works multiple positions for you and is only going on leave from one or
some of these positions, contact PSERS to set just the appropriate Member Contract
Records to leave and keep the others open. See Contacting PSERS on page 205.
When an employee returns from leave, submit new Member Contract Records for the
position(s) being resumed. PSERS will automatically end-date all of the leave
Contract Records.
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Example #3: An employee dies. Submit a single new Member Contract Record with
Work Status set to “DECESD – Deceased” and Work Status Start Date set to the date
of death. Also set the BOC Flag, Outstanding Service Credit Flag, and BOC/Svc End
Date fields to appropriate values. PSERS will modify all of the employee’s existing
Member Contract Records with you automatically.
Any Member Contract Records the employee has with other employers will not be
affected, since the employee may have different Balance of Contract and Outstanding
Service values with each employer.
Example #4: An employee terminates all employment with you. Submit a single new
Member Contract Record with Work Status set to “TRMNTN – Termination” and Work
Status Start Date set to the date of termination. Also set the BOC Flag, Outstanding
Service Credit Flag, and BOC/Svc End Date fields to appropriate values. PSERS will
modify all of the employee’s existing Member Contract Records with you
automatically.
If the employee is only terminating one or more positions with you and is still working
another position, do not set the Work Status to “TRMNTN - Termination.” Instead,
change the Work Status End Date for the positions that are ending.
Example #5: A part-time employee requests a waiver from PSERS membership.
Submit a single new Member Contract Record with Work Status set to “ACTIVW -
Waiver Request.” Set the Work Status Start Date to the day of employment for the
position being waived.
Only part-time employees can request a waiver from PSERS membership. To make
sure the employee qualifies for the waiver, see Waiving Membership When Employed
Part-Time on page 20. When you set an employee’s Work Status to indicate a waiver
has been requested, PSERS will send a packet of information to the employee
automatically, explaining how waivers work and providing a Membership Waiver
(PSRS-51) form. The employer is no longer required to provide this form to the
employee.
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Chapter
5
Reporting – An Introduction
What You Will Do Monthly, Quarterly, and Annually
Monthly:
• Submit Member Demographic Information and at least one Member
Contract Record for each of your new employees. Refer to Member
Demographic information on page 23 and Member Contract Records on
page 37.
• Transmit a Work Report to PSERS by the 10 th of the month to report the
previous month’s wages, contributions, and service (where applicable). See
How are Work Reports Transmitted to PSERS? on page 131.
You may find it is better to submit Work Reports before the 10 th of the month,
in order to check the total amount of your Member (Employee) Contributions
before you remit these to PSERS. These remittances are due at PSERS by
the 10 th of the month.
• After transmitting the Work Report, validate it. This process will detect most
errors that may be in the Work Report. Correct all errors by the 20 th of the
month and approve your report. See How are Work Reports Transmitted
to PSERS? on page 131.
• Remit Member (Employee) Contributions and Member Purchase of
Service Installments to PSERS by the 10 th of the month. These are the
contributions you withheld from employees’ wages during the previous
month. If you are mailing a check, we suggest you mail it by the 5 th of the
month to allow mail-handling time and ensure the check reaches us by the
10 th of the month. Interest will be charged for late payments. For details, see
Payments – Remitting to PSERS on page 185.
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Quarterly, Annual, or As-Needed:
• Pay your employer share of the retirement contributions to PSERS
quarterly. For due dates, see page 82 (Due Dates under Payments –
Remitting to PSERS). Interest will be charged for late payments.
• Submit Work Report Adjustments as needed. Salary or service must be
correct through Work Report Adjustments due to problems you will encounter
when reporting through the normal Work Reports. See Reporting – Work
Report Adjustments on page 129.
• If you are not reporting service time for your salaried employees monthly,
report this service time annually, as part of June’s Work Report, which
must be submitted by July 10 th . Service time for all hourly and per diem
employees must be included in monthly Work Reports as the service occurs.
• If needed, submit form Request for Reporting Unit Credit (PSRS-709) to receive
credit for contributions you paid for an employee on a paid leave who does not
return from the leave or upon returning does not remain in your employ for a
sufficient time (see Reporting – Leaves of Absence on page 113). In these
situations, see Refund of Contributions / Credit for Salary Reported on page 199.
Do not fill our form Request for Reporting Unit Credit (PSRS-709) to receive a
credit for contributions you paid for non-qualifying part-time employees
during or after July 2004. This process is automated, so you will receive
credits automatically when appropriate.
What Earnings Qualify for Contributions and
Contribution Rates
For retirement purposes, all employee earnings (salary/wages, sick pay, pay during
leave, bonuses, etc.) are either qualified or unqualified. Retirement contributions
must be paid on qualified earnings and must not be paid on unqualified earnings.
Qualified earnings must be reported to PSERS in Monthly Work Reports. Unqualified
earnings need not be reported but may be reported in Monthly Work Reports under
“Non Retirement Covered Compensation” (NRCC). See How are Work Reports
Transmitted to PSERS? on page 131.
Qualified Earnings
The types of payments listed below are considered to be qualified earnings for
retirement purposes if they are paid to a school employee who is eligible for PSERS
membership. (See Membership—Eligibility and Waivers on page 13.) Retirement
contributions must be paid on these earnings.
In the monthly Work Reports, you must report earnings in the field indicated
for each type of payment.
• Regular Salary/Wages - Salary/wages based on the standard pay
schedule for which the employee is rendering service. Report these
earnings in the Base field.
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• Overtime - Wages, paid over and above the regular salary, which
represent additional hours worked. Report these earnings in the OT
(Overtime) field.
• Extracurricular activities - Wages paid for additional duties performed
after normal working hours should be included in the SUPP (Supplemental)
field. Examples of these earnings are wages paid to coaches, ticket takers,
chaperones for school activities, yearbook overseers, etc.
If you employ an individual solely for an extracurricular activity and
they have qualified employment, then the earnings would be reported
in the Base field as qualified salary. The member cannot be currently
receiving a PSERS annuity and they cannot have waived membership
in PSERS.
• Jury duty - You must withhold and pay retirement contributions on the
regular, full salary of employees who are serving jury duty. If you are
paying the employee the regular, full salary, report this as usual in the Base
field. If you are paying the employee the difference between the regular,
full salary and the amount the employee is paid for serving on jury duty,
report the amount you actually pay in the Base field and report the amount
the employee is paid for the jury duty in the URCC (Unpaid Retirement
Covered Compensation) field. Keep the Work Status as “ACTIVE –
Actively Working” for employees on jury duty.
• Difference payments – This type of payment applies if you pay a teacher
who is on leave the difference between the teacher’s regular, full salary
and the salary you pay to the substitute teacher who fills in for this teacher.
In this case, you must pay retirement contributions on the regular, full
salary. Report the amount you actually pay in the Base field and report the
amount that is not paid in the Unpaid Retirement Covered Compensation
field.
• Incentive payments – Based on a Commonwealth Court decision,
incentive payments are retirement-covered compensation. The following
criteria must be met:
The payment must be tied to work performance.
There is an objective means to calculate the payment.
The employer is contractually obligated to make the payment if the
performance standards are met and are not discretionary or subjective.
The payment is a significant part of the employee’s income.
If the above criteria are met, report the incentive payment in the SUPP
(Supplemental) field and withhold retirement contributions as you would on
other pay to this employee. If the employee is part-time hourly or per diem
and is not yet having contributions withheld, report the incentive payment in
the WNC (Wages No Contribution) field.
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Example #1: All classroom reading teachers whose students show an
average increase in reading ability of X% from the scores earned by an
established testing method will earn an additional $1,000 payment at the
close of the school year. The test(s) must be given during the first 4 weeks
of the school year to establish a base reading level for each student and
during the last 4 weeks of the school year to establish the reading level at
the close of the school year.
Example #2: A bus driver will receive an additional X% of their yearly
salary if they have a whole school year with no accidents and no late runs.
Late runs caused by weather conditions will not be counted against the
driver. Adverse weather conditions will be determined using the standard
school policy.
• Paid Leave - Sick, annual, or personal leave paid to an employee who is
on leave and is NOT making retirement contributions while on the leave
MUST be reported. This type of payment is considered to be qualified
earnings when an employee is reported to PSERS as being on a noncontributing
leave, is NOT receiving Worker’s Compensation while on
leave, and is then paid salary for their accumulated sick leave, annual
leave, and/or personal leave. PSERS considers this payment for “used”
leave, which qualifies as retirement-covered compensation. Report this
type of pay in the Base field and record the contributions on it in the
Contributions field. Report service time for this payment in the Days or
Hours field.
If you are reporting the employee’s regular, full salary in the WNC (Wages
No Contribution) field during the leave, do NOT do so when you report the
accumulated sick leave, annual leave, and/or personal leave. The WNC
(Wages No Contribution) field should only be used if ALL of the salary in a
Work Report Record is unpaid and is available for Purchase of Service.
Exception: If the employee is receiving Worker’s Compensation during
the leave, do NOT report any accumulated sick leave, annual leave, and/or
personal leave that you pay to the employee. Continue to report the
employee normally.
• Employee dies while in service - Payment to an employee’s beneficiary
or estate for time worked prior to the employee's death. Record this
payment in the Base field and make contributions on it normally.
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Part-Time Hourly and Per Diem Employees
Part-time hourly and per diem employees become eligible for retirement
contributions on their 500 th hour or 80 th day of employment in a school year. This
service time is cumulative among all PSERS employers, so you must begin
withholding contributions when the total employment between you and the other
employer(s) reaches 80 days or 500 hours. PSERS will notify you if you do not
begin withholding contributions at the necessary time.
You have two basic choices for these employees:
1. Withhold and report contributions to PSERS from the first day of
employment. In this case, report the employee’s earnings as described
under Qualified Earnings.
or…
2. Wait and make contributions when the employee reaches 500 hours or 80
days. In this case, prior to the 80th day / 500th hour, report all earnings
that would normally be qualified in the WNC (Wages No Contribution) field.
Do not use the Base, OT (Overtime), SUPP (Supplemental), URCC
(Unpaid Retirement Covered Compensation), or EXSAL (Excess Salary)
fields.
You must withhold contributions beginning with the employee's 80th day
or 500th hour. At this time, you must also begin paying the employer
contributions. The employee and the employer will be billed for the
contributions on the wages reported in the WNC (Wages No
Contributions) filed.
PSERS helps you determine when a part-time employee qualifies for retirement
contributions:
• If you do not pay employer contributions for an employee who qualifies,
PSERS will send you a letter and bill you for the contributions you should
have made. PSERS will also bill the employee for the employee’s share of
the contributions that should have been made.
• If you make employer contributions for an employee and that employee
never reaches 80 days or 500 hours of employment in that school year,
PSERS will credit the contributions to your account after the end of the
school year.
• If an employee does not reach qualification status in a school year and
member contributions were deducted, PSERS will refund the member after
all employer reporting is competed for that school year. An Application for
Partial Refund (Non-Qualifying Service) is not required.
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Maximum Earnings Subject to Contributions
IRS Section 401(a)(17) of the Internal Revenue Code limits the amount of
compensation that is subject to retirement contributions for active employees entering
PSERS membership on or after July 1, 1996.
• For employees who became PSERS’ members before July 1, 1996, there is
no maximum earning level beyond which retirement contributions should not
be made. Contributions must be made on all qualifying earnings for these
employees, regardless of how much they earn in a calendar year.
• For employees who became PSERS’ member on or after July 1, 1996, the
maximum amount of earnings that qualify for retirement contributions may not
exceed the following amounts:
Calendar Year Reportable Compensation Limit
2006 $220,000
2007 $225,000
If an employee earns more in a calendar year than the limit shown above, all
salary that exceeds this limit should be reported in the EXSAL (Excess Salary)
field on the employee’s Work Report Records for the remainder of that
CALENDAR year. No retirement contributions should be made on this excess
salary.
If a determination period consists of fewer than 12 months, the compensation limit
for that year will be multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the number
of months in the determination period and the denominator of which is 12.
Example: For an employee who works for 5 months in 2006, the reportable
compensation limit would be $91,667 ($220,000 x 5/12).
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Unqualified Earnings (Non Retirement Covered
Compensation)
The Public School Employees' Retirement Board's Regulations, 22 Pa. Code §211.2
states that certain types of payments you make to your employees must not be
included in a retirement calculation.
It is highly recommended that you report unqualified earnings to PSERS to reduce
future questions, but it is not required. If reported, unqualified earnings must be
reported in the NRCC (Non Retirement Covered Compensation) field in your monthly
Work Reports.
Below are the types of payments made to a school employee eligible for PSERS
membership that are unqualified earnings.
• Bonuses: As compared with incentive payments, which ARE qualified
earnings, bonuses are paid as an extra amount outside of the contract
between you and the employee and/or are based on subjective criteria.
Example: An employer makes a payment of $1,000 to an employee in
recognition of exceptional performance in the current school year. The
payment is outside of the employee’s contract. This payment is a bonus
because there was no contractual obligation to make the payment and
defining an “exceptional performance” is subjective.
• Severance Payments: Any payment that is contingent upon an employee
retiring is not eligible for retirement contributions.
Example: An employer agrees to pay $5,000 to any member who retires
during the school year. This payment is not compensation for retirement
because it is contingent upon retirement.
• Additional Unqualified Payments: the following types of payments are not
eligible for retirement contributions:
Any payment you make to a non-salary reduction Internal Revenue
Code 403(b) tax sheltered annuity, or similar payment. Although it
may be considered compensation, it is not part of the stated salary for
the job position.
Example: If the employer agrees to make a contribution to an
employee’s 403(b) plan in lieu of a salary increase, etc., the amount of
the contribution should be reported in the NRCC (Non Retirement
Covered Compensation) field in your monthly Work Reports.
Any payments (remuneration or a profit derived from one’s office)
received by a school employee for school service that is not based on
the standard pay schedule for which they are rendering service.
Payment for unused sick leave if paid in a lump sum.
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Payment of salary from sick leave, annual, or personal leave while an
employee is on a non-contributing leave and is receiving a Worker’s
Compensation benefit. This is considered payment for “unused” leave.
Payment to an employee while on a non-contributing leave when the
compensation does not equal at least one-half of the employee's regular
contract salary (see Reporting – Leaves of Absence on page 113.)
Special payments for health and welfare plans based on the hours
employed.
Payment for unused vacation days or annual leave.
Payment for unused personal days.
Extracurricular pay while on a non-contributing leave during normal
work hours.
Payments for attending school seminars and conventions.
Reimbursements for expenses, including tuition.
Payments or a profit derived from one’s office that may be negotiated in
a collective bargaining agreement for the express purpose of enhancing
the compensation factor for retirement benefits.
Payments made because of settlement or an arbitration or court case
when the settlement involves less than full reinstatement, back pay,
and benefits.
Interest payment included with settlements or arbitration of a court
case.
All settlements or salary from arbitration will be reviewed by PSERS on
a case-by-case basis. Send the information in writing to PSERS. Be
sure to state what the settlement represents in detail and what the
salary payment represents. You must provide a copy of the court
award or arbitration.
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Salaries for PSERS retirees hired for employment due to an
emergency or shortage of personnel. An emergency is
characterized as an increase in workload that creates a serious
impairment of service to the public or a shortage of appropriate subject
certified teachers or personnel.
Salaries for PSERS retirees hired for an extracurricular activity. This
applies only if hired under both of the following conditions:
1. The retiree is hired for an extracurricular position that is conducted
outside of the regular instructional hours and is not part of the
school’s mandated curriculum.
2. The retiree is employed under a separate written contract with you;
and the written contract contains both:
a) A waiver by the retiree of any potential retirement benefits that
could result from the post-retirement employment, and…
b) A release of both you and PSERS from any liability for benefits
related to the post-retirement employment.
Payments to a student who is working as part of the student’s
curriculum. If the work is NOT part of the curriculum, it is considered
to be QUALIFIED earnings if the student is age 15 or older.
Salary paid to employees serving as PIAA officials (they are
considered independent contractors contracted through PIAA).
Payments to an employee on a leave of absence due to a collective
bargaining issue, in some circumstances. Contact PSERS to determine
this. (This is a case-by-case basis). To contact PSERS, see Contacting
PSERS on page 205.
Payment to an employee in lieu of a benefit the employee is eligible to
receive, or any reimbursement received by the employee. (These
payments do not become part of your standard pay schedule.)
Example: Payments in lieu of your employer-sponsored vision and
dental plan.
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Consequences of Reporting Earnings Incorrectly
Employers frequently make payments to their employees in excess of base salary.
PSERS needs to know which payments count as retirement compensation and which
do not.
It is imperative to classify your payments to employees correctly. An employee must
pay retirement contributions on their qualified earnings. In addition, these earnings
are used to calculate the employee’s final average salary for retirement benefits. If
the employee’s final average salary does not reflect their long-term average salary,
this will trigger an audit of the employee’s account.
See Reporting – An Introduction starting on page 65 for more information.
When an employee’s base salary changes unexpectedly without a change in Work
Status or Job Title that explains this change, PSERS will review your payments to
this employee to determine if they represent compensation for retirement purposes.
This review may require you to retrieve old records for this employee.
Example: When employers grant large salary increases to employees at or near
retirement age, it has the effect of greatly increasing the employee’s final average
salary. PSERS sees these salary increases as being severance pay and therefore,
excludes them from "compensation" by the regulatory definition.
Please remember that the incorrect reporting of salaries could cause the following
problems:
• Your required contribution to PSERS might increase. This could affect your
available budget. The rate used to calculate your share of contributions is
computed as a percentage of the total compensation you and other employers pay
to all the employees who are active members of PSERS. Reporting incorrect
salary/wages could inflate the employer contribution rate for all employers.
• A delay in processing a retiring employee’s final benefits. When PSERS
calculates a retiring employee’s benefits, the contributions, service, and
interest are checked. If the employee’s final average salary does not
reflect the employees’ long-term average salary, this will trigger a full audit
of the employee’s account.
• If PSERS suspects that a salary you report on a monthly Work Report is
incorrect, we will contact you for an explanation. If it turns out that you reported
the earnings incorrectly, you will need to file a Work Report Adjustment to
correct the situation. See Reporting – Work Report Adjustments on page 129.
• You must refund the excess to the employee if excess contributions were
withheld from the employee’s earnings as a result of misreported salary.
• You must contact the employee to obtain these unpaid contributions if
insufficient contributions were withheld from the employee’s earnings as a
result of misreported salary.
• Inaccurate retirement estimates being given to employees. PSERS
provides employees an estimate of their retirement benefits before an
employees’ retirement. PSERS does not audit the employee's entire
account to provide this estimate. If incorrect salary was reported, the
estimate will include the incorrect salary. Therefore, the estimate may
not reflect the correct retirement benefit.
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Determining Employee Contribution Rates
The contribution rate for each employee depends on several factors. You must
determine the correct rate for each employee when that employee first begins work
for you. It is also possible for an employee’s contribution rate to change under
certain circumstances.
As a double-check, PSERS calculates the contributions automatically for each
employee and compares these contributions against the contribution reported in your
Work Report. If the contributions do not match, PSERS notifies you of the
discrepancy by identifying the information as an exception in the work report and
charges or credits the difference to your account with PSERS. Employers should
always check for exceptions in the work report before approving. Contact
PSERS immediately if you do not agree with the rate PSERS displays in the
exception message. The rate will be reviewed for accuracy.
Membership Contribution Coverage Group
Every employee belongs to the Dual Coverage Group. A member of the Dual
Coverage (D) group makes full contributions to both the Social Security
Administration and PSERS.
Membership Class
Employees who become a member of PSERS on or after July 1, 1967, automatically
belong to the standard rate group. These employees are also members of the Dual
Coverage group.
All employees who become a member of PSERS after June 30, 2001, are
automatically in Class T-D membership and have a standard contribution rate of 7.50
percent of salary.
Employees who became members of PSERS prior to July 1, 2001, had a standard
contribution rate of 5.25 percent or 6.25 percent of salary. If the employees elected
the new Class T-D, their contribution rate increased by 1.25 percent of their
previously established contribution rate.
Employees who did not elect the new Class T-D membership remain in Class T-C
with a standard contribution rate of 5.25 percent or 6.25 percent of salary.
If an employee has had a break in service or other qualifying event, consult the chart
on page 76 to see if the employee’s contribution rate has changed.
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Quick Reference – When the Contribution Rate Changes
Certain situations can cause the contribution rate for an employee to change:
Hired…
prior to July 22,
1983
prior to July 22,
1983
prior to July 22,
1983
prior to July 22,
1983
prior to July 22,
1983
after July 22,
1983, but prior
to July 1, 2001
and…
the employee has a 90-day or longer
break in service, or a 2 year noncontributing
leave and returned after July
1983.
A break in service is defined as a 90-day
period during which the employee is not
employed.
Summer vacation is not considered a
break in service.
the employee refunds, vests or takes a
normal, early, or disability retirement and
subsequently returns to service on or after
7/1/2001.
a part-time member who qualifies for
membership each school year
the employee is purchasing the period
beginning with the effective date of hire to
the effective date on which retirement
withholding began. Submit a letter to the
Member Accounting Section certifying the
employee's effective date, that the
employee was employed prior to the time
purchased, and retirement contributions
were deducted after July 22, 1983.
An employee who refunds but returns their
checks because they decided not to
refund is allowed to remain at the rate as
long as the employee has returned to
service within 90 days of leaving service.
The check must be returned to PSERS
within 90 days.
a part-time employee who fails to qualify
for membership during a school year
if Class T-C,
report at…
if Class T-D,
report at…
6.25% 7.50%
N/A (Return to
membership will
qualify under
Class T-D)
7.50%
5.25% 6.50%
5.25% 6.50%
5.25% 6.50%
N/A (Return to
membership will
qualify under
Class T-D)
7.50%
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Exceptions
• An employee who transfers to another employer is considered not to have a
break in service if the transfer is made within 90 days of resignation from the
former employment.
• An employee who is furloughed or on a leave of absence is permitted to
return to service within a two-year period and maintain the previous rate of
contribution.
• An employee who does not work because of a strike maintains the previous
rate of contribution.
• Part-time employees reported, who qualified in a previous school year,
worked a short period of time in the next school year, went on leave without
pay or were furloughed should remain at the established rate. This is
provided they returned to service within a two-year period even though they
may have refunded the money reported in a school year for which they did
not qualify.
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Chapter
6
Reporting – Monthly Work Report
You must report employee earnings, contributions, Member Purchase of Service
Installments, and work status monthly. In addition, service time for all non-salaried
employees must be reported at the same time. Service time for salaried employees
may be submitted monthly or annually; if you choose to submit this information
annually, you must include it in the June Monthly Work Report.
You must submit a Work Report Record for every employee who has not waived
membership in PSERS. This includes part-time employees from the first day of
employment.
A Work Report Record contains the following information:
• Employee’s social security number and birth date.
• The fiscal year for the earnings and/or contributions being reported.
• Wage type (hourly, per diem, or salaried).
• Work status (“ACTIVE - Actively Working,” on some form of leave, etc.).
• Employee’s base earnings, excluding earnings that exceed the IRS
401(a)(17) limitations.
• If the employee is on a qualified leave, any salary that was not paid but on
which the employee is making contributions.
• Any overtime compensation.
• Any supplemental compensation paid for additional duties, or any salary for
another job that does not have a separate Member Contract Record.
• Employee’s retirement contributions withheld by the employer.
• If employee is paid hourly, hours worked or hours of service time earned
while on a contributing leave.
• If employee is paid per diem, days worked or days of service time earned
while on a contributing leave; for salaried employees, service time is reported
in the DAYS field, either monthly or annually.
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• If employee is not contributing (due to a leave or because the employee is
part-time and has not yet reached 80 days or 500 hours of service), salary
that was or would have been paid.
• Any Member Purchase of Service Installments.
• Any excess salary paid above the IRS 401(a)(17) limitations.
• Any compensation that is not eligible for retirement contributions, such as a
bonus payment.
To make it easier to create Work Reports, PSERS allows you to include employees’
earnings, contributions, and service time in the monthly Work Report that
corresponds to when this work was paid rather than the calendar month in which the
work was performed.
Reporting by Pay Periods
If you pay your employees on a monthly or semimonthly basis, you will probably find
it easiest to report by pay periods. You may also use this reporting method if you pay
on a different time schedule, such as weekly or biweekly.
Example: An employer who pays twelve-month employees on a biweekly basis
chooses to report by pay period, as follows:
Pay Period
Dates (all are in
2006):
Include in this
monthly Work
Report (set the
“Reporting Period
Date” in the Work
Report Header to):
Set the “Fiscal
Year Ending”
field in each
Work Report
Record to:
Transmit
the Work
Report to
PSERS
by:
Example
Name:
Check
Date:
Pay A May 2-14 May 21 May 2006 2006 06/10/06
Pay B May 15-28 June 4 May 2006 2006 06/10/06
Pay C May 29-June 11 June 18 June 2006 2006 07/10/06
Pay D June 12-25 July 2 June 2006 2006 07/10/06
Pay E June 26-July 9 July 16 July 2006 2007 08/10/06
Pay F July 10-July 23 July 30 July 2006 2007 08/10/06
All pay periods that END in a month are included in that monthly Work Report,
regardless of when the pay period began or when the paycheck was issued.
On each employee’s Work Report Record, the “Fiscal Year Ending” field is set to the
fiscal year when the pay period ended. In Pay D above, the paycheck was issued in
the 2006-2007 fiscal year (July 2), but the Fiscal Year Ending field will be set to 2006
to match the pay period ending date (June 25 in the 2005-2006 fiscal year). In Pay
E, the pay period began in the 2005-2006 fiscal year (June 26) but ended in the
2006-2007 fiscal year (July 9); the Fiscal Year Ending field must be set to 2007.
Note: Employees who work ten months out of the school year and are paid the
Balance of Contract over he summer must reflect the year the salary was earned and
not the year was paid in the “Fiscal Year Ending” field.
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Reporting by Paycheck Date
Some employers may prefer to report each payroll based on the month in which the
paychecks were issued for that pay period.
Example: An employer who pays twelve-month employees on a biweekly basis
chooses to report by paycheck date, as follows:
Pay Period
Dates (all are in
2006):
Include in this
monthly Work
Report (set the
“Reporting Period
Date” in the Work
Report Header to):
Set the “Fiscal
Year Ending”
field in each
Work Report
Record to:
Transmit
the Work
Report to
PSERS
by:
Example
Name:
Check
Date:
Pay A May 2-14 May 21 May 2006 2006 06/10/06
Pay B May 15-28 June 4 June 2006 2006 07/10/06
Pay C May 29-June 11 June 18 June 2006 2006 07/10/06
Pay D June 12-25 July 2 July 2006 2006 08/10/06
Pay E June 26-July 9 July 16 July 2006 2007 08/10/06
Pay F July 10-July 23 July 30 July 2006 2007 08/10/06
All checks issued in a month are included in that monthly Work Report, regardless of
when the actual work was performed.
On each employee’s Work Report Record, the “Fiscal Year Ending” field must be set
to the fiscal year when the pay period ended, so that the wages and service will be
applied to the correct year. In Pay D above, the paycheck was issued in the 2006-
2007 fiscal year (July 2), but the Fiscal Year Ending field must be set to 2006, since
the pay period ended in the 2005-2006 fiscal year (June 25).
If a pay period crosses fiscal years, set the “Fiscal Year Ending” field on each
employee’ Work Report Record to the fiscal year of the pay period ENDING date. In
Pay E, the pay period began in the 2005-2006 fiscal year (June 26) but ended in the
2006-2007 fiscal year (July 9). The Fiscal Year Ending field must be set to 2007.
In this example, the July 2006 Work Report includes a pay period from fiscal year
2006 and a pay period from fiscal year 2007. Because of this, each employee would
have two Work Report Records in the July 2006 Work Report in this example: one
that includes Pay D and one that includes Pay E.
Note: Employees who work ten months out of the school year and are paid the
Balance of Contract over he summer must reflect the year the salary was earned and
not the year was paid in the “Fiscal Year Ending” field.
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Payment Due Dates
• You must remit Member Contributions and Member Purchase of Service
Installments to PSERS in time for them to arrive at PSERS by the 10 th of the
month (the same day your monthly Work Report is due.) These are the
contributions you withheld from employees’ wages during the previous
month, as well as any Member Purchase of Service Installments your
employees are having withheld from their paychecks. If you are paying by
check, we suggest you mail the checks to us by the 5 th of the month to allow
mail-handling time and ensure they reach us by the 10 th of the month.
Interest will be charged for late payments.
• If the Member Contributions you remit to PSERS are less than 90% of the
amount due for that month (plus 100% of any overdue amount), you will be
charged interest on the unpaid amount at a rate of 6% per annum. Interest
will be charged on the 21 st of each month for every day the payment was late
(starting with the day after payment was due). If you pay at least 90% but
less than 100% of the due amount during the month it is due, the remainder
must be paid by the 10 th of the next month, or interest will begin to accrue on
this amount. See Payments – Remitting to PSERS on page 185.
• If the Member Purchase of Service Installments you remit to PSERS are less
than 100% of the amount due for that month, you will be charged interest on
the unpaid amount at a rate of 6% per annum. Interest will be charged on the
21 st of each month for every day the payment was late (starting with the day
after payment was due). See Payments – Remitting to PSERS on page 185.
• You may find it is better to submit Work Reports before the 10 th of the
month in order to check the total amount of your Member (Employee)
Contributions and Member Purchase of Service Installments before you
remit these to PSERS.
• You must submit Member Demographic Information and at least one Member
Contract Record for an employee BEFORE you submit a Work Report
Record for that employee.
Employee Working Multiple Jobs for You
It is not unusual for an employee to work more than one job for you.
Example: A teacher coaches a sport team and helps at lunchtime.
Depending on the jobs worked, you may have entered more than one Member
Contract Record for the employee. When reporting for this employee, you may need
to report these positions separately or combine them in one Work Report Record.
For details, see Reporting an Employee Who Works Multiple Positions for You on
page 106.
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Changes in an Employee’s Work Status
Changes to an employee’s work status are indicated by submitting a new Member
Contract Record and by end-dating the previous existing Member Contract Record.
See Member Contract Records – Changing Information for an Employee on page 58
if an employee:
• Requests a waiver from PSERS membership.
• Goes on leave.
• Returns from a leave.
• Begins a new job with you.
• Terminates one or more jobs with you.
• Dies.
For information on how to report the employee during a time of change, see When
An Employee’s Work Status Changes on page 109.
How are Work Reports Transmitted to PSERS?
First, access the Employer Services window in the online system. If you are not
familiar with how to do this, see Accessing the Online System on page 1.
From the Employer Services window, click “Work Reporting” in the left-hand menu.
A sub-menu appears, as shown next:
Work Reporting Sub-Menu
For further details on the Monthly Work Report Info Sub-Menu refer to the chapter
titled Information Sub—Menu on page 157.
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Monthly Work Report – Create Online
Some employers may prefer to enter Work Report Records directly online rather than
uploading a file to PSERS. Small employers who do not have a payroll/HR software
system that can create Work Report files automatically typically use this option.
Work Report Records must be created by the 10 th day of the month following the
month being reported and must be approved for submission to PSERS by the 20 th of
the month.
First, access the Work Reporting sub-menu, as described in Reporting -- Monthly
Work Report on page 79.
From the “Work Reporting” sub-menu on the left side of the screen, click “Create
Work Report.” You will see the following on your screen:
Enter the Year and Month in which the salary and service you are reporting
was earned. Enter the year in YYYY format, with no spaces, dashes, or other
characters. Select the Month from the drop-down box. Use the actual calendar
month and year of the report.
After entering the Year and Month, click Create. You will see the following screen:
This screen is the Work Area Detail Window. From here you will add or edit your
employees’ Work Report Records, as described in Work Reporting Work Area on
page 90.
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Monthly Work Report - Create by Uploading a File
For information on how to submit Monthly Work Reports by uploading a file see
Submitting Records by Uploading Files on page 159.
The file must be uploaded by the 10 th of the month following the month being
reported. You have until the 20 th of the month to correct any errors and to approve
the Work Report for submission to PSERS.
Only one Work Report can be submitted for a particular month, so ensure your Work
Report is complete and correct before you approve it for submission to PSERS. See
Reporting – Ensuring the Monthly Work Report is Complete and Correct on page 105.
Reminder: Before you can submit a Work Report Record for an employee, Member
Demographic Information and at least one Member Contract Record must be on file
with PSERS for that employee.
Every night, PSERS processes Work Reports that have been approved for
submission. At this time, PSERS releases the Work Report and posts the
information in it to our records. The information in your monthly Work Report will be
applied to your account with PSERS and to your employees’ accounts with us.
You may view a report that has been approved, such as a previous month’s report.
Use the Approved Reports option to do this. There is a print function on the top
right of the screen when the file is opened. You must print in landscape format.
To make any corrections after a Work Report has been released, you must submit a
Work Report Adjustment. See Reporting – Work Report Adjustments on page 129.
Format for Work Report Files
For information on how to correctly format a Work Report see the chapter
titled Correctly Formatting Files on page 161. The following pages will
illustrate in detail the layout for Work Report Files.
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Header of the Work Report File
The Work Report file must include a single-line header as the first line in the file. The
header line identifies the employer, the type of records in the file, the number of
records in the file, the date and time the file was created, and the total dollar amount
for each wage category in the file. This information must be in the following format:
Header
Record
Type
Employer
Code
Reporting
Period Date
Detail
Record
Count
R/O/C
R = Required
O = Optional
C =
Conditional Bytes Start Format & Values Sample Comments
R 1 1 Alpha (R=Work
Report)
R
Describes the incoming
file type; Member Work
Report information.
R 6 2 Numeric 6-digit
number
003456 Employer ID assigned
by PSERS
R 6 8 Date as MMYYYY 052006 The month and year
being reported in the
Work Report. Cannot
be duplicated.
R 6 14 Numeric 6-digit
number
Base Total R 12 20 Numeric as
#########.##
Unpaid
Retirement
Covered
Compensation
Total
Overtime
Total
Supplemental
Total
Wages No
Contribution
Total
Member
POS Installment
Total
Excess
Salary Total
Non-Retirement
Covered
Compensation
Creation
Date and
Time
R 12 32 Numeric
#########.##
R 12 44 Numeric
#########.##
R 12 56 Numeric
#########.##
R 12 68 Numeric
#########.##
R 12 80 Numeric
#########.##
R 12 92 Numeric as
######.##
R 12 104 Numeric as
######.##
R 12 116 Date as
MMDDYYYY
HHMM
002680 Total number of Work
Report Records.
666777888.99
or
000000000.00
666777888.99
or
000000000.00
666777888.99
or
000000000.00
666777888.99
or
000000000.00
666777888.99
or
000000000.00
666777888.99
or
000000000.00
666777888.99
or
000000000.00
666777888.99
or
000000000.00
102520061300
or
000000000.00
All fields are required. “Start” indicates what column that field begins in on the header line.
“Bytes” indicates how many bytes (characters) are in the field. All fields are a fixed-length.
Totals refer to this file only.
Total dollar amount of
Base field in all Work
Report Records.
Total dollar amount of
Unpaid Retirement
Covered Compensation
field in all Work Report
Records.
Total dollar amount of
Overtime field in all
Work Report Records.
Total dollar amount of
Supplemental field in all
Work Report Records.
Total dollar amount of
Wages No Contribution
field in all Work Report
Records.
Total dollar amount of
Member POS
Installment field in all
Work Report Records.
Total dollar amount of
Member Excess Salary
field in all Work Report
Records.
Total dollar amount of
Non-Retirement
Covered Compensation
field in all Work Report
Records.
File creation date and
time in military format.
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Record Lines in the Work Report File
Each Work Report Record must consist of a single line of information, in the
following format:
Social
Security
Number
Date of
Birth
Fiscal
Year
Ending
Wage
Type
Work
Status
R/O/C
R =
Required
O =
Optional
C =
Conditional Bytes Start
Format &
Values Sample Comments
R 9 1 Numeric 123456789 Required
R 8 10 Date as
MMDDYYYY
04121980 Required
R 4 18 Year as YYYY 2006 The fiscal year in
which the salary and
service were earned.
R 2 22 Alpha
SA
The wage type must
SA = Salary
match the Contract
PD = Per Diem
Record submitted.
HR = Hourly
R 6 24 Alpha; value from
Work Status
Table
Base C 9 30 Numeric as
######.##
Unpaid
Retirement
Covered
Compensation
C 9 39 Numeric as
######.##
ACTIVE
005000.00
or
000000.00
005000.00
or
000000.00
The work status that
was in effect at the
end of the month of
the reporting period.
This field is required
if… • Work Status
equals ACTIVE AND
both Supplemental
AND Wages No
Contribution equal
zero. • Work Status
equals SABTLC. •
Work Status equals
ACTMLC, STUDYC,
EXCHGC, SSLWCC,
UNIONC, or SSLSSC
AND Unpaid
Retirement
Contributions equals
zero. • Work Status
equals NOWORK
must be zero value.
This field is required
if…
• Work status equals
SABTLC • Work
status equals
ACTMLC, STUDYC,
EXCHGC, SSLWCC,
UNIONC, or SSLSSC
AND Base equals
zero. If Work Status
equals NOWORK
must be zero value.
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R/O/C
R =
Required
O =
Optional
C =
Format &
Conditional Bytes Start
Overtime O 9 48 Numeric as
######.##
Supplemental
Contributions
C 9 57 Numeric as
######.##
C 9 66 Numeric as
######.##
Values Sample Comments
000100.00
or
000000.00
000100.00
or
000000.00
000350.00
or
000000.00
Hours C 4 75 Numeric as #### 0160 or
0000
Days C 6 79 Numeric as
###.##
020.00
or
000.00
If Work Status equals
NOWORK must be
zero value.
If Work Status equals
ACTIVE AND both
Base AND Wages No
Contribution equal
zero, then Required.
If Work Status equals
NOWORK must be
zero value.
If Base OR
Supplemental OR
Overtime OR Unpaid
Retirement Covered
Compensation is not
zero, then
Contributions
Required. If Work
Status equals
NOWORK must be
zero value.
If Wage Type equals
HR AND
(Contributions are
greater than zero OR
Wages No
Contributions are
greater than zero)
then Required, else
Optional. If Work
Status equals NO
WORK must be zero
value.
If Wage Type equals
PD AND
(Contributions are
greater than zero OR
Wages No
Contribution greater
than zero) then
Required, else
Optional. If Work
Status equals
NOWORK must be
zero value.
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Wages No
Contribution
Excess
Salary
Member
POS
Installment
Non-
Retirement
Covered
Compensation
R/O/C
R =
Required
O =
Optional
C =
Format &
Conditional Bytes Start
C 9 85 Numeric as
######.##
O 9 94 Numeric as
######.##
C 9 103 Numeric as
######.##
O 9 112 Numeric as
######.##
Filler R 7 121 NULL Filler.
Space filled to
match fixed
length of header
record.
Values Sample Comments
000100.00
or
000000.00
000100.00
or
000000.00
000100.00
or
000000.00
000100.00
or
000000.00
This field is required
if…
• Work Status equals
ACTMLN OR
SSLWCN SSLSSN
OR STUDYN OR
EXCHGN. • Work
Status equals ACTIVE
AND (Wage Type
equals HR OR PD)
AND Base equals
zero AND
Supplemental equals
zero, then Required.
If Work Status equals
NOWORK must be
zero value.
If you are deducting
Purchase of Service
for employee, this field
must represent the
amount withheld.
If Work Status =
ACTIVE and Base
exceeds the
401(a)(17) limitation,
then Base must not be
greater the 401(a)(17)
limitation and Excess
Salary must > 0. If
Work Status equals
NOWORK must be
zero value.
Optional field for Non-
Retirement Covered
Comp, such as
payment of unused
sick time, bonus pay,
etc. If Work Status
equals NOWORK
must be zero value.
7 spaces
“Start” indicates what column that field begins in on the header line. “Bytes” indicates how
many bytes (characters) are in the field. All fields are a fixed-length. Do not leave blank spaces
except under filler.
For more information on any field, see Work Reporting Work Area on page 90.
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Uploading a Work Report File
First, access the Work Reporting sub-menu, as described in Reporting --Monthly
Work Report on page 79.
From the Work Reporting sub-menu on the left side of the screen, click “File
Upload.” The following appears on the screen:
For further information on how to upload Monthly Work Reports see Uploading
Information Files on page 163.
Work Reporting Work Area
After you create a Work Report (either by uploading a file or by creating a Work
Report online), the next step is to go to the Work Reporting Work Area.
You can reach the Work Area in any of three ways:
• By clicking “Work Area” in the File Upload window. This will take you to
the File Window of the Work Area.
or…
• By clicking “Work Area” in the Work Reporting sub-menu. This will take
you to the File Window of the Work Area.
or…
• By creating a Work Report online. In this case, you will be placed in the
Record Detail Window of the Work Area automatically. See Record
Detail Window later in this section.
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File Window
The File window displays your Work Reports. You can view Work Reports you
created through a file upload by checking the “Import Reports” option near the top of
the window, or you can view Work Reports that you created directly online by
checking the “Manual Reports” option.
Work Reports Created by File Upload
Select the “Import Reports” option near the top of the window to view Work Reports
that you created by uploading files. You will see a screen similar to the following:
For information on how to navigate in the Work Report File Window see the chapter
on Work Area—File Window on page 167.
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Work Reports Created Online
The system will automatically default to the “Import Reports” work area. You must
select the “Manual Reports” option near the top of the window to view Work Reports
that you created directly online. You will see a screen similar to the following:
For more information on how to navigate the Work Report Detail Window refer to the
chapter titled Work Area—Record Detail Window on page 171.
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Record Detail Window
The Record Detail window in the Work Reporting Work Area is used to add to,
delete, or edit the individual Work Report Records that are included in a Work Report.
Access
To access the Record Detail window, go to the File window (see File Window above)
and click “Detail” or “Edit” next to the desired Work Report.
The Record Detail window looks similar to the following example:
For more information on how to navigate the Work Report Detail Window refer to the
chapter titled Work Area—Record Detail Window on page 171.
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Adding a Work Report Record
To add a new Work Report Record to the monthly Work Report, click Add on the
Work Report Record Detail window. You will be prompted to enter the SSN (social
security number) for the employee whose work you are entering.
Enter the social security number and click “Submit.”
• If there is no Member Demographic Information on file, for the social security
number you entered, you will see the message, “Error – SSN does not exist.”
At this point, you must enter information into the appropriate fields for this Work
Report Record. The fields are described under Using the Edit Window below. You
can add or edit information in either of two ways:
Click in each field in turn and change that field on the spot.
or…
Click on Edit to the left of the Work Report Record. This will take you into
the Edit window, described under Using the Edit Window, next. This window
provides more information about any error(s) and exception(s) in the record
as you edit.
Add a Work Report Record for each employee who is to be reported. If an employee
works more than one position for you, combine the positions by Wage Type (hourly,
per diem, and salaried). For example, combine all of an employee’s hourly positions
into a single Work Report Record. The maximum number of Work Report Records
for any employee is three per fiscal year per month.
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Using the Edit Window
The Edit window allows you to add or edit information for any individual Work Report
Record. To access this window, click on “Edit” to the left of a Work Report Record in
the Work Report Record Detail window.
The Edit window looks like the following:
Note: You must use leading zeros when editing an uploaded file. This does not
apply to manual files.
Enter information into the appropriate fields. For more information on any field, see
Work Report Record Fields on page 96.
When done entering information, click Save. The record will be validated to ensure
that all information is entered in the correct format and that all necessary fields have
been filled in for this Work Report Record.
• If any errors or exceptions are found during the validation process, you will be
returned to the Edit window, and the errors or exceptions will be displayed
near the top of the window. Errors must be corrected. Exceptions are shown
for your reference, so you can verify that the information is correct. Some
sample errors include:
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• If the Work Report Record passes the validation check, it will be saved to
your monthly Work Report. You will be returned to the Edit window, with the
message, “Msg – Member work record created successfully” near the top of
the screen. At this point, the record has been saved. You may make
additional changes and save those, or you may click “Cancel” to exit from this
screen. Clicking “Cancel” will cause you to lose any changes you made since
the last “Save.” When entering new information or entering new data, always
save the file twice before leaving in order for the data to be retained.
Note: Errors are not saved on manual files. Errors are only saved to edit later on
uploaded files.
All errors must be corrected before you can save the Work Report Record and exit
from the Edit window. Exceptions are shown for your information; you may save and
exit with the exception still in place. If you must leave this window without correcting
all errors, click “Cancel.” In this case, edit the record again later.
Work Report Record Fields
Each Work Report Record contains the following fields:
• Wage Type: Select “Hourly,” “Per Diem,” or “Salary” from the drop-down
menu, based on how this position is paid. Do not leave this field blank.
If an employee is on a leave of absence, select the Wage Type for how the
employee would be paid if not on leave.
• Work Status: When you select the Wage Type, the Work Status on the
employee’s matching Member Contract Record will appear automatically. If
you need to change this to match another Member Contract Record for this
employee, use the drop-down menu.
The Work Status cannot be left blank and must match a Member Contract
Record for this employee.
Exception: There is one Work Status available in Work Reports that is not in
Member Contract Records: NOWORK. “NOWORK” is selected on the Work
Report Record if the Member Contract Record has a Work Status of “ACTIVE
- Actively Working” or “ACTIVW - Waiver Request” but the employee did NOT
work during the period being reported.
Note: PSERS requests you do not use the “NOWORK” Status until further notice.
For more information on Work Statuses, see Member Contract Records –
Create Online on page 41.
• YEAR (Fiscal Year Ending): Enter the ending year of the fiscal year in
which the salary and service were earned. Enter the year in YYYY format,
with no spaces, dashes, or other characters. This field cannot be left blank.
Example: For the 2007-2008 fiscal year, enter 2008.
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• BASE: Enter the employee’s base salary earned during the period being
reported. Do not include any earnings above the IRS 401(a)(17) limitations.
Enter the earnings as up to 6-dollar digits, a decimal point, and 2 cents digits.
Do not enter the dollar sign or any punctuation other than the single decimal
point.
Example: If the employee earned $1,233.00, enter: 1233.00.
This field must be higher than zero if any of the following is true:
Work Status is ”ACTIVE - Actively Working” AND the SUP
(Supplemental) AND WNC (Wages No Contribution) fields both equal
zero.
or…
Work Status is “SABTLC – Sabbatical Contributing Leave.”
or…
URCC (Unpaid Retirement Contributions) equals zero AND Work Status
is any paid/contributing leave of absence: “ACTMLC - Activated Military
Contributing Leave”; “STUDYC - Professional Study Contributing Leave”;
“EXCHGC - Exchange Teacher Contributing Leave”; “SSLWCC - Special
Sick Leave, Worker’s Compensation (Contributing)”; “SSLSSC - Special
Sick Leave, School Sponsored (Contributing)”; or “UNIONC - Collective
Bargaining Unit Contributing Leave.”
Leave this field empty or enter 000000.00 if Work Status is NOWORK.
• URCC (Unpaid Retirement Covered Compensation): Enter any
salary/wages that were not paid due to a contributing leave of absence, but on
which contributions were paid by the employee. Enter the amount as up to 6-
dollar digits, a decimal point, and 2 cents digits. Do not enter the dollar sign or
any punctuation other than the single decimal point.
If you are paying partial salary to the employee during the leave, enter the
amount you actually pay into the BASE field. In the URCC field, enter the
difference between the amount you are actually paying to the employee and
the full, regular salary the employee would have earned if not on leave.
Contributions must be made on the employee’s full, regular salary. For
details, see Reporting – Leaves of Absence on page 113.
Example: An employee who normally earns $3,500 per month is earning
$2,000 per month while on sabbatical. Enter 2000.00 in the BASE field and
1500.00 in the URCC field. Calculate contributions based on $3,500 and
enter these into the CONTRIB field.
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The URCC field must be higher than zero if any of the following is true:
Work Status is “SABTLC – Sabbatical Contributing Leave.”
or…
BASE equals zero AND Work Status is any paid/contributing leave of
absence: “ACTMLC - Activated Military Contributing Leave”; “STUDYC -
Professional Study Contributing Leave”; “EXCHGC - Exchange Teacher
Contributing Leave”; “SSLWCC - Special Sick Leave, Worker’s
Compensation (Contributing)”; “SSLSSC - Special Sick Leave, School
Sponsored (Contributing)”; or “UNIONC - Collective Bargaining Unit
Contributing Leave.”
Leave this field empty or enter 000000.00 if Work Status is NOWORK.
• OT (Overtime): Enter any compensation paid to the employee over and
above the regular salary, for additional hours worked. Do not include any
earnings above the IRS 401(a)(17) limitations. Enter the earnings as up to 6-
dollar digits, a decimal point, and 2 cents digits. Do not enter the dollar sign
or any punctuation other than the single decimal point.
• Leave this field empty or enter 000000.00 if Work Status is NOWORK.
• SUP (Supplemental): Enter any compensation paid to the employee over
and above the regular salary, for additional duties performed. Only enter
earnings into this field if they are eligible for retirement contributions; if not,
use the WNC (Wages No Contributions), EXSAL (Excess Salary), or NRCC
(Non Retirement Covered Compensation) field. Do not include any earnings
above the IRS 401(a)(17) limitations. Enter the earnings as up to 6-dollar
digits, a decimal point, and 2 cents digits. Do not enter the dollar sign or any
punctuation other than the single decimal point.
This field may be used to enter earnings from a part-time hourly or per diem
position that is worked in addition to a salaried position. In this case, enter
the supplemental hours worked in the HRS (Hours) field or the supplemental
days worked in the DAYS field. Include contributions on the Supplemental
wages in the CONTRIB (Contributions) field.
This field must be higher than zero if ALL of the following are true:
Work Status is “ACTIVE - Actively Working” or “ACTIVW - Waiver
Request”,
BASE equals zero,
and…
WNC (Wages No Contribution) equals zero.
Leave this field empty or enter 000000.00 if Work Status is NOWORK.
Note: PSERS requests you do not use the “NOWORK” Status until further notice.
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• HRS (Hours): For employees who are paid hourly, enter the number of
hours worked during the period being reported. Only enter hours that count
as Service Time. Enter the hours using four digits. Leading zeros should be
used.
Example: Enter 0086 for an hourly employee who worked 86 hours during
the month.
Employees on Leave: For an employee who is on a Contributing leave and
who is normally paid hourly when not on leave, enter the number of hours the
employee would have worked if not on leave. For an employee who is on a
non-contributing leave, leave HRS blank or enter: 0000.
Exception: Service time must be added for Activated Military Non-
Contributing Leaves.
This field must be higher than zero if Wage Type is Hourly AND either of the
following is true:
CONTRIB (Contributions) is greater than zero
or…
WNC (Wages No Contribution) is greater than zero AND Work Status is
“ACTIVE – Actively Working.”
Leave this field empty or enter 0000 if Work Status is NOWORK.
• DAYS: For employees who are paid on a per diem or salaried basis, enter
the number of days worked during the period being reported. Only enter days
that count as Service Time. Enter the days as 3-day digits, a decimal point,
and two partial-day digits.
Example: Enter 019.50 for a per diem employee who worked 19 ½ days
during the month.
Salaried Employees: You must report service time for salaried employees
either monthly or annually. If you prefer to report annually, fill the DAYS field
with zeroes in your monthly Work Reports for every month except June. In
the Work Report for June, enter the employee’s entire service time for the
fiscal (school) year in the DAYS field. This must include all service time
earned by the employee from July 1 to June 30.
Employees on Leave: For an employee who is on a Contributing leave and
who is normally paid on a salaried or per diem basis when not on leave, enter
the number of days the employee would have worked if not on leave. For
salaried employees, this information may be reported annually rather than
monthly, if preferred. Leave DAYS blank or enter 000.00 if an employee is on
a non-contributing leave.
Exception: Service time must be added for Activated Military Non-
Contributing Leaves.
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This field must be higher than zero if Wage Type is Per Diem (or Wage Type
is Salaried and this is the Work Report for June) AND either of the following is
true:
CONTRIB (Contributions) is greater than zero
or…
WNC (Wages No Contribution) is greater than zero AND Work Status is
“ACTIVE – Actively Working.”
Leave this field empty or enter 000.00 if Work Status is NOWORK.
• WNC (Wages No Contribution): This field is used for wages/salary (either
paid or unpaid) upon which contributions are NOT being made. Only enter
wages/salary in this field if they may be available for Purchase of Service at a
later time. There are two situations where this is the case:
If a part-time hourly or per diem employee is not contributing yet
(because the employee has worked fewer than 500 hours or 80 days
during this school year), enter the wages/salary paid to the employee
during the period being reported.
or…
If an employee is on a non-contributing leave of absence that can be
purchased later (“ACTMLN – Activated Military Non-Contributing Leave,”
“SSLSSN – Special Sick Leave, School Sponsored (Non-Contributing),”
”SSLWCN – Special Sick Leave, Worker’s Compensation (Non-
Contributing),“ “STUDYN – Professional Study Non-Contributing Leave,”
or “EXCHGN – Exchange Teacher Non-Contributing Leave”), enter the
wages/salary the employee would have earned if not on leave.
Do NOT enter anything into the WNC (Wages No Contribution) field for
employees on a non-contributing leave that cannot be purchased later
(“LEAVEN – Any Other Leave Not Listed (Non-Contributing)” or “WKCMPN –
Worker’s Compensation Non-Contributing Leave”).
Enter the amount as up to 6-dollar digits, a decimal point, and 2 cents digits.
Do not enter the dollar sign or any punctuation other than the single decimal
point.
Note: This field CANNOT be used for salaried employees. Salaried
employees must have retirement deductions withheld beginning the first day
of service unless employee is part-time salaried and PSERS membership is
waived.
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The WNC field must be higher than zero if any of the following is true:
Work Status is one of these non-contributing leaves of absence:
“ACTMLN - Activated Military Non-Contributing Leave”; “EXCHGN -
Exchange Teacher Non-Contributing Leave”; “STUDYN - Professional
Study Non-Contributing Leave”; “SSLSSN - Special Sick Leave, School
Sponsored (Non-Contributing)”; or “SSLWCN - Special Sick Leave,
Worker's Compensation (Non-Contributing)”
or…
Wage Type is Hourly or Per Diem AND BASE equals zero AND SUP
(Supplemental) equals zero AND Work Status is “ACTIVE - Actively
Working” or “ACTIVW - Waiver Request.”
Leave this field empty or enter 000000.00 if Work Status is NOWORK.
If you pay any salary to an employee during a non-contributing leave, see
Reporting – Leaves of Absence on page 113.
• POS (Member Purchase of Service Installments): This field is used when
an employee is paying installments to purchase service. The employee must
have received a Statement of Amount Due before initiating any Member POS
Installments. See Purchase of Service in the Employer’s Reference Manual
for Member Benefits.
Enter the amount as up to 6-dollar digits, a decimal point, and 2 cents digits.
Do not enter the dollar sign or any punctuation other than the single decimal
point.
Enter 000000.00 if the employee is not purchasing service.
• CONTRIB (Contributions): Enter the contributions you withheld from the
employee’s paycheck or which the employee paid to you directly for Unpaid
Retirement Covered Compensation. Contributions must be calculated on the
total amount entered into the following fields: BASE, SUP (Supplemental), OT
(Overtime), and URCC (Unpaid Retirement Covered Compensation). To
determine the contribution rate for an employee, see Reporting – Determining
Employee Contribution Rates on page 75.
Enter the amount as up to 6-dollar digits, a decimal point, and 2 cents digits.
Do not enter the dollar sign or any punctuation other than the single decimal
point.
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The CONTRIB field must be higher than zero if any of the following is true:
BASE is greater than zero.
or…
SUP (Supplemental) is greater than zero.
or…
OT (Overtime) is greater than zero.
or…
URCC (Unpaid Retirement Covered Compensation) is greater than
zero.
Leave this field empty or enter 000000.00 if Work Status is NOWORK.
• EXSAL (Excess Salary): This field is used when an employee earns more
than the IRS 401(a)(17) limitations, described in What Earnings Qualify for
Contributions and Contributions Rates on page 66. Enter the employee’s
wages/salary up to the IRS 401(a)(17) limit in the BASE field and enter any
amount above this limit in the EXSAL field.
Enter the earnings as up to 6-dollar digits, a decimal point, and 2 cents digits.
Do not enter the dollar sign or any punctuation other than the single decimal
point.
Leave this field empty or enter 000000.00 if Work Status is NOWORK.
• NRCC (Non-Retirement Covered Compensation): Enter any salary/wages
that do not qualify for retirement contributions as described in What Earnings
Qualify for Contributions and Contributions Rates on page 66. Enter the
amount as up to 6-dollar digits, a decimal point, and 2 cents digits. Do not
enter the dollar sign or any punctuation other than the single decimal point.
Example: Non-qualified earnings include payment for unused sick time and
bonus pay that is NOT paid as an incentive for a measurable goal. Enter
these into the NRCC field and do not calculate contributions on this amount.
Leave this field empty or enter 000000.00 if Work Status is NOWORK.
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Saving Your Changes
After adding, deleting, or editing any Work Report Records, always save your work.
Click “Save” in the Work Report Record Detail window BEFORE you log out or go to
another part of the system.
IMPORTANT: If you log out or go to another part of the system without clicking
“Save” first, you will lose ALL changes you made since the last save. In this case,
any records you added will be lost, any records you deleted will be restored, and any
records you edited will be returned to their previous information.
Submitting the Monthly Work Report to PSERS
For information on how to submit a Monthly Work Report to PSERS see Submitting
Records to PSERS on page 175.
The Work Report must be approved for submission to PSERS by the 20 th of the
month.
Each night, PSERS processes all Work Reports that have been approved for
submission. At that point, the information in the Work Report is applied to your
account with PSERS and to your employees’ accounts with us. After that time, the
Work Report cannot be changed. To correct errors later, see Reporting – Work
Report Adjustments on page 129.
If your Work Report still contains errors when it is submitted to PSERS, the
erroneous Work Report Records will be rejected. You must resubmit the information
in these Work Report Records, in the correct format, in your next monthly Work
Report or in a Work Report Adjustment, as appropriate. See Reporting – Work
Report Adjustments on page 129.
If you submit a Work Report Record that is in the right format, PSERS will accept it.
If you later discover that information in this record was incorrect, you must submit a
Work Report Adjustment to correct it. See Reporting – Work Report Adjustments on
page 129.
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Chapter
7
Reporting – Ensuring the
Monthly Work Report Is Complete
and Correct
It is important to ensure your monthly Work Report includes all of the necessary
information. Be sure you include a Work Report Record for all of the following:
• EVERY full-time employee, except for a retiree who is working on an
emergency or extracurricular basis.
• EVERY part-time employee, even if they are not having retirement
contributions withheld, except for: (1) employees who have waived
membership in PSERS, (2) students working as part of their curriculum, and
(3) retirees working under the guidelines of Act 2004-63.
• Every employee who did not work during the period being reported but
remains in your employment (teachers who do not work during the summer,
substitute teachers, etc.).
Note: PSERS requests you do not use the “NOWORK” Status until further notice.
• Report every job an employee is paid for. For example, if the employee
works multiple jobs with different Wage Types (hourly, per diem, or salaried).
• Every employee who is on an approved leave of absence.
• Every employee who terminated employment with you or died but who still
has service time or earnings to report.
The rest of this section describes the situations described above in more detail.
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Reporting an Employee Who Works Multiple Positions
for You
If an employee works more than one job for you, it may or may not be necessary to
enter multiple Work Report Records for this employee.
If multiple Work Report Records are required for an employee, submit them in the
same monthly Work Report.
• If the employee works ANY salaried position, you must submit a Work Report
Record with Wage Type set to Salary for this employee.
• If the employee works multiple positions with the same Wage Type (Salary,
Hourly, or Per Diem), these positions MUST be combined in the same Work
Report Record.
Do NOT submit more than one Work Report Record per Wage Type
for an employee. Therefore, the maximum number of Work Report
Records you can include in a monthly Work Report for any employee
is three: one for all salaried positions this employee works for you,
one for all hourly positions, and one for all per diem positions.
You will receive an error if you submit separate Work Report Records
for the same employee and the same Wage Type. In this case, you
will need to delete one Work Report Record and add the second
salary as supplemental pay. Therefore both salaries will be reported
in one entry line.
• You must submit a Work Report Record for each Wage Type that is
described in a Member Contract Record for this employee.
Example: A substitute teacher works part-time per diem in elementary
schools and part-time hourly in middle schools within your district. This
employee also helps part-time with lunch duties at high schools on an hourly
basis. In this case, two Member Contract Records are required, but you may
choose to submit three. Either way, you would report the employee the same
way by submitting the following each month:
A Work Report Record with Wage Type set to Per Diem. If the
employee worked in any elementary schools in your district during
the period being reported, enter the salary, contributions (if any), and
service time in this Work Report Record. If the employee did not
perform any per diem work during the period being reported but
remains “on your books” with a Work Status of “ACTIVE - Actively
Working,” set the Work Status on this Work Report Record to
NOWORK and enter zero for the salary, contributions, and service
time.
Note: PSERS requests you do not use the “NOWORK” Status until further notice.
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A single Work Report Record with Wage Type set to Hourly. In this
Work Report Record, include BOTH the employee’s middle school
substitute teaching and high school lunch duties since both are paid
hourly. If the employee did not perform any hourly work during the
period being reported but remains “on your books” with a Work Status of
“ACTIVE - Actively Working,” set the Work Status on this Work Report
Record to NOWORK and enter zero for the salary, contributions, and
service time.
Note: PSERS requests you do not use the “NOWORK” Status until further notice.
• If the employee works occasional extra hours or days in addition to a salaried
position, you may report these on the Work Report Record for the salaried
position, as long as you did not create a separate Member Contract Record to
describe these additional duties. In this case, report the extra earnings in the
SUP (Supplemental) field, the extra service time in the HRS (Hours) or DAYS
field, and the extra contributions in the CONTRIB (Contributions) field.
• If the employee is on leave, submit a single Work Report Record for the
Wage Type the employee was working regularly (and for which a Member
Contract Record existed) before starting the leave. In this Work Report
Record, include information on all positions the employee would have been
working if not on leave.
Example: An employee works as both a part-time salaried teacher and a
part-time hourly coach. Because these are two separate part-time positions
with different Wage Types, you create a Member Contract Record for each.
Midway through the year, the employee goes on activated military leave and
chooses to make retirement contributions while on leave. Do the following in
response:
Submit a single Member Contract Record with Work Status set to
“ACTMLC - Activated Military Contributing Leave,” Work Status Start
Date set to the date the leave began, and Wage Type set to “Salary.”
Each month while the leave lasts, submit a Work Report Record with
Work Status set to “ACTMLC - Activated Military Contributing Leave” and
Wage Type set to “Salary.” Include the salary the employee would have
earned as BOTH a part-time salaried teacher and a part-time hourly
coach in the URCC (Unpaid Retirement Covered Compensation) field.
Include the service time the employee would have earned if not on leave
as follows: in the DAYS field, include the service from the teaching
position; in the HRS (Hours) field, include the service from the coaching
position. Include contributions from both positions in the CONTRIB
(Contributions) field.
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Reporting an Employee Who Did Not Work
It is not uncommon for an employee to go on a short or long-term leave. See
Reporting – Leaves of Absence on page 113 if the employee is being paid during the
leave, or is making retirement contributions, or is eligible to purchase service time
from the leave at a later date. In these cases, you must report the leave to PSERS.
In some situations, you will have an employee who does not work or gets paid during
a period you are reporting but who remains “on your books” as an active employee.
These situations include:
• A substitute teacher who did not work during the reporting period.
• A teacher who is not paid during the summer but will be returning to work in
the fall.
• A coach who only receives pay during part of the year.
In these situations, the employee is not on leave but does not have any earnings or
contributions to report. You can handle these situations in any of three ways:
• By end-dating the employee’s Member Contract Record when the employee
stops work and then creating a new Member Contract Record when the
employee returns to work. In this case, do not include the employee in your
monthly Work Reports until the employee returns to work. This method is
most often used for seasonal coaches who only work for a few months per
school year.
• By not reporting the employee during the months of no work. Your payroll/HR
software system should leave these employees off that monthly Work Report.
• By reporting a Work Status of “NOWORK” for this employee in the monthly
Work Report whenever the employee doesn’t work that month. In this case,
keep the employee’s Member Contract Record in place with a Work Status of
“ACTIVE - Actively Working” but use the Work Status of “NOWORK” in the
Work Report Records. This method allows PSERS to track your employees’
work history better, reducing questions that might otherwise arise from the
gaps in employment. When Work Status is set to NOWORK on a Work
Report Record, all of the salary, contributions, and service time fields must be
set to zero.
Note: PSERS requests you do not use the “NOWORK” Status until further notice.
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When an Employee’s Work Status Changes
If an employee goes on leave, ends one or more positions with you, terminates all
work for you, begins a new position with you, or dies, you must modify the
employee’s Member Contract Record(s) to indicate this change in status. See
Member Contract Records – Changing Information for an Employee on page 58.
You must also report the employee’s work appropriately:
• If an employee goes on any form of leave, see Reporting – Leaves of
Absence on page 113.
Note: Jury duty is considered to be active employment rather than a leave.
Report employees on jury duty as if they were working with a Work Status of
“ACTIVE – Actively Working.” See Notes about Leaves on page 115 if you
have a policy of paying employees on jury duty the difference between their
regular, full salary and the amount they are paid for jury duty.
• If an employee terminates all employment with you, submit a Member
Contract Record with the following settings:
Work Status: “TRMNTN – Termination”.
Work Status Start Date: set to the employee’s last day of work.
BOC Flag: “Yes” if the employee is to receive salary/wages after the last
month of work; “No” if the employee is to receive all salary/wages within
the last month of work.
Outstanding Service Credit Flag: “Yes” if the employee needs to have
service reported to PSERS after the last month of work; “No” if all service
will be reported to PSERS by or in the last month of work.
BOC / SVC End Date – MM/YYYY: enter the month and year in which
the employee will receive the last pay and/or service. For example, if the
employee’s last day of work was December 3, 2006 but you will pay the
remainder of the contract through January 10, 2007, you would enter
01/2007.
Submit this employee’s remaining monthly Work Report Record(s) with
Work Status set to “TRMNTN – Termination” and the employee’s
earnings and contributions in the appropriate fields.
You must submit all previously unreported service time for this employee
in the employee’s last monthly Work Report Record (in this example, that
would be the Work Report for January, 2007). If you normally report
service time for all salaried employees annually, you cannot wait and
report this employee at that time. Instead, you must determine the
employee’s full service time and include it in the employee’s last Work
Report Record even if that is earlier. Do not report the employee’s
service time again at the end of the fiscal year.
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• If an employee ends one job with you but continues working for you in
another position, end date the Member Contract Record for the position the
employee is leaving. Set the Work Status End Date to the last day the
employee will work in this position. Submit the employee’s Work Report
Records for that month as follows:
Report salary for both positions if paid in that month. If they are different
wage types, submit one entry for each wage type.
• If an employee dies, submit a Member Contract Record with the following
settings:
Work Status: “DECESD – Deceased”.
Work Status Start Date: set to the date of death.
BOC Flag: “Yes” if the employee is to receive salary/wages after the last
month of work; “No” if the employee is to receive all salary/wages within
the last month of work.
Outstanding Service Credit Flag: “Yes” if the employee needs to have
service reported to PSERS after the last month of work; “No” if all service
will be reported to PSERS by or in the last month of work.
BOC / SVC End Date – MM/YYYY: enter the month and year in which
the employee will receive the last pay and/or service. For example, if the
employee’s last day of work was December 3, 2006 but you will pay the
remainder of the contract through January 10, 2007, you would enter
01/2007.
Submit this employee’s remaining monthly Work Report Record(s) with
Work Status set to “DECESD – Deceased” and the employee’s earnings
and contributions in the appropriate fields.
All previously unreported service time for this employee must be
submitted in the employee’s last monthly Work Report Record (in this
example, that would be the Work Report for January, 2007). If you
normally report service time for all salaried employees annually, you
cannot wait and report this employee at that time. Instead, you must
determine the employee’s full service time and include it in the
employee’s last Work Report Record even if that is earlier. Do not report
the employee’s service time again at the end of the fiscal year.
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If an Employee is Left off a Monthly Work Report
To correct errors that were submitted in a monthly Work Report, you must submit a
Work Report Adjustment. See Reporting – Work Report Adjustments on page 129.
If, however, an employee was left off a monthly Work Report altogether, the Work
Report Adjustment is not needed. Instead, you may submit the employee’s earnings,
contributions, and service time in the next monthly Work Report. In this case, you
must include BOTH the current and the missed information in the same Work Report
Record.
Note: If you prefer, you may submit a Work Report Adjustment to report the missed
information.
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Chapter
8
Reporting – Leaves of Absence
When an employee goes on leave, submit a Member Contract Record that indicates
the type of leave and the date the leave began. See Member Contract Records –
Changing Information for an Employee on page 58.
After you submit a Member Contract Record, you must continue to report employees
on leave EVERY MONTH if:
• The employee is making retirement contributions.
and/or…
• The employee is eligible to purchase service time from the leave at a later
date.
Note: You do not need to report employees who are on a non-purchasable,
non-contributing leave.
Reporting an Employee on Leave
In each Work Report Record you submit for the employee, the Work Status must
match the type of leave specified in the Member Contract Record that you created to
initiate the leave.
Contributing Leaves
On a contributing leave, the employee makes retirement contributions and earns
service time during the leave. While on the leave, the employee may:
• Receive partial or full salary.
• Receive salary from Worker’s Compensation.
• Receive no salary but still qualifies to make retirement contributions.
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When an employee is on a contributing leave, you must report the following
information in your monthly Work Reports EVERY MONTH while the leave lasts. On
the Work Report Record, enter each set of information in the field indicated:
• Set the Work Status to match the type of leave entered into the Member
Contract Record.
• Enter any amount you actually pay to the employee in the Base field.
• Enter the difference between the amount you actually pay to the employee
and the regular, full salary that you would have paid had the employee not
been on leave in the Unpaid Retirement Covered Compensation (URCC)
field.
• Enter the service time the employee would have earned if not on leave in the
Hours field if the employee’s Wage Type is Hourly, or in the Days field if the
employee’s Wage Type is Per Diem or Salary. (If the employee is salaried,
you may choose to wait and report the service time annually in the Work
Report for the month of June, which is due by July 10 th .)
• Enter the employee’s appropriate retirement contributions in the CONTRIB
(Contributions) field. You must calculate the contributions on the employee’s
regular, full salary (Base and URCC).
Non-Contributing Leaves that Can Be Purchased Later
With the exception of employees on Activated Military Leave, an employee on a noncontributing
leave does NOT make retirement contributions and does NOT earn
service time during the leave. Most of the time, the employee does NOT receive any
salary while on a non-contributing leave, but in some cases the employee may
receive some salary from you (less than half of regular, full salary) or from Workers’
Compensation.
In some types of non-contributing leaves, the employee is able to purchase the
service time from the leave at a later date based on Purchase of Service eligibility
rules. These leaves include:
• ACTMLN - Activated Military Non-Contributing Leave
• SSLSSN - Special Sick Leave, School Sponsored (Non-Contributing)
• SSLWCN - Special Sick Leave, Workers’ Compensation (Non-Contributing)
• STUDYN - Professional Study Non-Contributing Leave
• EXCHGN - Exchange Teacher Non-Contributing Leave
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When an employee is on one of the above non-contributing leaves, you must report
the following information in your monthly Work Reports EVERY MONTH while the
leave lasts. On the Work Report Record, enter each set of information in the field
indicated:
• Set the Work Status to match the Member Contract Record.
• If you paid the employee qualified earnings (such as sick days), see
Reporting – What Earnings Qualify for Contributions and Contribution Rates
on page 66. You must report this salary. Enter the salary in the Base field,
the contributions in the CONTRIB (Contributions) field, and any
corresponding service time in the Days or Hours field.
• If you did not pay any amount to the employee (the Base field is zero), but the
employee is eligible to purchase service time from the leave at a later date,
enter the regular, full salary that you would have paid had the employee not
been on leave, in the Wages No Contribution field. The employee does not
make contributions on this amount and does not receive service time for it.
Fill the Days and Hours fields with the days and hours the employee would
have earned. If the employee wishes to purchase the service time later,
PSERS will determine the amount that can be purchased.
Non-Contributing Leaves that CANNOT Be Purchased Later
An employee will be unable to purchase the service time from Non-Contributing
Leaves at a later date if:
• The leave is NOT made eligible for purchase by PSERS’ rules
• You (the employer) have not approved the leave as a purchasable or
contributable leave.
To indicate the leave as non-purchasable or non-contributable, submit a Member
Contract Record for the employee using one of the following two Work Statuses:
WKCMPN – Workers’ Compensation Leave (Non-Contributing)
LEAVEN - Any Other Leave Not Listed (Non-Contributing)
When an employee is on one of the above leaves, do not include this employee in
your monthly Work Reports until they return to work (unless you pay qualifying wages
to the employee at some point, as described in Notes about Leaves.)
Notes about Leaves
• Jury duty: Due to its variable length and the nature of the service, jury duty
is considered to be active employment rather than a leave of absence. While
an employee is on jury duty, continue to include the employee in monthly
Work Reports with a Work Status of “ACTIVE – Actively Working.” Also,
continue to pay contributions for this employee.
If you have a policy of paying employees on jury duty the difference between
their full, regular salary and the payment they receive for the jury duty, submit
Work Report Records for this employee as follows:
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Set the Work Status field to ACTIVE.
Enter the amount you pay the employee in the Base field.
Enter the difference between the amount you pay the employee and
the regular, full salary that would have been paid had the employee
not been on leave, in the Unpaid Retirement Covered Compensation
field.
Enter the service time the employee would have earned if not on
leave, in the Hours field if the employee’s Wage Type is Hourly, or in
the Days field if the employee’s Wage Type is Per Diem or Salaried.
(If the employee is salaried, you may choose to wait and report the
service time annually, in the Work Report for the month of June,
which is due by July 10 th .)
Enter the employee’s retirement contributions in the Contributions
field. You must calculate the contributions on the employee’s
regular, full salary.
• Earned Leave Paid While on a Non-Contributing Leave: You must report
any payment for earned Annual, Personal, Sick Leave, or Leave from an
employer Sick Leave Bank that is paid to an employee who is on a noncontributing
leave and is NOT receiving Worker’s Compensation. PSERS
considers this payment for “used” leave, which qualifies as retirementcovered
compensation. Report this salary and the corresponding
contributions in your monthly Work Reports as follows:
Report the amount paid in the Base field and record the
contributions on this amount in the Contributions field.
Exception: If the employee is receiving Worker’s Compensation during
the leave, do NOT report the amount of the accumulated sick leave, annual
leave, and/or personal leave.
• Activated Military Leaves When the Employee Chooses NOT to
Contribute: An employee who is on activated military leave may decide to
discontinue making retirement contributions to PSERS during the leave while
continuing to earn service time. Because of the unique nature of military
leaves, you must continue to contribute the employer’s share of retirement
contributions whether or not the employee chooses to contribute.
During each month of the leave, submit a Work Report Record for this
employee as follows:
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Set the Work Status field to “ACTMLN - Activated Military Non-
Contributing Leave.”
Enter the regular, full salary that you would have paid had the
employee not been on leave in the Wages No Contribution field.
The employee:
1. Does not make contributions on this amount.
2. Does receive service time for it.
3. May purchase this time later.
Fill the Days and/or Hours fields with the service the employee would
have rendered. If the employee wishes to purchase the service time
later, PSERS will determine the amount that can be purchased.
You CANNOT receive a credit for Employer Contributions you paid for an
employee on an activated military leave (whether contributing or noncontributing),
even if the employee:
‣ Does not return from the leave.
‣ Upon returning, does not remain in your employ for a period of
time at least equal to the length of the leave
‣ Does not choose to purchase the service time from the leave.
Exception: If the employee voluntarily extends their military duty beyond the
time of the original military obligation, you may receive a credit for any
Employer Contributions you paid during the voluntary extension. In this case,
contact PSERS as described in Contacting PSERS on page 205.
When the employee returns to school employment, the employee must
provide a copy of the discharge documentation for you to keep. A copy of
this documentation is also submitted to PSERS.
When the Employee Returns from Leave
When an employee returns from leave, submit a new Member Contract Record for
each position the employee resumes. If the employee returns in the middle of a
month, the Work Report Record(s) for that month should include BOTH the
information (wages, contributions, and service time) from the leave and the
information from the work. Future Work Reports should include only records for the
work that has been resumed. See Member Contract Records – Changing
Information for an Employee on page 58.
Refer to the next section, If the Employee Does NOT Return from a Paid Leave, if,
after returning from the leave, the employee does not remain in your employ for a
period of time at least equal to the length of the leave.
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If the Employee Does NOT Return from Paid Leave
You have the option of terminating an employee’s position(s) with you if one of the
following is true:
• the employee did NOT return from leave
or…
• the employee returned from a leave but did not remain in your employ for a
period of time at least equal to the length of the leave
or…
• the employee voluntarily extended the leave without your approval.
If one of these is true and you decide to terminate the employee’s position(s), you
must:
• Submit a Member Contract Record with the Work Status set to “TRMNTN –
Termination” and the Work Status Start Date set to the date of termination. Set
the BOC Flag, Outstanding Service Credit Flag, and BOC/Svc End Date fields
to indicate any remaining payments or service to be reported. See Member
Contract Records – Changing Information for an Employee on page 58.
• Continue to submit monthly Work Report Records describing this employee’s
leave until the month you specified as the month of termination or the month
you specified in the BOC/Svc End Date field, whichever is later. In these
Work Report Records, Work Status should be “TRMNTN - Termination.”
After the specified month’s Work Report has been submitted, future Work
Reports should not include any records for this employee.
When an employee who was on a paid leave is terminated from your employment,
you may request a credit for the Employer Contributions you paid during the leave.
You will also receive credit for the employee’s Member Contributions, if any. You are
responsible for refunding these contributions to the employee. The credit will be
issued after the final Work Report of the fiscal (school) year is submitted to PSERS.
To request a credit, see Refund of Contributions / Credit for Salary Reported on
page 199.
If you do not terminate the employee manually, and the employee does not return
from leave, PSERS will end-date the employee’s Member Contract Record(s)
automatically at the end of the time period appropriate for that type of leave. This is
essentially identical to submitting a termination Member Contract Record. After this
occurs, you may request a credit for the salary you reported during the leave, as
described in Refund of Contributions / Credit for Salary Reported on page 199.
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Chapter
9
Reporting – Service Time
You must report your employees’ service time to PSERS. Service time includes all of
the following:
• All time spent working for you while the employee is making retirement
contributions.
and…
• All time spent working for you at a part-time hourly or per diem job where the
employee is NOT making retirement contributions, has NOT waived
membership in PSERS, and WILL be eligible to join PSERS upon reaching
500 hours or 80 days of employment.
and…
• Time on an approved leave of absence during which the employee is making
retirement contributions. In this case, the service time is the amount that
would have been earned had the employee been working their regular job(s)
rather than being on leave.
Note: PSERS considers full-time service as 5 hours or more a day for 5 days a
week or its equivalent of 25 or more hours a week.
The Pennsylvania Retirement Code has given PSERS the authority to withhold the
Basic Education Subsidy from any employer that is delinquent in submitting service
time.
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How to Report Service Time
You must report service time in your monthly Work Reports, as follows:
• For hourly employees who are working or are actively making contributions
while on leave, service time must be reported as it is earned. Report time
even if the employee has not yet qualified for membership. In the Work
Report Record for the month the service was earned, enter the service time in
the HRS (Hours) field.
• For per diem employees who are actively working or are making contributions
while on leave, service time must be reported as it is earned. Report time
even if the employee has not yet qualified for membership. In the Work
Report Record for the month the service was earned, enter the service time in
the DAYS field.
• For salaried employees who are actively working or are making contributions
while on leave, service time can be reported EITHER monthly or annually:
To report monthly, report service time as it is earned. In the Work
Report Record for the month the service was earned, enter the
service time in the DAYS field.
or…
To report annually, report all service time for the fiscal year (July 1 –
June 30) in the June Work Report Record. Enter the service time in
the DAYS field. You must transmit this Work Report Record to
PSERS by July 10 th , correct all errors, and submit the finalized report
by July 20 th .
How to Calculate Service Time
Hourly Employees
For hourly employees, service time does not need to be calculated manually.
• In your monthly Work Reports, report all time that is actually worked as it is
paid. Typically, this time is determined from time cards and is what you
enter into your payroll system.
• If an employee goes on a contributing leave, report their usual number of
hours in your monthly Work Reports during the leave.
• Hours must be reported as whole hours. The hours should be rounded to
the nearest whole hour.
Example: If an employee works 110.49 hours in a reporting period, enter
0110 hours in the HRS (Hours) field of the Work Report Record. If the
employee works 110.50 hours, enter 0111 hours in the Work Report
Record.
• Hours worked on extra-curricular activities or overtime MUST be reported.
Service for overtime is NOT calculated at time and a half. One hour should
be reported for each hour worked.
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Per Diem Employees
For per diem employees, service time does not need to be calculated manually.
• In your monthly Work Reports, report all time that is actually worked as it is
paid. Typically, this time is determined from time cards and is what you enter
into your payroll system.
• If an employee goes on a contributing leave, report their usual number of
days in your monthly Work Reports during the leave.
• Report service time for per diem employees in days or a portion of a 5-hour day.
Days may be broken down to two decimal places. Do not use fractions (i.e., ½,
¾, etc.).
Example: If an employee works 19 days of 5 hours per day plus one day of
2 ½ hours, enter 019.50 in the DAYS field of the Work Report Record.
• Hours worked on extra-curricular activities or overtime MUST be reported. If
the extra work is paid hourly, report the number of hours in the HRS (Hours)
field. If the extra work is paid on a per diem basis, report the number of days or
partial days in the DAYS field (add this time to the regular per diem work).
Service for overtime is NOT calculated at time and a half. One hour should be
reported for each hour worked.
Example: An employee has two Member Contract Records: one for a per diem
position and one for an hourly position. If the employee works 5 hours in a day
for the per diem position and then works another 2 hours in the same day for the
hourly position, report 1 day in the Per Diem Work Report Record and report 2
hours in the Hourly Work Report Record. PSERS will ensure that the employee
does not receive more than a year’s worth of service time in a fiscal year.
Full-Time Salaried Employees
For full-time salaried employees, service time is calculated as follows:
• Typically, the number of days a salaried employee is hired to work is specified in
their contract with you. In this case, report this number of days either monthly or
annually, in the DAYS field of the employee’s monthly Work Report Record(s).
• If the number of days is not specified in your contract with the employee, you
must determine the number of days actually worked by the employee.
• Report service time for salaried employees in days or a portion of a 5-hour day.
Days may be broken down to two decimal places. Do not use fractions (i.e.,
½, ¾, etc.).
Example: If an employee regularly works 19 days of 5-8 hours per day plus
one day of 2 ½ hours (half of a 5-hour day), enter 019.50 in the DAYS field of
the Work Report Record.
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• Hours worked on extra-curricular activities or overtime MUST be reported. If
the extra work is paid hourly, report the number of hours in the HRS (Hours)
field. If the extra work is paid on a per diem basis, report the number of days
or partial days in the DAYS field (add this time to the service time reported for
the salaried work, if that is also reported in the Work Report Record). Service for
overtime is NOT calculated at time and a half. One hour should be reported
for each hour worked.
Part-Time Salaried Employees
For part-time salaried employees, service time is calculated as follows:
• Report service time for salaried employees in days or a portion of a 5-hour
day. Days may be broken down to two decimal places. Do not use
fractions (i.e., ½, ¾, etc.).
Example: The service for an employee who regularly works 19 three-hour
days per month should be entered as 011.40 days.
Hours worked divided by 5 = % (3/5= 60%) x days worked (19 x 60% = 11.4)
• Hours worked on extra-curricular activities or overtime MUST be reported.
If the extra work is paid hourly, report the number of hours in the HRS
(Hours) field. If the extra work is paid on a per diem basis, report the
number of days or partial days in the DAYS field (add this time to the
service time reported for the salaried work, if that is also reported in the
Work Report Record). Service for overtime is NOT calculated at time and
a half. One hour should be reported for each hour worked.
• If a part-time salaried employee is required to attend an all day in-service day,
they are to receive a full day’s credit.
• Typically, the number of days and the number of hours per day that a salaried
employee is hired to work is specified in their contract with you. In this case,
report this number of days or partial days either monthly or annually, in the
DAYS field of the employee’s monthly Work Report Record(s).
• If your contract with the employee does not specify the number of days the
employee will work in the school year, you must determine the number of
days or partial days actually worked by the employee.
Example #1: The service for a part-time salaried employee who works 6
hours per day, 4 days a week during a 36-week school year should be the
actual days worked: 144 days (4 days a week X 36 weeks = 144 days).
Example #2: The service for a part-time salaried employee who works 4
hours per day, 5 days per week for a total of 185 days in a school year
should be reported as 148 days (4/5 of a day X 185 days = 148 days).
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• Part-Time Salaried Adjunct Professors- Adjunct professors are generally to
be considered part-time salaried employees unless specially documented
otherwise (e.g. hourly or per diem) in an employment contract. As parttime
salaried school employees, they must have retirement contributions
deducted and reported from the first day of employment, unless they are
eligible to waive PSERS membership OR they are enrolled in an alternative
acceptable retirement plan offered by the college or university (e.g. TIAA-
CREF).
Calculate and report service for these positions using the following
formula:
Consider 30 credit hours per year as the standard for a fulltime
position.
Determine the number of credit hours taught by the parttime
adjunct.
Divide the credit hours worked for the part-time position by
the full-time credit hours standard (30) to obtain a
percentage of full-time work.
Multiply the percentage of full-time work by 180 days to
determine the equivalent number of days to be reported as
service credit for the part-time employment.
Example: Adjunct professor is contracted to teach 12 credit hours
for the school year.
12 divided by 30 = .40 or 40%
.40 X 180 days = 72 days to be reported
• Part-Time Salaried Coaches - For each part-time salaried coaching position,
you may calculate service time in either of two ways:
Method #1: You may use the following formula to calculate the coach’s
service time:
Number of Hours Worked Per Week
÷ 25
X Weeks per Season
X Days Worked per Week___
= Number of Days to Report
Example: A football coach conducts practice and attends games 10
weeks during the fall season. The coach renders 20 hours per week during
the season, at 6 days each week. The calculation and number of days to
report would be: 20 hours ÷ 25 X 10 X 6 = 48 days.
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Method #2: You can establish an anticipated work schedule to determine
the hours and days the coach will work. Within the schedule, it is assumed
that the coach will fulfill the contract.
Example: On Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and some Saturdays, a coach
is expected to work 2 hours per day. Tuesday and Friday, the coach is
expected to work 4 hours per day and on some Saturdays; the coach is
expected to work 8 hours. The coach’s service time is determined as shown
in the following table:
Example Service Calculation for Part-Time Salaried Coach
Week Mon Tues Wed Thu Fri Sat TOTAL
1 2/5 4/5 2/5 2/5 4/5 2/5 (4 x 2/5 day) + (2 x 4/5 day) = 3.20 days
2 2/5 4/5 2/5 2/5 4/5 2/5 (4 x 2/5 day) + (2 x 4/5 day) = 3.20 days
3 2/5 4/5 2/5 2/5 4/5 2/5 (4 x 2/5 day) + (2 x 4/5 day) = 3.20 days
4 2/5 4/5 2/5 2/5 4/5 2/5 (4 x 2/5 day) + (2 x 4/5 day) = 3.20 days
5 2/5 4/5 2/5 2/5 4/5 8 (3 x 2/5) + (2 x 4/5 day) + 1 = 3.80 days
6 2/5 4/5 2/5 2/5 4/5 2/5 (4 x 2/5 day) + (2 x 4/5 day) = 3.20 days
7 2/5 4/5 2/5 2/5 4/5 2/5 (4 x 2/5 day) + (2 x 4/5 day) = 3.20 days
8 2/5 4/5 2/5 2/5 4/5 8 (3 x 2/5) + (2 x 4/5 day) + 1 = 3.80 days
9 2/5 4/5 2/5 2/5 4/5 8 (3 x 2/5) + (2 x 4/5 day) + 1 = 3.80 days
10 2/5 4/5 2/5 2/5 4/5 2/5 (4 x 2/5 day) + (2 x 4/5 day) = 3.20 days
11 2/5 4/5 2/5 2/5 4/5 2/5 (4 x 2/5 day) + (2 x 4/5 day) = 3.20 days
12 2/5 4/5 2/5 2/5 4/5 2/5 (4 x 2/5 day) + (2 x 4/5 day) = 3.20 days
13 2/5 4/5 2/5 2/5 4/5 8 (3 x 2/5) + (2 x 4/5 day) + 1 = 3.80 days
14 2/5 4/5 2/5 2/5 4/5 8 (3 x 2/5) + (2 x 4/5 day) + 1 = 3.80 days
GRAND TOTAL -
47.80 days (.27 of a year of service)
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Employees Working Multiple Positions
Some employees work multiple positions either for you or for multiple school
employers. In this case, service time is calculated as follows:
• If an employee works both an hourly and a salaried or per diem position,
report service time for each position separately in the appropriate HRS
(Hours) or DAYS field. PSERS will combine the service time for this
employee and will ensure that the employee does not receive more than a
year of service credit in a school (fiscal) year.
• If an employee works multiple positions that are paid the same way (hourly,
per diem, or salaried), combine these in the same Work Report Record.
Example: If an employee has two positions that are both hourly, report the
service from both positions in one report entry
• Employees will receive a maximum of one year’s worth of service per fiscal
year, even if additional hours are worked beyond a full-time position.
Employees on a Non-Contributing Leave
No service time should be reported during a non-contributing leave of absence. If
the employee wishes to purchase service time from this leave later, PSERS will
determine the amount that can be purchased.
Exception: If an employee who is on a non-contributing leave is paid for earned
sick leave or is compensated from a school-sponsored sick bank, report the total
days or hours paid as service time IF the employee is NOT receiving Workers’
Compensation. If the employee IS receiving Workers’ Compensation, this type of
pay is not eligible for retirement contributions and must not be reported.
Exception: Activated Military must have service reported.
Employee Terminates Service During the Year
When an employee terminates one or more positions with you during the school
year, report the employee’s total service time in the last Work Report Record you
submit for the position(s). Usually, this will be the Work Report Record for the last
month the employee works, but it may be later if the employee has a balance of
contract remaining. See Member Contract Records – Changing Information for an
Employee on page 58 and When An Employee’s Work Status Changes on page 109.
Hourly and Per Diem
For hourly and per diem positions, the service time has been reported regularly
anyway, and you must simply report any balance in the last Work Report Record you
submit for this position.
Salaried
• For salaried positions, if you have been reporting service time monthly, report
any balance in the last Work Report Record you submit for this position.
• If you have NOT been reporting service time monthly and would normally
have reported the annual service time in the June Work Report Record, you
must determine the total service time in this position and include it in the last
Work Report Record for this position, whenever that is submitted. In this
case, do not report the service time again in your June Work Report.
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Member Contract Record
If the employee has terminated all positions with you, submit a Member Contract
Record to indicate this. Set the BOC Flag and/or the Outstanding Service Credit Flag
to “Yes” if you have salary and/or service to report after the last month of work. In
this case, set the BOC/SVC End Date to the last month in which this salary and/or
service will be reported to PSERS.
Example: An employee terminates all work with you effective March 15. The
employee’s contract with you does not provide for continued payment after
resignation, so March 15, the last day of work, is the last day for which this employee
will be paid. You have not been reporting this employee’s service time in monthly
Work Reports because you report your salaried employees’ service time annually.
You can do either of the following:
Submit the Termination Member Contract Record with the BOC Flag
and Outstanding Service Credit Flag both set to “No.” Submit the
employee’s final Work Report Record in the March Work Report, due by
April 10 th , with all of the employee’s service time from the school year
included. Do not include this employee in any monthly Work Reports
after this.
or…
Submit the Termination Member Contract Record with the BOC Flag
set to “No,” the Outstanding Service Credit Flag set to “Yes,” and the
BOC/Svc End Date field set to June. By April 10 th , submit the
employee’s March Work Report Record with the employee’s final
earnings. Continue to include the employee, with a Work Status of
TRMNTN – Termination” and with no earnings or service time in each
monthly Work Report through the remainder of the school year. In your
June Work Report, include a record showing the employee’s total
service time from the school year.
General Rules
• To ensure that service time is recorded accurately, it is extremely important
to select Full Time or Part Time correctly on each employee’s Member
Contract Record(s).
If an employee works a minimum of 5 hours per day, 5 days a week, or its
equivalent (25 hours per week), that job is considered to be full-time for
retirement purposes, regardless of how you or the employee view the
employment for other purposes.
• The full service that would have been earned during regular employment
should be reported for an employee on a contributing leave.
• An employee on strike is not eligible for service credit during the strike
unless the days or hours lost during the strike period are worked and
compensation is paid. This lost time must be made up no later than June
30 of the school year involved.
• Summer school service may be reported for an employee. If the employee
is retiring, the effective date of retirement must be after the last day of
summer employment.
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Verifying Your Reported Service Time is Correct
PSERS will send you a Member Summary Report in the fall after your August work
report has been processed. This report will indicate the employee’s:
Social Security Number
Name
Hours and/or days of service time you reported
Salary
Contributions and any Wages No Contributions “WNC”
You should review this report before the end of the calendar year to ensure that
the credited service figure for each employee is correct.
How to Correct Reported Service Errors
Upon occasion, you will need to correct service time that was previously reported for
an employee. To do this, see Reporting – Work Report Adjustments on page 129.
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Chapter
10
Reporting – Work Report
Adjustments
Use Work Report Adjustments when an error is made or a correction is needed to an
employee’s salary, contributions, service time, or Member Purchase of Service
Installments. Submit the Work Report Adjustment Record as soon as you become
aware of the incorrect information.
Work Report Adjustments are very similar to Work Reports, but you must report the
difference between what you reported erroneously and what you should have
reported.
Example: You submitted a Work Report Record for January that listed an employee’s
salary as $1,000, but the employee really earned $1,700. Correct this by submitting a
Work Report Adjustment Record with the BASE field set to $700, so the net amount in the
employee’s account will be $1,700. Always include the corresponding member
contributions for the salary. Adjustments reflect amounts reported for a school year and
not for a specific month.
In the future, PSERS will send employees a letter notifying them that the employer
has submitted a Work Report Adjustment.
When to Submit a Work Report Adjustment Record
Submit a Work Report Adjustment Record if any of the following occurs:
• A retroactive lump sum adjustment needs to be made for an employee.
• An error was made in a previous report to PSERS, and this error cannot be
corrected through your payroll system.
• An error was made in reporting an employee’s information in a previous fiscal
year.
• An employee’s Member Purchase of Service Installments were reported
incorrectly in a previous report.
• An employee’s service time was reported incorrectly in a previous report.
• An arbitration is settled or court award.
• A Work Report record that erred because there wasn’t a valid Contract
Record.
• A Work Report that erred at the time of approval.
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What Information is in a Work Report Adjustment
Record
A Work Report Adjustment Record contains the following information:
• The reason the adjustment is needed.
• Whether the wages in this Work Report Adjustment Record were paid during
the fiscal year in which they were earned or are being paid in the current
fiscal year for a previous year.
• Whether or not contributions were withheld from the employee’s wages at the
time the wages were paid.
• The employee’s social security number and birth date. (Applies only to file upload.)
• The fiscal year for the earnings and/or contributions being reported.
• Wage type (hourly, per diem, or salaried).
• Work status (“ACTIVE - Actively Working,” on some form of leave, “ACTIVW -
Waiver Request,” etc.) must match the work status as reported on the
Contract Record for the time period or the fiscal year in which the
adjustment is being made unless the adjustment is for uncredited school
service, where the current work status (ACTIVE) should be used.
• The difference between what was originally reported as the employee’s
earnings (in each of the earnings fields) and what should have been reported,
either positive or negative.
• The actual employee’s retirement contributions on the salary reported in the
adjustment. This sum can be negative or positive.
• The difference between what was originally reported as the employee’s
service time and what should have been reported, either positive or negative.
• The difference between what was originally reported as the employee’s
Member Purchase of Service Installments and what should have been
reported, either positive or negative.
Interest for Late Contributions
PSERS will charge you interest for the time between the original due date and when
the contributions are received at PSERS if contributions are not made when required.
This interest is charged at an annual rate of 6%, pro-rated for each day the payment
is late. For more information, see Payments – Remitting to PSERS on page 185.
Adjustments to Fiscal Years Prior to 2004-2005
Member Contract Records prior to July 2004 were converted from PSERS’ previous
software system. You must contact PSERS to adjust service reported prior to the
2004-2005 school year.
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How are Work Report Adjustments Transmitted to
PSERS?
All Work Report Adjustment Records are transmitted to PSERS through the online
system. Whenever you discover an error that needs to be corrected, you can choose
to create Work Report Adjustment Records one at a time online, or you may submit
multiple Work Report Adjustment Records in a file. Either way, you begin by
accessing the system:
1. Access the Employer Services window in the online system. If you are not
familiar with how to do this, see Accessing the Online System on page 1.
2. From the Employer Services window, click “Adjustments” in the left-hand
menu. A sub-menu appears, as shown next:
Adjustments sub-menu
For further details on the Work Report Adjustments Info Sub-Menu refer to the
chapter titled Information Sub—Menu on page 157.
Work Report Adjustments – Create a Manual Report
Online
If you need to submit a Work Report Adjustment Record for one or only a few
employees, you may prefer to enter these directly online rather than uploading a file
to PSERS. This section describes how to do this.
You may submit Work Report Adjustment Records to PSERS at any time.
First, access the Adjustments sub-menu, as described above in How are Work
Report Adjustments Transmitted to PSERS.
From the “Adjustments” sub-menu on the left side of the screen, click “Create
Adjustments.” You will see the following on your screen:
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Enter a description of the Adjustment. The description should best reflect why the
adjustment was created.
Example: If two employees dropped off the October 2007 Work Report. The
description could be:
Drops 10/07 WR
After entering your description, click Submit. You will see the following screen:
This screen is the Record Detail Window in the Adjustments Work Area. From here
you will create your Work Report Adjustments, as described in Adjustments Work
Area on page 138.
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Work Report Adjustments - Create by Uploading a File
If you need to make a number of Work Report Adjustments in a month, you may
prefer to upload these in a file rather than entering each one individually online.
This process is very similar to uploading a file for your monthly Work Report, except
that you can upload Work Report Adjustment files at any time. You are not limited to
one file per month as you are with Work Report files.
See Submitting Records by Uploading Files on page 159 for information on how to
submit Work Report Adjustments by uploading a file.
Format for Work Report Adjustment Files
See the chapter titled Correctly Formatting Files on page 161 for information
on how to correctly format a Work Report Adjustment. The following pages
will illustrate in detail the layout for Work Report Adjustment Files.
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Header of the Work Report Adjustment File
The Work Report Adjustment file must include a single-line header as the first line in
the file. The header line identifies the employer, the type of records in the file, the
number of records in the file, the date and time the file was created, and the total
dollar amount for each pay and contribution category in the file. This information
must be in the following format:
Header
Record
Type
Employer
Code
Detail
Record
Count
R/O/C
R = Required
O = Optional
C = Conditional Bytes Start Format & Values Sample Comments
A 1 1 Alpha (A =
Adjustments)
R 6 2 Numeric 6-digit
number
R 6 8 Numeric 6-digit
number
Base Total R 12 14 Numeric Signed,
as #########.##
or
-########.##
Unpaid
Retirement
Covered
Compensation
Total
Overtime
Total
Supplemental
Total
Wages No
Contribution
Total
Member
POS Installment
Total
Excess
Salary Total
Non-Retirement
Covered
Compensation
R 12 26 Numeric Signed,
as #########.##
or
-########.##
R 12 38 Numeric Signed,
as #########.##
or
-########.##
R 12 50 Numeric Signed,
as #########.##
or
-########.##
R 12 62 Numeric Signed,
as #########.##
or
-########.##
R 12 74 Numeric Signed,
as #########.##
or
-########.##
R 12 86 Numeric Signed,
as #########.##
or
-########.##
R 12 98 Numeric Signed,
as #########.##
or
-########.##
A
Describes the
incoming file type;
Adjustments
003456 Employer ID
assigned by
PSERS
002680 Total number of
Adjustment
Records in this file.
666777888.99
or
-66777888.99
or
000000000.00
666777888.99
or
-66777888.99
or
000000000.00
666777888.99
or
-66777888.99
or
000000000.00
666777888.99
or
-66777888.99
or
000000000.00
666777888.99
or
-66777888.99
or
000000000.00
666777888.99
or
-66777888.99
or
000000000.00
666777888.99
or
-66777888.99
or
000000000.00
666777888.99
or
-66777888.99
or
000000000.00
Total dollar amount
of Base field in all
Adjustment
Records in this file.
Total dollar amount
of Unpaid
Retirement
Covered
Compensation field
in all Adjustment
Records in this file.
Total dollar amount
of Overtime field in
all Adjustment
Records in this file.
Total dollar amount
of Supplemental
field in all
Adjustment
Records in this file.
Total dollar amount
of Wages No
Contribution field in
all Adjustment
Records in this file.
Total dollar amount
of Member POS
Installment field in
all Adjustment
Records in this file.
Total dollar amount
of Member Excess
Salary field in all
Adjustment
Records in this file.
Total dollar amount
of Non-Retirement
Covered
Compensation field
in all Adjustment
Records in this file.
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Creation
Date and
Time
R/O/C
R = Required
O = Optional
C = Conditional Bytes Start Format & Values Sample Comments
R 12 110 Date as
MMDDYYYY
HHMM
Filler R 18 122 NULL Filler.
Space filled to
match fixed length
of detail record.
102520061300 File creation date
and time in military
format.
18 spaces
All fields are required. “Start” indicates what column that field begins in on the header line.
“Bytes” indicates how many bytes (characters) are in the field. All fields are a fixed-length.
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Record Lines in the Work Report Adjustment File
R/O/C
R = Required
Social
Security
Number
Date of
Birth
Reason
Code
Wage
Indicator
Contributions
Withheld
Flag
Fiscal Year
Ending
O = Optional
C =
Conditional Bytes Start
Format &
Values Sample Comments
R 9 1 Numeric 123456789 Required
R 8 10 Date as
MMDDYYYY
04121980 Required
R 6 18 Alpha as: CNTRCT The reason for the adjustment.
CNTRCT,
LMPSUM,
SVCADJ,
LATRPT,
SALARY,
MEMPOS,
CAWARD, or
UNCRDT
C 1 24 Alpha (Y = Y
If Reason Code = CNTRCT,
wages paid
LMPSUM, LATRPT, SALARY,
during fiscal year
CAWARD, or UNCRDT, then
earned, N =
Required.
wages paid
during the
current fiscal
year,
space=NULL)
C 1 25 Alpha (Y = N
If Reason Code = CNTRCT,
contributions
LMPSUM, LATRPT, SALARY,
were withheld
CAWARD, or UNCRDT, then
from the
Required.
member’s wages
at time of
payment, N =
contributions
were not made,
space=NULL
R 4 26 Year as YYYY 2006 The fiscal year in which the
salary and service were
earned.
Wage Type R 2 30 Alpha
SA = Salary
PD = Per Diem
HR = Hourly
Work
Status
R 6 32 Alpha; value
from Work
Status Table
Base O 10 38 Numeric Signed,
as #######.##
or
-######.##
Unpaid
Retirement
Covered
Compensation
O 10 48 Numeric Signed,
as #######.##
or
-######.##
SA
ACTIVE
6777888.99
or
-777888.99
or
0000000.00
6777888.99
or
-777888.99
or
0000000.00
If Reason Code is UNCRDT,
Wage Type should reflect the
employee’s current Wage
Type; otherwise, Wage Type
should reflect the employee’s
Wage Type in effect during the
time period being adjusted.
Must match the work
status as reported on the
Contract Record for which the
adjustment is being made
unless the adjustment is for
uncredited school service,
where the current work status
(ACTIVE) should be used.
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R/O/C
R = Required
O = Optional
C =
Conditional Bytes Start
Format &
Values Sample Comments
Overtime O 10 58 Numeric Signed,
as #######.##
or
-######.##
6777888.99
or
-777888.99
or
0000000.00
Supplemental
Contributions
O 10 68 Numeric Signed,
as #######.##
or
-######.##
C 10 78 Numeric Signed,
as #######.##
or
-######.##
Hours O 5 88 Numeric Signed,
as ##### or
-####
Days O 7 93 Numeric Signed,
as ####.## or
Wages No
Contribution
Excess
Salary
Member
POS Installment
Non-Retirement
Covered
Compensation
-###.##
O 10 100 Numeric Signed,
as #######.##
or
-######.##
O 10 110 Numeric Signed,
as #######.##
or
-######.##
C 10 120 Numeric Signed,
as #######.##
or
-######.##
O 10 130 Numeric Signed,
as #######.##
or
-######.##
6777888.99
or
-777888.99
or
0000000.00
6777888.99
or
-777888.99
or
0000000.00
00160 or
–0160 or
00000
0020.00 or
-000.00 or
0000.00
6777888.99
or
-777888.99
or
0000000.00
6777888.99
or
-777888.99
or
0000000.00
6777888.99
or
-777888.99
or
0000000.00
6777888.99
or
-777888.99
or
0000000.00
If Base OR Unpaid Retirement
Covered Contributions OR
Overtime OR Supplemental
are not zero, then Required.
If Work Status = ACTIVE and
Base exceeds the 401(a)(17)
limitation, then Base must not
be greater the 401(a)(17)
limitation and Excess Salary
must > 0.
Optional field for Non-
Retirement Covered Comp,
i.e. payment of unused sick
time, bonus pay, etc.
“Start” indicates what column that field begins in on the header line. “Bytes” indicates how
many bytes (characters) are in the field. All fields are a fixed-length.
For more information on any field, see Adjustments Work Area on page 138.
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Uploading a Work Report Adjustment File
First, access the Adjustments sub-menu, as described in How are Work Report
Adjustments Transmitted to PSERS on page 131.
From the Adjustments sub-menu on the left side of the screen, click “File Upload.”
The following screen appears:
See Uploading Information Files on page 163 for further information on how to
upload a Work Report Adjustment File.
Adjustments Work Area
After you create Adjustments (either by uploading a file or by creating a Manual
Adjustment “file” online), the next step is to go to the Adjustments Work Area.
You can reach the Work Area by clicking “Work Area” in the File Upload window.
You can reach the Work Area for Imports by clicking “Work Area” in the Adjustments
sub-menu. Clicking “Work Area” in the Adjustments sub-menu and selecting Manual
Reports can reach the Work Area for Manual Adjustments.
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File Window
The File window displays your Work Report Adjustments. You can view Work Report
Adjustments you created through a file upload by checking the “Import Reports”
option near the top of the window, or you can view Work Report Adjustments that you
created directly online by checking the “Manual Reports” option.
Work Report Adjustments Created by File Upload
Select the “Import Reports” option near the top of the window to view Work Report
Adjustments that you created by uploading files. You will see a screen similar to the
following:
See the chapter on Work Area—File Window located on page 167 for information on
how to navigate in the Work Report Adjustment File Window.
Work Report Adjustments Created Online
Select the “Manual Reports” option near the top of the window to view Work Report
Adjustments that you created directly online. You will see a screen similar to the
following:
See the chapter on Work Area—File Window, the section on Files Created Online
located on page 169 for information on how to navigate in the Work Report
Adjustment File Window.
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Record Detail Window
The Record Detail window in the Adjustments Work Area is used to add, delete, or
edit individual Work Report Adjustment Records prior to approving the file.
Access
See File Window on previous page to access the Record Detail window. Click
“Detail” or “Edit” next to the desired Work Report Adjustment
The Record Detail window looks similar to the following example:
Refer to the chapter titled Work Area—Record Detail Window on page 171 for more
information on how to navigate the Work Adjustment Records Detail Window.
Adding a Work Report Adjustment Record
To add an individual to a Work Report Adjustment Record, click Add on the Work
Report Adjustment Record Detail window. You will be prompted to enter the SSN
(social security number) for the employee whose work you are entering.
Enter the social security number and click “Submit.”
If there is no Member Demographic Information on file, or if there is no
Member Contract Record on file for the social security number you entered,
you will see the message, “Error – SSN does not exist.”
If the employee has Member Demographic Information and at least one
Member Contract Record on file, a Work Report Adjustment Record will be
added for this employee. All of the other fields in the Work Report
Adjustment Record will be blank.
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At this point, you must enter information into the appropriate fields for this Work
Report Adjustment Record. The fields are described under Using the Edit Window
on the next page. You can add or edit information in either of two ways:
Click in each field to enter or change the information. Use the scroll bar to
move across and update each field in the row as needed.
or…
Click on Edit to the left of the employee’s social security number. This will
take you into the Edit window, described under Using the Edit Window. This
window provides more information about any error(s) and exception(s) in the
record as you edit. The errors will be displayed at the top of the page.
Using the Edit Window
The Edit window allows you to add or edit information for any individual Work Report
Adjustment Record. To access this window, click on “Edit” to the left of a Work
Report Adjustment Record in the Work Report Adjustment Record Detail window.
The Edit window looks like the following:
If you already entered a fiscal year into the YEAR field and saved the record after
doing so, the employee’s information for that fiscal year will appear in the left-hand
window, “Existing Fiscal Year Information.” The fields in this window will be blank if
you have not yet entered a fiscal year and saved the record after doing so.
Under “Adjustment Detail,” enter information into the appropriate fields. See Work
Report Adjustment Record Fields for more information on any field.
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When done entering information, click Submit. The record will be validated to
ensure that all information is entered in the correct format and that all necessary
fields have been filled in for this Work Report Adjustment Record.
• If any errors or exceptions are found during the validation process, you will be
returned to the Edit window, and the errors or exceptions will be displayed
near the top of the window. You must correct the errors. Exceptions are
shown for your reference so you can verify that the information is correct.
Some sample errors include:
• If the Work Report Adjustment Record passes the validation check, it will be
saved to your current Work Report Adjustment. You will be returned to the
Edit window, with the message, “Msg – Member adjustment created
successfully” near the top of the screen. At this point, the record has been
saved as a temporary file. You must click “Save” a second time to
permanently save the entry. You may make additional changes and save
those, or you may click “Cancel” to exit from this screen. Clicking “Cancel”
will cause you to lose any changes you made since the last “Save.”
You must correct all errors before you can save the Work Report Adjustment Record
and exit from the Edit window. Exceptions are shown for your information; you may
save and exit with the exception still in place. If you must leave this window without
correcting all errors, click “Cancel.” In this case, edit the record again later.
Note: When you exit an imported file, any records containing errors will appear in
red. Invalid records in a manual file will be lost when you exit the file.
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Work Report Adjustment Record Fields
Work Report Adjustment Records contain the same fields as Work Report Records,
but these fields are used in a slightly different way. There are also three additional
fields. The additional fields and the specific use of the other fields are described
here:
• Reason Code: Use the drop-down menu to select the reason the adjustment
is necessary. The Reason Code names in parenthesis are found in manual
adjustment files and may differ slightly from imported adjustments.
If there are several reasons for making this adjustment, select the most
important reason as indicated in the Reason Codes.
SALARY (Payroll Correction): Use this code if you are correcting any
salary/wages that you previously reported to PSERS incorrectly. You may
also correct service time in the same Work Report Adjustment Record.
CNTRCT (Missing Member Contract Record): Use this code if you are
submitting a Work Report Record that was rejected in your monthly Work
Report because the employee did not have a corresponding Member
Contract Record. Submit the correct Member Contract Record first and then
submit the employee’s work information in your next monthly Work Report or
in a Work Report Adjustment Record.
LMPSUM (Lump Sum / Retro Pay Adjustment): Use this code if the
employee receives a non-court awarded adjustment, such as a contract
settlement, that needs to be applied to a prior fiscal year or cannot be
reported in a Work Report Record for some other reason.
SVCADJ (Service Adjustment): Use this code if you are correcting service
time that was previously reported to PSERS for this employee. This may be
used to adjust hours, days, or both.
Note: If this adjustment includes both a change to service time and a change
to salary, use the SALARY code rather than the SVCADJ code.
LATRPT (Late Report): Use this code if you are reporting an employee’s
wages/salary and contributions (if any) after you have submitted the monthly
Work Report in which this should have been reported. This code is only used
when reporting information late for an existing employee. If a qualified
employee was never entered as a member or reported to PSERS, use the
UNCRDT code to report this employee’s salary, contributions, and service
time.
All other codes supersede the LATRPT code so LATRPT should only be
used when no other Reason Code applies.
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POS Correction (Member Purchase of Service Installments Correction):
Use this code if you are correcting Member Purchase of Service Installments
information that you previously reported to PSERS incorrectly or that you did
not report to PSERS when you should have.
UNCRDT (Uncredited School Service): Use this code if, due to an
administrative error, you did not enter an employee as a member at the
appropriate time and if, as a result of this oversight, you did not report the
employee’s salary/wages, contributions (if withheld), and service time to
PSERS, but you did pay the employee at the time.
If you withheld contributions from the original payment to the employee but
did not enter the employee as a member or remit the contributions to PSERS,
a delinquency will be applied to your PSERS account for both your and the
employee portion of the contributions. This will include interest at the rate of
6% per annum, prorated for the number of days the payment was late.
If contributions were NOT withheld from the original payment to the
employee, but the service was eligible for retirement contributions, the
employee must purchase this service time. See Purchase of Service Credit
in the Employer’s Reference Manual for Member Benefits.
CAWARD (Court Award): Use this code if you are reporting arbitration
relating to a rate grievance, improper termination, etc. PSERS must review
the court award/order before releasing any credit or debit to your and/or the
employee account.
If the court award spans fiscal years and/or contribution periods, then you
must submit a Work Report Adjustment Record for each fiscal year with the
corresponding salary and service reported in each.
• Wage Indicator: This indicates whether or not the salary/wages in this Work
Report Adjustment Record were paid during the fiscal year in which they were
earned.
Yes: Select “Yes” if the salary/wages were earned and paid in the
adjustment fiscal year.
No: Select “No” if the salary/wages were earned in a prior fiscal year but
were paid in the current fiscal year (when the mistake was discovered).
This field can only be left blank if Reason Code is set to SVCADJ or
MEMPOS.
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• Contributions Withheld: This indicates whether or not contributions were
withheld from the salary/wages at the time they were paid to the employee.
Yes: Select “Yes” if contributions were withheld when the salary/wages were
paid whether that was in a past fiscal year or in the current fiscal year.
No: Select “No” if no contributions were withheld from the salary/wages
when they were paid to the employee.
This field can only be left blank if Reason Code is set to SVCADJ or
MEMPOS.
• Wage Type: Select “Hourly,” “Per Diem,” or “Salary” from the drop-down
menu. Do not leave this field blank.
If the Reason Code is set to UNCRDT, Wage Type should match the
employee’s current Wage Type as set in the employee’s Member Contract
Record.
If Reason Code is anything other than UNCRDT, Wage Type should match
the Wage Type that was in effect during the time period being adjusted.
• Work Status: Use the drop-down menu to select the Work Status for the
employee during the time period being adjusted. Do not leave this field blank.
If the Reason Code is set to UNCRDT, Work Status should match the
employee’s current Work Status as set in the employee’s Member Contract
Record. If this Work Status is not ACTIVE, contact PSERS for assistance as
described in Contacting PSERS on page 205.
If Reason Code is anything other than UNCRDT, Work Status should match
the Work Status that was in effect during the time period being adjusted.
See Member Contract Records – Creating Individually on page 41 for more
information on Work Statuses.
• YEAR (Fiscal Year Ending): Enter the ending year of the fiscal year in
which the salary and service were earned (when the work was performed or
the leave of absence took place). Enter the year in YYYY format, with no
spaces, dashes, or other characters. This field cannot be left blank.
Example: For the 2006-2007 fiscal year, enter 2007.
If you reported the initial information with the wrong fiscal year, correct this by
submitting an Adjustment Record that subtracts all reported information from
the year it was erroneously reported in, and then submit a second Adjustment
Record that adds this information to the correct fiscal year.
Due to the increase in the contribution rate effective January 1, 2002, you
must use the June 2002 contribution rate to do any salary adjustment for the
2001-2002 school year.
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• BASE: Enter the difference between what you originally reported as the
employee’s base salary and what should have been reported. This amount can
be positive or negative. Enter the amount as a minus sign (if needed), 6-dollar
digits, a decimal point, and 2 cents digits. Do not enter the dollar sign or any
punctuation other than the minus sign and a single decimal point. Leave this
field blank or enter 0000000.00 if BASE does not need to be corrected.
Leading zeros are not required for any field in a manual adjustment file.
Example #1: If an employee was reported as earning $1,233.00 less than
she actually earned, enter 001233.00 to add this amount to her earnings for
the fiscal year.
Example #2: If an employee was reported as earning $1,500 more than she
actually earned, enter -001500.00 to subtract these earnings.
The total amount of the BASE, OT, SUP, and URCC fields for the fiscal year,
after adjustments, cannot exceed the IRS 401(a)(17) limitations. See the
EXSAL field.
• URCC (Unpaid Retirement Covered Compensation): Enter the difference
between what you originally reported as the employee’s URCC and what
should have been reported. This amount can be positive or negative. Enter
the amount as a minus sign (if needed), 6-dollar digits, a decimal point, and 2
cents digits. Do not enter the dollar sign or any punctuation other than the
minus sign and a single decimal point. Leave this field blank or enter
0000000.00 if URCC does not need to be corrected.
The total amount of the BASE, OT, SUP, and URCC fields for the fiscal year,
after adjustments, cannot exceed the IRS 401(a)(17) limitations. See the
EXSAL field.
• OT (Overtime): Enter the difference between what you originally reported as
the employee’s OT and what should have been reported. This amount can be
positive or negative. Enter the amount as a minus sign (if needed), 6-dollar
digits, a decimal point, and 2 cents digits. Do not enter the dollar sign or any
punctuation other than the minus sign and a single decimal point. Leave this
field blank or enter 0000000.00 if OT does not need to be corrected.
The total amount of the BASE, OT, SUP, and URCC fields for the fiscal year,
after adjustments, cannot exceed the IRS 401(a)(17) limitations. See the
EXSAL field.
• SUP (Supplemental): Enter the difference between what you originally
reported as the employee’s SUP and what should have been reported. This
amount can be positive or negative. Enter the amount as a minus sign (if
needed), 6-dollar digits, a decimal point, and 2 cents digits. Do not enter the
dollar sign or any punctuation other than the minus sign and a single decimal
point. Leave this field blank or enter 0000000.00 if SUP does not need to be
corrected.
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The total amount of the BASE, OT, SUP, and URCC fields for the fiscal year,
after adjustments, cannot exceed the IRS 401(a)(17) limitations. See the
EXSAL field.
• CONTRIB (Contributions): If you are adjusting an employee’s salary, adjust
the contributions appropriately. You may enter a positive or negative amount.
Enter the amount as a minus sign (if needed), 6-dollar digits, a decimal point,
and 2 cents digits. Do not enter the dollar sign or any punctuation other than
the minus sign and a single decimal point. Leave this field blank or enter
0000000.00 if the Contributions do not need to be corrected.
The CONTRIB field must be adjusted if any of the following is true:
BASE is not zero.
or…
SUP (Supplemental) is not zero.
or…
OT (Overtime) is not zero.
or…
URCC (Unpaid Retirement Covered Compensation) is not zero.
Do not adjust an employee’s contributions unless you are also adjusting
salary. If you withheld contributions from an employee’s paycheck at an
incorrect rate, you do not need to adjust this. PSERS posts the correct
amount to the employee’s account and charges/credits the difference to your
account automatically.
• HRS (Hours): Enter the difference between what you originally reported as
the employee’s hours of service time and what should have been reported.
This amount can be positive or negative. Enter the amount as a minus sign
(if needed) and 4-hour digits. Hours must be rounded up or down. Do not
enter any punctuation other than the minus sign. Leave this field blank or
enter 00000 if the hours do not need to be corrected.
Only enter hours that count as Service Time (service that is earned, service
that may qualify later, or service that can be purchased).
• DAYS: Enter the difference between what you originally reported as the
employee’s hours of service time and what should have been reported. This
amount can be positive or negative. Enter the days as a minus sign (if
needed), 3-day digits, a decimal point, and two partial-day digits. Do not
enter any punctuation other than the minus sign. Leave this field blank or
enter 0000.00 if the days do not need to be corrected.
Example: Enter 019.50 for a per diem employee who worked 19 ½ days
more during the fiscal year than you originally reported.
Only enter days that count as Service Time (service that is earned, service
that may qualify later, or service that can be purchased).
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• WNC (Wages No Contribution): Enter the difference between what you
originally reported as the employee’s WNC and what should have been
reported. This amount can be positive or negative. Enter the amount as a
minus sign (if needed), 6-dollar digits, a decimal point, and 2 cents digits. Do
not enter the dollar sign or any punctuation other than the minus sign and a
single decimal point. Leave this field blank or enter 0000000.00 if WNC does
not need to be corrected.
• POS (Member Purchase of Service Installments): Enter the difference
between what you originally reported as the employee’s Member POS
Installment and what should have been reported. This amount can be
positive or negative. Enter the amount as a minus sign (if needed), 6-dollar
digits, a decimal point, and 2 cents digits. Do not enter the dollar sign or any
punctuation other than the minus sign and a single decimal point. Leave this
field blank or enter 0000000.00 if POS does not need to be corrected.
The POS field must be adjusted if the Reason Code is set to MEMPOS and
POS Correction.
• EXSAL (Excess Salary): Enter the difference between what you originally
reported as the employee’s EXSAL and what should have been reported. This
amount can be positive or negative. Enter the amount as a minus sign (if
needed), 6-dollar digits, a decimal point, and 2 cents digits. Do not enter the
dollar sign or any punctuation other than the minus sign and a single decimal
point. Leave this field blank or enter 0000000.00 if EXSAL does not need to
be corrected.
The total amount of the BASE, OT, SUP, and URCC fields for the fiscal year,
after adjustments, cannot exceed the IRS 401(a)(17) limitations, as described
in What Earnings Qualify for Contributions and Contribution Rates on
page 66. If the total of these fields, after adjustments, exceeds the IRS
401(a)(17) limit, reduce the amount in the BASE field so that the total of these
fields is equal to the IRS 401(a)(17) limit, and enter the remainder of the
employee’s earnings in the EXSAL field.
• NRCC (Non-Retirement Covered Compensation): Enter the difference
between what you originally reported as the employee’s NRCC and what
should have been reported. This amount can be positive or negative. Enter
the amount as a minus sign (if needed), 6-dollar digits, a decimal point, and 2
cents digits. Do not enter the dollar sign or any punctuation other than the
minus sign and a single decimal point. Leave this field blank or enter
0000000.00 if NRCC does not need to be corrected.
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Saving Your Changes
After adding, deleting, or editing any Work Report Adjustment Records, always save
your work twice. Click “Save” in the Adjustment Record Detail window BEFORE you
log out or go to another part of the system.
If you log out or go to another part of the system without clicking “Save” twice, you
will lose ALL changes you made since the last save. In this case, any records you
added will be lost, any records you deleted will be restored, and any records you
edited will be returned to their previous information.
Submitting the Work Report Adjustment(s) to PSERS
For information on how to submit Work Report Adjustments to PSERS see
Submitting Records to PSERS on page 175.
Each night, PSERS releases all Work Report Adjustments that have been approved
for submission, except for Court Awards, that must be reviewed before being
released. PSERS will automatically apply the information found in the Work Report
Adjustment to your account with PSERS and to your employees’ accounts. After that
time, you cannot change the Work Report Adjustment.
You may view a Work Report Adjustment after you approve the file. The file will
appear as pending until it is released the following day. Use the Approved
Adjustments option to do this.
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Work Report Adjustments – Examples
This section provides examples of how you would correct errors made in reporting
work-related information to PSERS.
Reporting Information that was Previously OMITTED
With the New Pension Administration System, most corrections are made online by
submitting a Work Report Record or a Work Report Adjustment Record.
Salary/Contributions Not Reported
There may be times when you did not report the salary and/or contributions for an
employee at the correct time.
Example #1: A full-time, salaried employee earned $3,000 during the first quarter of
the 2005 – 2006 fiscal year. The employee was entered as a PSERS member at the
time, but due to an administrative error, you left this employee off your Monthly
Report. You paid the employee properly, and reported the employee’s service time
for the year correctly at the end of the year. You withheld $225 of retirement
contributions and remitted these to PSERS along with your other withholdings, but
since you did not report the employee, these withholdings were not credited to her
account. When the employee requests a retirement estimate, she brings the missing
quarter to your attention.
Correct this situation by submitting a Work Report Adjustment Record with the
fields set as follows:
• Reason Code: UNCRDT (Uncredited School Service)
• Wage Indicator: Yes
• Contributions Withheld: Yes
• Wage Type: Salary
• Work Status: ACTIVE
• YEAR (Fiscal Year Ending): 2006 (the ending year of the 2005 – 2006 fiscal
year)
• BASE: 0003000.00
• CONTRIB (Contributions): 0000225.00
• DAYS: 0000.00
Since you withheld contributions properly and remitted these to PSERS at the correct
time, no interest charges apply (unless these contributions were refunded to you as
having been paid in error). If this happened, PSERS will apply a delinquency to your
account for both your and the employee portion of the contributions. This includes
interest at the rate of 6% per annum, prorated for the number of days the payment
was late from the original date it was due.
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Example #2: Using the same situation as Example #1, if you withheld contributions
from the employee’s paycheck but did NOT remit these contributions to PSERS, the
following applies:
Since you withheld contributions from the original payment to the employee but did
not remit these contributions to PSERS, a delinquency will be applied to your PSERS
account for both your and the employee portion of the contributions. This includes
interest at the rate of 6% per annum, prorated for the number of days the payment
was late after the end of the fiscal year.
From the employee’s perspective, the wages and contributions in both of these
examples would be credited to the correct fiscal year and would earn interest as if
they had been in the account from June 30 of that year.
Example #3: Using the same situation as Example #1, if you did not withhold
contributions from the employee’s paycheck and the salary qualified for contributions,
the following applies:
• Contributions Withheld: No
• CONTRIB (Contributions): 0000000.00
• WNC (Wages No Contribution): 0003000.00
This Work Report Adjustment will cause PSERS to begin a Purchase of Service
process for this employee. PSERS will generate a Statement of Amount Due to the
employee for the retirement contributions that were never withheld but should have
been. PSERS will also generate a Statement of Amount Due to you. See Purchase
of Service Credit in the Employer’s Reference Manual for Member Benefits for
details.
Employees Work Report was Rejected
PSERS will reject your Work Report if you attempt to submit a monthly Work Report
Record for an employee without first submitting Member Demographic Information or
a Member Contract Record.
To correct this, submit Member Demographic Information and at least one
Member Contract Record. Then, you must submit a Work Report Adjustment
Record with the fields set as follows:
• Reason Code: CNTRCT (Missing Member Contract Record)
• Wage Indicator: Yes
• Contributions Withheld: Yes or No as appropriate
All fields need to be reported in the Work Report Adjustment Record.
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Adjusting Information that was Reported INCORRECTLY
In some situations, an employee’s salary, contributions, service time, and/or Member
Purchase of Service Installments may have been reported to PSERS incorrectly.
Incorrect Salary/Contributions Previously Reported
Example: A full-time, salaried employee was paid $3,500 in September 2006 but
you accidentally reported $5,300 in your monthly Work Report. You reported the
contributions correctly.
To correct the salary, submit a Work Report Adjustment Record with the fields set
as follows:
• Reason Code: SALARY (Correction to Previously-Reported Salary or
Contributions)
• Wage Indicator: Yes
• Contributions Withheld: Yes
• Wage Type: Salary (note that the Wage Type must match the Wage Type
at the time the work was performed)
• Work Status: ACTIVE
• YEAR (Fiscal Year Ending): 2007 (2006 – 2007 fiscal year)
• BASE: –001800.00 (3,500 – the 5,300 originally reported)
• CONTRIB (Contributions): –000135.00
Incorrect Service Time was Previously Reported
Example: A full-time, salaried employee worked 190 days during the 2005 – 2006
fiscal year, but you accidentally reported 195 days of service time.
To correct this, submit a Work Report Adjustment Record with the fields set as
follows:
• Reason Code: SVCADJ (Service Adjustment)
• Wage Type: Salary (note that the Wage Type must match the Wage Type
at the time the work was performed)
• Work Status: ACTIVE
• YEAR (Fiscal Year Ending): 2006
• DAYS: –005.00 (190 – the 195 originally reported)
Note: If the Adjustment Record includes both a change to service time and a
change to salary, use the SALARY code rather than the SVCADJ code.
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Incorrect Member Purchase of Service Installments
Example: A part-time, hourly employee is paying Member Purchase of Service
Installments of $95 per month. You accidentally report $59 per month to PSERS for
September and October 2006 before the employee calls the mistake to your
attention.
To correct this, submit a Work Report Adjustment Record with the fields set as
follows:
• Reason Code: MEMPOS (Member Purchase of Service Installments
Correction)
• Wage Type: Hourly
• Work Status: ACTIVE
• YEAR (Fiscal Year Ending): 2007
• Member POS Installment: 0000072.00 ($95 – $59, times 2 months)
Note: If the Adjustment Record includes both a change to Member Purchase of
Service Installments and a change to salary, use the SALARY code rather than
the MEMPOS code.
Arbitration and Court Decision Payments
Contract salary awarded to an employee as a result of arbitration or a court
decision is compensation for retirement purposes IF THE EMPLOYEE RECEIVES
FULL BACK PAY AND BENEFITS.
• Report the total amount that represents only the employee's reinstated full
contract salary even though the amount of the award may have included
interest or punitive damages. Do not report any other awarded claims such
as interest.
• Interest payments received as part of the award are NOT subject to
retirement deductions. Report these in the Non-Retirement Covered
Compensation field on the employee’s Work Report Adjustment Record.
• You must make retirement contributions on the gross amount of contract
salary awarded, not on the net salary received by the employee. If an award
amount is reduced because of other outside income, you must still pay
contributions on the full award amount.
Example: An employee was awarded $20,000, but this amount was reduced by
other outside income. The employee must pay retirement contributions on the
full $20,000 award.
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• Submit a copy of the arbitration or court decision to PSERS to:
PO Box 125
Harrisburg, PA 17108-0125
You must show the total amount of the award, the salary breakdown by
month/year, and the days or hours of service time to be credited.
• If the court award spans fiscal years and/or contribution periods, then you
must submit a Work Report Adjustment Record for each fiscal year and/or
contribution period with the corresponding salary and service reported in
each.
• PSERS must review the court award/order before releasing any credit or
debit to your and/or the employee accounts.
• If the Wage Indicator is set to “Y”, the employee and employer contribution
rate will be based on the fiscal year in the adjustment record. If the Wage
Indicator is set to “N”, the employee and employer contribution rate is
based on the current fiscal year rate.
Example: A salaried employee is terminated on December 17, 2004. The employee
feels the termination is wrongful and sues for full back pay, benefits, interest, and
penalties. The case goes to arbitration in August 2004, where it is decided that the
employee will receive back pay and benefits for the remainder of his contract, from
December 18, 2004 through June 10, 2005, as a $21,000 lump sum. Since the
employee has been working at another job since May 15, 2005 and received $3,000
in salary, the employer payment amount is reduced by $3,000, bringing the total you
pay down to $18,000. You and the employee must still pay retirement contributions
on the full $21,000 award, so you will withhold $1,575 from the lump sum payment.
The employee will be earning 49 days of service time (the remainder of the contract
for which he is being paid).
Submit a Work Report Adjustment Record with the fields set as follows:
• Reason Code: CAWARD (Court Award)
• Wage Indicator: No
• Contributions Withheld: Yes
• Wage Type: Salary
• Work Status: TRMNTN
• YEAR (Fiscal Year Ending): 2005
• BASE: 0018000.00
• URCC (Unpaid Retirement Covered Compensation): 0000000.00
• CONTRIB: 001575.00 (at 7.5%)
• DAYS: 0049.00
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Non-Arbitration/Court-Awarded Lump Sum Payments
Retroactive Salary Increases Due to Late Contract
Settlement
Lump-sum payments that represent the difference between the old contract salary
and the new contract salary are compensation for retirement benefits.
• If the back salary increase spans fiscal years and/or contribution periods, then
you must submit a Work Report Adjustment Record for each fiscal year
and/or contribution period with the corresponding salary and service reported
in each.
• If the Wage Indicator is set to “Y”, the employee and employer contribution
rate will be based on the fiscal year in the adjustment record. If the Wage
Indicator is set to “N”, the employee and employer contribution rate is
based on the current fiscal year rate.
Note: When a contract is settled and payments are made retroactively, you must
withhold and report member contributions in the year earned. If the employee has
retired or received a refund, PSERS will make any necessary adjustments to a
retiree’s benefit or additional payments to a refunded member.
Back Pay Award
Lump-sum payments also include back pay awards that are privately negotiated with
a (former) employee without a court order.
• If the back pay settlement spans fiscal years and/or contribution periods, then
you must submit a Work Report Adjustment Record for each fiscal year
and/or contribution period with the corresponding salary and service reported
in each.
• If the Wage Indicator is set to “Y”, the employee and employer contribution
rate will be based on the fiscal year in the adjustment record. If the Wage
Indicator is set to “N”, the employee and employer contribution rate is
based on the current fiscal year rate.
Example: You terminated a salaried coach in April 2006. The coach disputes the
termination, seeking payment and service time for the remainder of his contract,
through June 2006. In August 2006, you agree to these terms. You pay the coach a
lump sum of $4,500, from which $292.50 in retirement contributions are withheld.
The coach will receive 12 days of service time.
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Submit a Work Report Adjustment Record with the fields set as follows:
• Reason Code: LMPSUM (Lump Sum / Retro Pay Adjustment)
• Wage Indicator: No
• Contributions Withheld: Yes
• Wage Type: Salary
• Work Status: TRMNTN
• YEAR (Fiscal Year Ending): 2006
• BASE: 0004500.00
• CONTRIB: 0000292.50
• DAYS: 0012.00
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Information Sub—Menu
The Information Sub—Menu is for imports and manual files. Use the radial button at
the top of the page to choose the type of work area.
Member Demographics and Contract Records
There are four options in the Info sub-menu under Member Demographics and
Contract Records:
• File Upload lets you submit new record and make changes to existing
records by uploading a file that was exported by your payroll/HR software
system. In this case, you must upload a file in the correct format. See
Submitting Records by Uploading a File on page 159.
• Work Area is used in connection with the File Upload option. See Uploading
an Information File on page 163 for more information on this option.
• View/Edit option lets you check whether a record already appears on file
with PSERS. If so, you can view and edit this information online.
• Create option lets you submit a record by entering this information directly
online, one at a time.
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Work Reports and Work Report Adjustments
There are four options in the Info sub-menu for Work Reports and Work Report
Adjustments:
• File Upload lets you submit new record and make changes to existing
records by uploading a file that was exported by your payroll/HR software
system. In this case, you must upload a file in the correct format. See
Submitting Records by Uploading a File on page 159.
• Work Area is where Work Reports and Work Report Adjustments that you
have submitted can be found. There is both an “Import” and a “Manual” Work
Area. If the report was created online, make sure to look in the “Manual”
Work Area.
• Create Report/Adjustments allows the employer to create a manual
Work Report and/or Adjustment File
• Approved Reports allows employer to view all approved reports by
selecting the “View” tab. Once the file is open, the employer will also have
a “Print” function button on the top right of the page.
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Submitting Records by Uploading
Files
There are five steps involved in submitting multiple records at once:
1. Create a file in the correct format. In most cases, this involves exporting the
file from your payroll/HR software system. Name the file as specified in the
PSERS Filename Convention, described in Uploading an Information File on
page 163. The file format is detailed under Correctly Formatting Files on
page 161.
2. Upload the file to PSERS, as described under Uploading an Information File
on page 163.
3. Validate the file to check for any errors or exceptions. You may validate
the file as part of the uploading process or you may do this from the Work
Area later, at your option. PSERS will validate the file immediately upon
submission. If the file is very large, PSERS may validate it overnight. In
this case, you will see a message indicating you should return to the
system the next day.
4. Fix the records with errors or delete these records. Go to the section’s Work
Area. If you did not choose to validate the file during the upload process, run
the validation process at this time. After the file validation has been run, any
records that contain errors or exceptions will be flagged for you to examine.
Exceptions are shown for your information. You may submit records with
exceptions still in place but you should contact the Employer Service Center
to inform PSERS. Rerun the validation process after making any corrections.
5. Submit the file once all corrections are made.
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Chapter
13
Correctly Formatting Files
In order to transmit a file to the system, all information in the file must be in the
correct format, as follows:
• Save the file as a plain text (ASCII) file that contains only Member
Demographic Information. You CANNOT mix Member Demographic
Information, Member Contract Records, Work Report Records, and/or Work
Report Adjustment Records into one file.
• The first line in the file is a header line. Refer to the section where the
Header Line is described. For example, The Member Demographic Header
Line can be found under Header of the Member Demographic Information
File on page 32.
• Each individual record must appear on its own record line. Refer to the
section where the Record Lines are described. For example, the Member
Demographic Record Line section is found under Record Lines in the
Member Demographic Information File on page 33.
• All record lines must be in the fixed-record (fixed width) format.
• Report the fields in each record line in the order identified.
• All numeric (non-decimal) fields must be right justified, zero-padded left. If
the field is optional and will not be populated with data, zero-fill it.
• Date fields are considered numeric. If a date field is optional and will not be
populated with data, zero-fill it.
• All alpha or alphanumeric fields must be left justified, space-filled to the right.
If the field is optional and will not be populated with data, space-fill it.
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• Implied decimals cannot be used, but when an example shows a numeric
value with a decimal point, zero-value fields must include this decimal point in
that place.
• For fields that are numeric signed, the minus sign must appear as the
leftmost position in the field if the value is less than zero; otherwise, the
leftmost position would have a zero in it.
• All header and record lines must be Carriage Return, Line Feed (CRLF
Hexadecimal 0D25) delimited.
• All fields in the file are character-based and fixed-length. Some fields require
a particular character, such as a decimal point, in a specific place. The
sample data shown for each field indicates the layout of that field. All records
must use this layout for both real data and “empty” or “zero value” data.
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Uploading an Information File
First, access the particular sub-menu that you need.
• From the sub-menu on the left side of the screen, click File Upload.
• Click “Browse” to locate the file to be uploaded to PSERS. This file must be
in the correct format. Name the file as specified in the PSERS Filename
Convention:
A Member Demographic Information filename must begin with “mdem”
followed by your 6-digit PSERS Employer Code (if your Employer Code is
shorter than six digits, place one or two zeroes in front of it to make it six
digits long), followed by the 4-digit year, the 2-digit month, a decimal point,
and “v3d” as the filename extension.
A Contract Information filename must begin with “cont” followed by your 6-
digit PSERS Employer Code (if your Employer Code is shorter than six digits,
place one or two zeroes in front of it to make it six digits long), followed by the
4-digit year, the 2-digit month, a decimal point, and “v3d” as the filename
extension.
A Work Report filename must begin with “wrpt” followed by your 6-digit
PSERS Employer Code (if your Employer Code is shorter than six digits,
place one or two zeroes in front of it to make it six digits long), followed by the
4-digit year, the 2-digit month, a decimal point, and “v3d” as the filename
extension.
An Adjustments filename must begin with “wadj” followed by your 6-digit
PSERS Employer Code (if your Employer Code is shorter than six digits,
place one or two zeroes in front of it to make it six digits long), followed by the
4-digit year, the 2-digit month, a decimal point, and “v3d” as the filename
extension.
Example: Employer 1234 is submitting a Member Demographic Information
file in July 2006. The file would be named: mdem001234200607.v3d
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• After selecting the file, you must enter a brief description of the file in the
Description field. After the file is transmitted, you will no longer see the file
name. Instead, you will only see the description you entered.
The description must contain the following:
Your 6-digit PSERS Employer Code. If your Employer Code is
shorter than six digits, place one or two zeroes in front of it to make it
six digits long.
The initials of the type of file you are working on. Use “MD” for
Member Demographic, “CR” for Contract Information, “WR” for Work
Report, and “WA” for Adjustments.
The 4-digit year and the 2-digit month.
Sample Description: Employer 1234 is submitting a Member Demographic
Information file in August 2007. The description should be:
001234 MD 200708
• To validate the individual records in the file immediately after it is uploaded,
make sure the “Validate Immediately” check box is selected. Validation
checks that the records in the uploaded file are in the correct format and that
all necessary information is included. To validate the records later (for
example, if a different person or department checks the records than the
person / department who uploads the file), clear this check box. In this case,
the employer will need to validate the records at a later time. Changes will be
complete after you validate the records, correct any errors (or delete the
records containing errors), and submit any corrected records.
• If you want to clear the information you entered into this window, click
“Clear.” This will empty all the fields on the screen.
• When you are ready to transmit the file, click “Upload.” This transmits the file
to PSERS. An error message will be displayed immediately if any errors are
found in the file format, or if the file header does not reconcile with the records
in the file. In this case, the file cannot be used in its current form. Review the
error(s) and make the necessary changes to your file in whatever software
program was used to create the file. Then, upload the new file.
• The file will be loaded into the Work Area if it passes the format and header
check. Also, if the “Validate Immediately” option was selected, the records
will be checked to make sure they are in a valid format and that all necessary
information is included. At this point, a summary of the results will be
displayed, such as:
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Records Transmitted: 330 shows number of records that were
transmitted from the file
Records Validated: 330 shows number of records that were
validated (“0” if not performed)
Status: Valid Records: 327 shows number of records that passed
validation check, if performed
Invalid Records: 3 shows number of records that failed
validation check, if performed
Elapsed Time: 900ms shows amount of time the upload
and validation check took
All records in the uploaded file, whether validated or not, are placed in the
Work Area. They will NOT be submitted to PSERS automatically. You
MUST go to the particular Work Area to check the records, correct any errors,
and approve the records before they will be submitted to PSERS.
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Chapter
15
Work Area – File Window
Created by File Upload
The File window displays the file that was just uploaded as well as files that were
uploaded in the past. From the File window, you have the following options:
• Status: Use this drop-down menu to view only files that meet a certain
criterion. This also changes the options that are available from this screen.
The Status choices are:
All displays all files you have transmitted to the system. You will see an
option to continue to the next “page” in the file list if there are more files
than fit on the screen.
Not Validated displays files that have been transmitted but have not yet been
through the validation check.
Validated displays only files that have been through the validation check but
have not yet been approved. Use this to see the files you are working on
and still need to have approved.
Approved displays files that have already been submitted to PSERS. The
records in these files can no longer be edited, but they can be viewed.
Approved with Errors displays files that were submitted to PSERS with
uncorrected errors in some records. The records in these files can no
longer be edited or resubmitted, but they can be viewed.
• Select: Use this check box to select the file(s) to be affected by the next
action you take, such as “Approve.”
Note: You cannot select files while Status is set to view “All” files. You must
first change Status to the desired setting, to ensure that the option you want
to apply is valid for all of the files you select.
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• Validate: The option appears in the lower part of the screen if Status
is set to view “Not Validated” files.
• Select one or more files and click “Validate” to validate the records in the
selected file(s). Validation checks that the records in the uploaded file are in
the correct format and that all necessary information is included. You will
need to correct any records that do not pass the validation check before they
can be submitted to PSERS.
• New File: Click if you need to upload another file.
• Delete File: Click to delete the selected file(s) entirely. This can only be
done before a file has been approved for submission to PSERS. Use this
option if a file contains an error in the file header or contains too many errors
to correct, and you want to delete it and upload a new file instead.
• Approve: This option appears if Status is set to view “Validated” files. Select
one or more files and click “Approve” to approve ALL records in the selected
file(s) and submit these to PSERS. You should only approve the files after
you have made all the necessary changes and you are ready to submit the
records. Once you approve the file, the records cannot be deleted or
changed.
After you approve the file, the records in it can only be viewed for reference.
They can no longer be edited or deleted in the Work Area. If you approve the
file but some of the records still contain errors, those records will NOT be
posted to the system. At this point, they cannot be fixed and submitted to
PSERS. Instead, create a Work Report Adjustment File with the correct
information and submit these records to PSERS. Delays in reporting Member
(Employee) Contributions may cause you to be charged delinquency interest.
For all of these reasons, a file should only be approved if the display indicates
that ALL of the records in the file are valid. The number in the “Valid Rows”
column should match the number in the “Rows Imported” column and in the
“Rows Processed” column. The “Not Processed Rows” and “Invalid Rows”
columns should both show “0.”
If the file contains any invalid records, those will be indicated in the “Invalid
Rows” column. In this case, click “Detail” to view the records and correct the
errors before approving the records.
• Detail: Click to view the records in the file in a detailed format. This option
lets you check that information is in the right field for each employee. It also
allows you to edit the information for a particular employee or to delete an
employee’s record if you want to submit it later instead.
Clicking “Detail” will take you to the Record Detail window described in Work
Area – Record Detail Window on page 171.
Note: The file must be validated before the records can be viewed in detail.
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Manual Files Created Online
You must select the “Manual” button to view this Work Area. The system will
automatically default to “Import” if you do not choose “Manual”. The following options
are available from the File Window screen:
• Status: Use this drop-down menu to view only files that were created online
and that meet a certain criterion. This also changes the options that are
available from this screen. The Status choices are:
All displays all files that you created online. You will see an option to
continue to the next “page” in the file list if there are more files than fit on
the screen.
Validated displays only files created online but not yet approved for
submission to PSERS.
Not Validated displays files created online but that have not yet been through
the validation check. Check the file under “Select” to validate these
records. This does not apply to manual reports.
Approved displays files created online and already approved for submission
to PSERS. You can view but can no longer edit these records if PSERS
has released them already.
Approved with Errors displays files created online and submitted to PSERS
with uncorrected errors in some records. This does not apply to manual
reports.
• Select: Use this check box to select the file(s) to be affected by the next
action you take, such as “Approve” or “Delete.”
Note: You cannot select files while Status is set to view “All” files. You must
first change Status to the desired setting, to ensure that the option you want
to apply is valid for all of the files you select.
Important: Employers can now delete file that have not been approved.
• New Report / New Adjustment: Click if you need to create another file.
• Approve: This option appears if Status is set to view “Validated” a file.
Select one or more files and click “Approve” to approve ALL records in the
selected file(s) and submit these to PSERS. This should only be done when
the file is complete and correct and all records in it are ready to be submitted.
Each night, PSERS releases all files approved for submission, except for
Court Awards that must be reviewed before being released. PSER will
automatically apply the information found in the files to your account with
PSERS and to your employees’ accounts. After that time, you cannot change
the file.
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You may view a file after PSERS has released it. Use the Approved option
to do this.
If your file still contains invalid information when it is approved for submission
to PSERS, these entries will be rejected.
• Edit: Click to edit the records in the file, to add or delete records. Clicking
“Edit” will take you to the Record Detail window described in Work Area --
Record Detail Window on page 171.
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Work Area – Record Detail Window
You have the following options from the Record Detail window:
• Status: Use this drop-down menu to view only records that meet a certain
criterion:
All displays all of the records in the selected file. Records with errors or
exceptions will be highlighted in the list.
Non validated displays records that have been added or edited and have not
yet been validated.
Valid displays only records that have been through the validation check and
are found to be in a valid format.
Invalid displays records that have been through the validation check and are
found to contain errors. You must correct all errors before the record can
be submitted to PSERS.
Exceptions: Records with non-standard data. They are shown for your
reference so you can verify that the non-standard data is correct. These
are often contribution rate discrepancies.
• Scroll: Use the vertical scroll bar to see additional records. Use the
horizontal scroll bar to view the fields in a particular record without editing that
record.
• Delete: Select the “Delete” check box for any records that you should delete
rather than submit to PSERS. After you checked all desired records, click
“Delete” under the horizontal scroll bar.
• Validate: Click to run the validation process again. If you added, deleted, or
edited any records, revalidate before submitting the records to PSERS.
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• Save: Click to save any changes you made to the records. Do this after you
have finished all adding, deleting, and editing of records. If you exit the
Record Detail window (for example, if you log out or go to another part of the
system) without saving, you will lose ALL changes you made since the last
save. In this case, any records you added will be lost, any records you
deleted will be restored, and any records you edited will be returned to their
previous information. It is advisable to save your work periodically during the
editing session if you are editing extensively.
• Add: Click to add another record to the current batch. You will be prompted
to enter the additional employee’s social security number. A new record with
this social security number will be added to the Record Detail window. The
other fields for this employee will be blank and will need to be filled in by
editing the record. Use the “Add” function when an employee is left out of the
batch by mistake or if an employee’s social security number was incorrect in
the file that was submitted. This field cannot be edited so you would need to
delete the incorrect record and add a correct record.
• Cancel: Click to cancel ALL changes you made to the records since the last
“Save.” This will delete any records you added and will return any records
you edited to their previous information. It will also restore any records you
deleted.
• Edit: If you need to change the information in a record, you can do so by
clicking in the desired field and changing that field on the spot. If preferred,
you can click “Edit” to the left of the record to edit the information in the Edit
window. This window provides more information about the error(s) and
exception(s) in the record. It also validates the information you add or edit.
Near the top of the window, you will see any errors that need to be corrected
for this record as well as any exceptions that you should verify are correct.
Edit the information in each field to correct any errors. When done editing,
click “Update Import” to accept the changes you made and exit from this
window. Click “Cancel” to exit from this window without saving any changes.
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• Search: Employers are able to search for individuals within a work report
by name or social security number. Employers can also search by type of
error in a report and print the names of the employees whose entry
contain errors. This will enable employers to work offline to correct or
verify information.
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Chapter
17
Submitting Records to PSERS
You will be ready to submit your records to PSERS after you have…
• Finished adding, deleting, and editing records in the Record Detail
window.
and…
• Clicked “Save” to save your changes.
Click “Work Area” in the sub-menu on the left-hand side of the screen to submit your
finalized, saved file. This will return you to the File window.
Change “Status” to display only “Validated” files. Then, click the check box to select
the file and finally click “Approve” to send the file to PSERS.
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3
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You will see the following message in a pop-up window:
Click OK. The file has now been submitted to PSERS. It will disappear from the
Validated screen since it no longer falls in the category of being validated but not
submitted. After this, change “Status” to display “Approved” files to see the file.
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Chapter
18
How PSERS Responds to Work
Reports and Payments
Via the U.S. Postal Service on the time schedule indicated, PSERS will send you the
following statements about your reports and payments to PSERS.
• An Employer Statement of Accounts, sent on the 21 st of each month. This
statement shows payments made for employee and employer contributions,
Purchase of Service Installments, and a list of all monies associated with
approved Work Reports and Work Report Adjustments.
• A Delinquency Letter, if you have a past due balance on Member (employee)
contributions, Member Purchase of Service Installments, or Employer
contributions. PSERS charges interest daily on payments not paid on time or
pain in full. We send this letter and the Employer Statement of Accounts as a
reminder to pay promptly to help minimize your interest charges. This letter is
mailed on approximately the 21 st of each month if PSERS has not received
the payment by that date.
• A Waiver/Contribution Adjustment Letter, sent to both you and the part-time
employee who waived membership but is no longer eligible to waive
membership. You must:
Enter the employee as a member of PSERS.
Deduct contributions and send to PSERS.
Submit Work Reports each month.
• (This feature will be added in the future.) A letter will be sent when a parttime
employee qualifies during the month of your last Work Report, and you
did not report contributions. You must begin withholding contributions from
this employee’s paychecks. You will also receive notification when you
submit your monthly Work Report Record(s) for this employee.
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Employer Statement of Accounts
On the 21 st of each month, PSERS will mail you an Employer Statement of Accounts
to communicate with you about your Member (Employee) Contributions, Employer
Contributions, and Member Purchase of Service Installments.
You may also view your Employer Statement of Accounts online:
1. Access the Employer Services window in the online system. See Accessing
the Online System on page 1 if you are not familiar with how to do this.
2. Click “Account Details” in the left-hand menu from the Employer Services
window. You will see a screen with basic information about your account with
PSERS.
3. Use the scroll box near the top of the screen to select the Employer
Statement of Accounts you want to view. After selecting the statement, click
“GO.” The selected Employer Statement of Accounts will appear on the
screen:
ABC SCHOOL DISTRICT
123 MAIN ST
HARRISBURG, PA 17112-1234
To view a different month’s Employer Statement of Accounts, select it from the dropdown
box at the top of the screen.
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Accounts within the Statement
The Employer Statement of Accounts includes three sections, one for each billing
account you have with PSERS:
• Member Contributions: This section summarizes the contributions your
employees make to PSERS via withholding from their paychecks. You report
these withholdings in your monthly Work Reports and in Work Report
Adjustments.
• Employer Contributions: This section summarizes your portion of the
retirement contributions. Employer contributions are calculated automatically
from the total qualifying salaries you report in your monthly Work Reports and
in Work Report Adjustments.
• Member POS (Purchase of Service) Installments: If you have any
employees who are purchasing service time through payroll deductions, your
statement will include a section that summarizes the Member POS
Installments that you reported in your monthly Work Reports and in Work
Report Adjustments.
The three sections of the report are very similar in format. Each section contains a
header with the same basic information, followed by transaction lines in the same
layout.
Statement Header
At the top of each page in your Employer Statement of Accounts, you will see a
header that contains the following information:
• Your Employer Name, Address, and Employer Code.
• The section of the report covered on this page: Member Contributions,
Member POS Payments (for employee Purchase of Service Installment
Payments), or Employer Contributions.
• The period included in this report. All Work Reports, Work Report
Adjustments, payments, and interest charges that were posted to your
account during this period will be shown on this Employer Statement of
Accounts.
• The current date.
The month of this Employer Statement of Accounts will only appear on the first page.
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Account Transactions
Each transaction that was posted to your account during the period of this Employer
Statement of Accounts will be detailed on its own line. Transactions include Work
Reports, Work Reports Adjustments, payments, interest charges, and any
adjustments made by PSERS in unusual circumstances. For each transaction, you
will see the following information:
• POST DATE: This is the date the transaction was posted to your account.
For a Work Report or Work Report Adjustment, this is the date the report was
released by PSERS after you submitted it. For a payment, this is the date
PSERS posted the payment to your account. For interest charges and
adjustments, this is the date PSERS calculated the interest or made the
adjustment.
• TRANS TYPE: This indicates the type of transaction: a Work Report (WH
Report), a Work Report Adjustment (WH Adj.), a Payment, an Interest
charge, or an Adjustment PSERS made.
• Interest charges are listed under the Work Report or Work Report Adjustment
for which they were generated.
• DUE DATE: This indicates when the amount in the “DUE AMT” column is
due at PSERS.
• TRANS #: PSERS will assign a transaction identification number to every
Work Report, Work Report Adjustment, payment, interest charge, and any
miscellaneous adjustment made by PSERS.
• DESCRIPTION: This provides more detail on the transaction. For example:
Identifies the Work Report or Work Report Adjustment posted.
Identifies the deposit date a payment is received.
Identifies the transaction for which the payment is applied.
• DUE AMT: This shows the amount you must remit to PSERS for each
transaction. This column will only be filled in for transactions that require
payment, such as a Work Report, Work Report Adjustment, interest charge,
or any miscellaneous adjustment created by PSERS.
• PAID AMT: This shows the amount you have remitted to PSERS for a
particular transaction. Payments are displayed in parentheses to indicate a
negative amount.
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• END BAL: This shows the balance of a transaction (amounts due minus
amounts remitted). The End Balance is the amount you still owe to PSERS
for that transaction or the credit to your account from the transaction.
Example: If you owe $35,000 in member contributions between a Work
Report and a Work Report Adjustment and make a payment for $30,000, you
would see the following transactions in your Employer Statement of Accounts
(only the columns relevant to this example are shown):
TRANS TYPE TRANS # DESCRIPTION DUE AMT. PAID AMT. END BAL.
WH Report 201 Billing Rpt 2004-12 $20,000.00
203 Payment Ref#12345 – 203 ($20,000.00)
Trans. Balance $0.00
WH Adj. 202 Correction to WR 12-2004 $15,000.00
203 Payment Ref#12345 – 203 ($10,000.00)
Trans. Balance $5,000.00
Payment 203 Dep Date 01/10/2005
Check 12345 ($30,000.00)
201 Billing Rpt 2004-12 $20,000.00
202 Correction to WR 12-2004 $10,000.00
Trans. Balance $0.00
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Account Totals
If you have submitted your Work Reports for the entire quarter, your Employer
Statement of Accounts will show your amount due for that quarter. At the bottom of
each section of the Employer Statement of Accounts, you will see line totaling these
columns:
• DUE AMT: The total owed to PSERS.
• PAID AMT: The total remitted to PSERS.
• END BAL: The balance as of this date.
Employees Missing from the Employer Statement of Accounts
Contributions remitted to PSERS for an employee who is not in the system will
remain as a credit in your Member Contributions account until you successfully
submit the employee’s Work Report Record. To do this, you must enter the
employee as a member of PSERS by doing the following:
1. Submit Member Demographic Information.
2. Submit at least one Member Contract Record.
3. Submit either a Work Report or a Work Report Adjustment Record for the
employee.
Employer SOA Estimated Addendum Letter
You may receive an Employer SOA Estimated Addendum Letter if you did not submit
one or more of the required monthly Work Reports within a quarter or if one or more
of these Work Reports was invalid. PSERS sends this letter in addition to the
Employer Statement of Accounts. You must add the amount in the addendum letter
to the amount shown in your Employer Statement of Accounts to determine the
amount you owe to PSERS.
An Employer SOA Estimated Addendum Letter:
• Is sent to you approximately 45 days after the end of the quarter.
• Shows your estimated amount due for the unreported period (based on
your reports for the same period in the previous fiscal year.
• Is a valid bill and MUST be paid.
Note: You may calculate a more accurate “estimate” and pay that amount in lieu
of a PSERS estimate. To determine your Employer Contributions, multiply your
total reportable salaries for the unfinalized month(s) by your employer contribution
rate.
Remember, you will not receive an Employer SOA Estimated Addendum Letter if
you submit your monthly Work Report by the 20 th of every month.
Either before or after paying your estimated amount, you must submit the missed
monthly Work Report(s) to PSERS. PSERS will compare the amount from this
Work Report with the estimate that was paid and will show the difference on your
next Employer Statement of Accounts.
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Remaining Balance Due After Estimated Payment
If you have paid an estimated amount, submitted your missing monthly Work
Report(s), and your next Employer Statement of Accounts shows a remaining
balance in any account, the balance in this account will accrue interest charges
unless you paid all overdue amounts within this account PLUS at least the
following percent of the current due amount by the due date shown:
• For Employer Contributions, you must pay at least 60% of any due amount by
the due date (see Due Dates on page 82), plus 100% of any overdue
amount, or interest will accrue.
• For Member Contributions, you must pay at least 90% of any due amount
by the due date (the 10 th of the month following the month in the Work
Report), plus 100% of any overdue amount, or interest will accrue.
• For Member POS Installment Payments, you must pay 100% of any due
amount by the due date (the 10 th of the month following the month in the
Work Report), plus 100% of any overdue amount, or interest will accrue.
Interest accrues separately within each account (Member Contributions, Member
POS Payments, and Employer Contributions).
You must remit to PSERS the remaining amount owed in each account by the
appropriate due date. See Payments – Remitting to PSERS on page 185 for more
information.
Remaining Credit After Estimated Payment
If you have paid an estimated amount, submitted your missing monthly Work
Report(s), and your next Employer Statement of Accounts shows a credit, this
credit will be carried forward to the next time period. If you want to receive a
refund instead, you must request this in writing.
If there is a difference between your records and the information in your Employer
Statement of Account, you may need to submit a Work Report Adjustment to
resolve the difference. Examine your records carefully to determine the cause of
the discrepancy.
No Wages and Contributions Report for Employees Entered
as Members of PSERS
PSERS will generate a Member Summary Listing Report showing any employees
you entered as members. You should double check all employees showing zero
salary and contributions to make sure you did not inadvertently omit the employee
from your monthly Work Reports. PSERS will mail you this report after you file your
June Work Report. You can also contact PSERS to request this report for any
school year beginning with 2004-2005.
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Employer’s Member Current Account Balance Report
You will receive a Employer’s Member Current Account Balance Report around the
same time a Member Statement of Account is sent to every member of PSERS. This
report is mailed annually directly to the employer.
The report will indicate each employee’s:
• social security number
• name
• member status (A- Active, PQ- Pending Qualification)
• employee contribution rate
• total PSERS credited service
The totals will include ALL school service rendered with ALL employers and service
purchased as of the date the report is produced.
Employees who had a break in service prior to July 1, 1973, who did not refund
their contributions and interest, may not have the prior service included in the current
account balance.
Please have the employee contact PSERS with as much information as possible
about the prior service, such as the dates of employment, the old account number if
available, former name, and name of employer. The records will be combined, and
the employee will receive written verification of the total service.
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Chapter
19
Payments – Remitting to PSERS
There are three types of payments you, as an employer, must make to PSERS during
each fiscal year:
• Member (Employee) Contributions
• Member (Employee) Purchase of Service Installments
• Employer Contributions
You must remit all payments to PSERS by the due dates described below. Use the
remittance method described under Methods of Remittance. Details about each type of
payment and the interest charges that may apply to it are provided in the other parts of
this section.
Due Dates
Member (Employee) Contributions: Remit no later than 10 days after the close of the
month for which deductions were withheld.
Member (Employee) Purchase of Service Installments: Remit no later than 10 days
after the close of the month for which deductions were withheld.
Employer Contributions: Payments for actual or estimated billings are due quarterly.
Payment must be received at PSERS five business days after the Commonwealth pays
their retirement contribution subsidies.
Quarter
Employer Contribution Due Date
3 rd (July-September) December 26, 2007
4 th (October- December) March 23, 2007
1 st (January-March) June 25, 2007
2 nd (April-June) September 25, 2007
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Member (Employee) Contributions
These are your employees’ portion of their retirement contributions. PSERS will
calculate the amount due each month from the salaries you report in your monthly Work
Reports and Work Report Adjustments based on each employee’s contribution rate.
In most cases, you will have withheld these contributions from your employees’
paychecks, but there may be times when your withholdings do not match the amount
that PSERS calculates is due. This situation is described in more detail under Avoiding
Interest Charges.
You must remit Member (Employee) Contributions to PSERS as follows:
• Member (Employee) Contributions are due at PSERS by the 10 th of each month
for the previous month.
• If the Member (Employee) Contributions you remit to PSERS are less than 90%
of the amount due for that month, PSERS will charge interest on the unpaid
amount at a rate of 6% per annum. PSERS will assess interest charges on the
21 st of each month for each day the payment was late starting with the 11 th of the
month and continuing until we receive full payment,
• If you pay 90% or more but less than 100% of the amount due, you must pay the
remainder by the 10 th of the month following the due date. If you do not pay
100% of the remaining balance by the 10 th of this following month, PSERS will
charge interest on the unpaid amount each day from the original due date until
full payment is received.
Example: If you withheld $100,000 in Member (Employee) Contributions during
the month of February, you must remit at least $90,000 to PSERS by March 10 th .
If you remit less than this amount, you will be charged interest on the remaining
due amount each day starting on March 11 th and continuing until you remit
payment in full. If the full $100,000 is not received by April 10 th , interest will be
charged on the remaining due amount each day starting on March 11 th and
continuing until the full $100,000 has been remitted.
• All Member (Employee) Contribution payments you make based on the due date
and posting date will be applied to the oldest Member (Employee) Contribution
receivable in your account at PSERS. Member (Employee) Contribution
receivables include:
Each month’s Member (Employee) Contribution amount, as reported in
that month’s Work Report and in any Work Report Adjustments.
Any interest that has been charged for late payment of a month’s
Member (Employee) Contribution amount.
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Member (Employee) Purchase of Service Installments
At any given time, some of your employees may be purchasing service credit through
payroll deductions. In this case, you must include these deductions in your monthly
Work Reports, and you must remit these installment payments to PSERS as follows:
• Member Purchase of Service (POS) Installment payments are due at PSERS by
the 10 th of each month for the previous month.
• If the Member POS Installments you remit to PSERS are less than 100% of the
amount due for that month, you will be charged interest on the unpaid amount at
a rate of 6% per annum until payment in full is received. PSERS will assess
interest charges on the 21 st of each month for each day the payment was late,
starting with the 11 th of the month and continuing until full payment is received.
Example: If you withheld $10,000 in Member POS Installments during the
month of February, you must remit $10,000 to PSERS by March 10 th . If you
remit less than this amount, you will be charged interest on the remaining due
amount each day starting on March 11 th .
For more information on interest charges, see Delinquency Interest Calculations
on page 190.
• All Member POS Installment payments you make will be applied to the oldest
Member POS Installment receivable based on the due date and posting date in
your account at PSERS. Member POS Installment receivables include:
Each month’s Member POS Installment amount, as reported in that
month’s Work Report and in any Work Report Adjustments.
Any interest that has been charged for late payment of a month’s
Member POS Installment amount.
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Employer Contributions
You must pay your (the employer) share of your employees’ retirement contributions on
a quarterly basis. The amount due is based on the total salaries you reported during that
quarter in your monthly Work Reports and Work Report Adjustments.
PSERS will mail an Employer Statement of Accounts to you each month so you can see
the amount due for each quarter as that quarter progresses and after it has ended. See
How PSERS Responds to Work Reports and Payments on page 177 for details on this
statement.
An Employer SOA Estimated Addendum Letter, if needed, is sent as an ad hoc letter 45
days after the end of each quarter. This letter shows any estimated amount due in
addition to the amount shown in your Employer Statement of Accounts. If you have
received an Employer SOA Estimated Addendum Letter, add this amount to the amount
shown in your Employer Statement of Accounts to determine how much to pay to
PSERS for that quarter.
• You must pay your Employer Contributions to PSERS by the due dates shown
on page 185.
• If you pay less than 60% of the quarter’s Employer Contributions by the due date,
you will be charged interest on the unpaid amount at a rate of 6% per annum.
Interest charges will be assessed on the 21 st of each month for each day the
payment was late, starting with the first day it was overdue.
• If you pay at least 60% but less than 100% of the quarter’s Employer
Contributions by the due date, you must pay the remaining amount before the
next quarter’s employer payment is due, or interest will be charged starting with
the original due date.
Example: PSERS must receive payment for at least 60% of your
January/February/March quarter’s Employer Contributions by June 23. If you do
not pay 60% or more by this date, PSERS will charge interest for each day from
June 24 until payment in full is received. If you DO pay 60% or more by June 23,
you must pay the remainder by the time your April/May/June quarter’s Employer
Contributions are due (in this example, September 23). If you do not pay 100%
of the remaining balance from the January/February/ March quarter by
September 23, interest will be charged on the unpaid amount each day from
June 24 until full payment is received.
• All employer contribution payments you make will be applied to the oldest
Employer Contributions receivable based on the due dates and posting dates in
your account at PSERS. Employer contribution receivables include:
Each quarter’s Employer Contributions amount.
Any interest that has been charged for late payment of a quarter’s
Employer Contributions amount.
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Employer Share Income Aid Ratio & Reimbursements - Act 29
With the passage of Act 29, all PSERS employers that are designated as school
entities (public school districts and charter schools) are subject to the following:
• The school entity is billed for 100% of the employer’s share of retirement
contributions.
• The Commonwealth reimburses the school entity for 50% of the employer’s
share of retirement contributions for their EXISTING employees.
• The Commonwealth reimburses the school entity for the retirement
contributions multiplied by the employer’s income/aid ratio (or 50%, whichever
is greater) for their NEW employees.
• The date used to determine “new” and “existing” employees is the initial date
of PSERS membership.
Administering Act 29 Subsidies
The Pennsylvania Department of Education is responsible for administering subsidies.
Please contact the Department of Education regarding all subsidy inquiries.
Income Aid Ratio
All questions related to the income aid ratio formula should be directed to -
Barbara Nelson
Department of Education
Bureau of Budget and Fiscal Management
(717) 787-5423
Subsidy Distribution
Questions pertaining to subsidy distributions and their payment should be directed to -
Anita Butcher
School Finance Division
Labor, Education & Community Services Comptroller's Office
(717) 783-9010
Questions pertaining to PSERS member salaries used in subsidy distributions should
be directed to -
Bill Dudley
Manager of General Accounting Division
PSERS
(717) 720-4639 or via e-mail at – wdudley@state.pa.us
Non-School Entities & Act 29
This change in billing and reimbursement of the employer’s share of retirement
contributions does not affect non-school entities. The Commonwealth and your
school district will continue to be billed for 50% of the employer share of retirement
contributions.
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Delinquency Interest Calculations
Interest is assessed on the 21 st of each month. Interest is charged by the day for any
portion of a past-due amount that was not received as of that day, as follows:
• Member (Employee) Contributions: You must remit at least 90% of each
month’s Member (Employee) Contributions by the 10 th of the following month. If
you remit less than 90% of the amount due, interest will be charged by the day for
any unpaid amount. If you remit at least 90% by the due date, interest does not
accrue until the 11 th of the month following the due date. If PSERS must assess
interest, it will begin to accrue from the day after the due date on any unpaid
amount until 100% of the original due amount has been received.
• Member (Employee) Purchase of Service Installments: You must remit 100%
of each month’s Member Purchase of Service Installments by the 10 th of the
following month. If you remit less than 90% by the due date, interest does not
accrue until the 11 th of the month following the due date. If PSERS must assess
interest, it will begin to accrue from the day after the due date on any unpaid
amount until 100% of the original due amount has been received.
• Employer Contributions: You must remit at least 60% of each quarter’s
Employer Contributions by the due date shown on page 82. If you remit less
than 60% of the amount due, interest will be charged by the day for any unpaid
amount. If you remit at least 60% by the due date, interest does not accrue until
the due date for the following quarter’s Employer Contributions. If the remaining
balance is not paid in full by the next due date, PSERS will charge interest from
the day after the original due date until 100% of the original due amount is
received.
PSERS has the right, at its own discretion, to change the threshold for the due
amounts.
All interest is calculated at the rate of 6% per annum.
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If interest is due, it is calculated as shown in the following example:
Example: You owe $10,000 in Member (Employee) Contributions for September 2006
and another $10,000 for October 2006. You pay $8,000 on October 15, and $8,000 on
November 15. Interest is charged as follows:
Sep-06 $10,000.00 Monthly member contribution due October 10th
- 8,000.00 Paid October 15
2,000.00 Amount still owed
+ 8.35 Interest due on the $10,000 (September 2006) from
October 10-15
+ 1.98 Additional interest due on the $2,000 still owed from
October 15-21
$10.33 Total interest owed for September 2006
$2,010.33 New total balance due to PSERS
Oct-06 $2,010.33 Balance carried forward from September
$10,000.00 Monthly member contributions due November 10th
- 8,000.00 Paid November 15
- 2,010.33 Amount used from November 15 payment to payoff
previous debt
- 5,989.67 Remainder paid towards the $10,000 due on
November 10
4,010.33 Amount still owed
+ 8.25 Interest due on the $2,000 (September 2006) from
November 10-15
+ 4.01 Additional interest due on the $4,010.33 still owed
from November 15-21
$4,030.94 New total due to PSERS
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Avoiding Interest Charges
Interest is calculated automatically. PSERS staff can only waive interest charges under
exceptional circumstances. It is your responsibility to pay your due amounts by the
appropriate date and to pay any interest that is charged for late payments.
• Unpaid contributions and subsequent interest charges may be recovered from
your Basic Education Subsidy distribution from the Department of Education.
• For charter schools, Act 9 of May 17, 2001, allows PSERS to collect
delinquent employer and employee contribution payments due from a charter
school through the sponsoring district’s state subsidy. When the PSERS
Board of Trustees certifies a delinquency, the Department of Education will
pay the delinquent amount directly to PSERS rather than to the charter school.
To avoid interest charges, we suggest you take the following steps:
• If you are mailing a check, mail it at least five days before it is due to ensure it
arrives by the due date. For payments that are due by the 10 th of the month, this
means you should mail each check by the 5 th of the month.
• Always include a payment coupon with your check as described under Methods
of Remittance. If there is no payment coupon, the bank will forward the check
to PSERS, which will delay processing of this check. The payment will not
count as received until the check arrives at PSERS.
• Always check the amount you remit against your Employer Statement of
Accounts. An Employer Statement of Accounts is mailed to you each month so
you can see any discrepancies between the amount you remitted to PSERS and
the amount that was due. This statement also shows any interest charges to
your account allowing you to adjust your payments to cover these. For details on
this statement, see How PSERS Responds to Work Reports and Payments on
page 177.
• Correct your employees’ contribution rates promptly if you are notified of a
mismatch. If you withhold at the wrong contribution rate, you will see a
message about this when you submit monthly Work Report Records for this
employee. If you receive this message, correct the contribution rate in your
accounting software. You will need to work directly with the employee to
collect or refund the extra contributions.
• Submit your monthly Work Reports before the 10 th of the month. This allows
you to check the total amount of your Member (Employee) Contributions and
Member Purchase of Service Installments before you remit these to PSERS.
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When your Employer Statement of Accounts shows a different
due amount than you remitted
It is your responsibility to reconcile differences. Compare all contributions posted by
PSERS and displayed on the Employer Statement of Accounts to the contributions
actually withheld from your employees’ paychecks.
If the total amount remitted is lower than the charge
This indicates you have under-withheld contributions from one or more employees.
You are responsible for collecting those contributions from the employee(s). The
employee’s personal check should be made payable to you, the employer. You
should include that amount with your next Member (Employee) Contributions payment
to PSERS or sooner to avoid interest charges.
If the total amount remitted exceeds the charge
Examine your records to determine if contributions were withheld from employees at
too high a rate or were withheld from employees who did not qualify for PSERS
membership. You should return to the employee(s) any excess contributions
withheld. The credit amount can be deducted from your next payment amount due.
If your withholdings were correct, you may have under-reported salaries and
contributions in your monthly Work Reports. In this case, submit a Work Report
Adjustment to correct the error(s).
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Methods of Remittance
Payment By Check with a Payment Coupon
Make the check payable to the Public School Employees’ Retirement System. Mail
the payment to:
Public School Employees’ Retirement System
PO Box 643623
Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3623
Do not mix different types of payments in the same check. Send separate checks for
your Member (Employee) Contributions, Member Purchase of Service Installments,
and Employer Contributions.
• If you combine different types of payments in a single check, this check will be
forwarded to PSERS at our Harrisburg address. PSERS will charge interest if
this forwarding causes the payment to be received after the due date.
• Include a payment coupon with your payment. Do NOT include any other
paperwork (such as a copy of your payroll records). Any extra paperwork will
be thrown away and may cause a delay in processing your payment.
• If you send a check to the Pittsburgh address without a payment coupon, this
check will be forwarded to PSERS at the Harrisburg address. PSERS will
charge interest if this forwarding causes the payment to be received after the
due date.
The appropriate coupon MUST accompany the check:
• Include a Monthly Remittance of Employee Contributions (PSRS-70) coupon
with all Member Contribution payments.
• Include a Monthly Remittance of Member POS Installments (PSRS-2025)
coupon with all Member Purchase of Service Installment payments.
• Include an Employer Contribution Remittances (PSRS-608) coupon with all
Employer Contribution payments.
These coupons are detailed later in this section.
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Payment By Check WITHOUT a Payment Coupon
Do NOT send a check to the Pittsburgh address if:
• The check does not have a payment coupon.
• You are including additional documentation needed by PSERS to process the
payment.
Instead, mail the check to:
Public School Employees’ Retirement System
PO Box 125
Harrisburg, PA 17108-0125
Completion of Monthly Remittance of Employee Contributions
Coupon (PSRS-70)
You must complete this coupon when submitting Member (Employee) Contribution
payments to PSERS. Submit the coupon with the payment.
Each June, all employers who remit payment for Member Contributions by check are
provided with a supply of Monthly Remittance of Employee Contributions coupons.
If you do not receive your coupons, you can obtain the Monthly Remittance of
Employee Contributions by contacting the Accounts Receivable Unit at
1-888-773-7748, extension 4906.
The coupon is pre-filled with your reporting unit name and four-digit identification
number. You should write the amount of the payment on the line provided.
Monthly Remittance of Employee Contributions (PSRS-70)
If you are paying interest or more than one month’s Member Contributions, you do not
need to note this – simply fill in the total. PSERS will apply the payment to the oldest
Member Contribution receivable automatically. After filling in the dollar amount, send
the coupon and your check to our Pittsburgh address.
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Completion of Monthly Remittance of Member POS
Installments Coupon (PSRS-2025)
This coupon must be completed when submitting Member Purchase of Service
Installment payments to PSERS. Submit the coupon with the payment.
Each June, all employers who remit payment for Member Purchase of Service
Installments by check are provided with a supply of Monthly Remittance of Member
POS Installments coupons.
If you do not receive your coupons, you can obtain the Monthly Remittance of Member
POS Installments by contacting the Accounts Receivable Unit at 1-888-773-7748,
extension 4906.
The coupon is pre-filled with your reporting unit name and four-digit identification
number.
Monthly Remittance of Member POS Installments (PSRS-2025)
If you are paying interest or more than one month’s Member Purchase of Service
Installments, you do not need to note this – simply fill in the total. PSERS will apply
the payment to the oldest Member Purchase of Service Installments receivable
automatically. After filling in the dollar amount, send the coupon and your check to
our Pittsburgh address.
Completion of Employer Contribution Remittance (PSRS-608)
This coupon must be completed when submitting Employer Contribution payments to
PSERS. Submit the coupon with the payment.
Each June, all employers who remit payment for Employer Contributions by check are
provided with a supply of Employer Contribution Remittances coupons.
If you do not receive your coupons, you can obtain the Employer Contribution
Remittances coupons by contacting the Accounts Receivable Unit at 1-888-773-7748,
extension 4906.
The coupon is pre-filled with your reporting unit name and four-digit identification
number.
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Employer Contribution Remittances (PSRS-608)
If you are paying interest or more than one quarter’s Employer Contributions, you do
not need to note this – simply fill in the total. PSERS will apply the payment to the
oldest Employer Contributions receivable automatically. After filling in the dollar
amount, send the coupon and your check to our Pittsburgh address.
Payment by Automated Clearing House (ACH)
ACH is a method where funds from your (the employer’s) bank account are
transferred directly to PSERS through the Federal Reserve System. There are two
methods for making a payment:
• Internet method
• Touch-tone method
Internet Method
To make a payment via the Internet Method, you must log on to PNC Bank’s Cash
Concentration website. This web address is included with the instructions that are sent
along with your authorization to use the ACH method.
• Enter your company ID, user ID, and your password.
• Click on “Initiate Transaction”.
• Enter the dollar amount and the effective date of the payment using the
mm/dd/yy format for the date. (Example: Enter 06/09/07 if the effective
date is June 6, 2007.) Click “Continue”.
• Verify the data you entered and click “Approve” to submit the transaction.
• Print the Transaction Confirmation page. Keep this for your records in case a
change must be made to the original transaction.
• Click “Log Out” before you exit the website.
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Touch-tone Method
The toll-free phone number is 1-800-251-5172.
Upon answering your call, the system will deliver a welcome message with a reminder
to dial a # sign after each entry.
• The system first prompts for the company ID, a user ID, and a password.
• When prompted for the deposit amount, enter the amount in dollars and cents
using the star key (*) for the decimal point. (Example: Enter 750*00 for
$750.00.) Follow your entry with the # sign.
• The system will state, “You have entered xxx dollars and yy cents. Is that
correct?” Enter 1 if correct or 0 if incorrect, followed by the # sign.
• If you enter 1 for correct, the system will generate a confirmation number,
which will be stated twice. You should record this number.
• If you enter 0 for incorrect, the system will prompt you for the amount again.
• Enter the effective date of the payment using the mmddyy format. (Example:
Enter 060907 if the effective date is June 6, 2007.)
• When done, enter the # sign and hang up.
ACH Payment Corrections
For corrections or deletions, please call 1-800-251-5172 and have your confirmation
number ready.
ACH Assistance
For information about submitting payments via ACH, contact the Accounts Receivable
Unit at 1-888-773-7748, extension 4906 or 4898.
If Payments Are Not Received by PSERS
School Districts
Unpaid contributions and subsequent interest charges may be recovered from your
Basic Education Subsidy distribution from the Department of Education.
Charter Schools
Act 9 of May 17, 2001, allows PSERS to collect delinquent employer and employee
contribution payments due from a charter school through the sponsoring district’s
state subsidy.
When the PSERS Board of Trustees certifies a delinquency, the Department of
Education will pay the delinquent amount directly to PSERS rather than to the charter
school.
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Chapter
20
Refund of Contributions / Credit for
Salary Reported
There are occasions when you may have reported salaries, whether actually paid or
not, to PSERS and may have paid contributions for employees who did not meet
membership eligibility requirements for the time that was reported. There are three
primary occasions when this happens:
• If you withhold contributions from the first day of employment for a part-time
employee who does not work at least 80 days or 500 hours during that school
year.
• If you report salary (whether actually paid or not) for an employee who is on
any contributing leave EXCEPT for an activated military leave of absence,
and this employee does not return from the leave or upon returning does not
remain in your employ for a period of time at least equal to the length of the
leave.
• If you report salary for an employee who is on any contributing leave, and this
employee voluntarily extends the leave beyond the time of the original
sabbatical leave, special sick leave, exchange leave, or leave for professional
study.
In these situations, you are eligible to receive credit for any Employer Contributions
you paid to PSERS. The employee is also eligible to receive a refund of any Member
Contributions paid on this reported salary.
Under certain circumstances, the school board does have the right to waive an
employee’s return to employment after taking a contributing leave, such as with a
special sick leave, a military leave, or a leave in which the employee died. In this
case, the contributions from the leave will not be credited to you or refunded to the
employee. PSERS will include the contributions as part of the benefit calculation at
retirement time.
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You CANNOT receive a credit for Employer Contributions you paid for an employee
on an activated military leave (whether contributing or non-contributing). This is true
even if:
• The employee does not return from the leave.
• Upon returning does not remain in your employ for a period of time at least
equal to the length of the leave.
• Does not choose to purchase the service time from the leave.
Exception: If the employee voluntarily extends their military duty beyond the time of
the original military obligation, you may receive a credit for any Employer
Contributions you paid during the voluntary extension. In this case, contact PSERS
as described in Contacting PSERS on page 205.
Credit for Contributions for Part-Time Employees
If a part-time employee does not qualify for PSERS membership in a school year,
you are eligible to receive credit for the Employer Contributions you paid for this
employee.
ALL of the following must be true:
• The employee worked for you part-time.
• You withheld and paid contributions from the employee’s first day of
employment.
• You reported this employee’s salary and contributions to PSERS in your
monthly Work Reports.
• During the entire school year (July 1 – June 30), the employee worked fewer
than 80 days, 500 hours, or the equivalent in combined hours and days
among ALL of the PSERS employers for whom this employee worked.
PSERS will refund the Employer Contributions you paid for these employees
automatically.
• PSERS will post the credit to your account after the final monthly Work Report
of the fiscal (school) year is submitted and processed. This credit will typically
occur in late August.
• If an employee works for multiple school employers, PSERS will wait until all of
these employers have submitted their last relevant monthly Work Report before
issuing any credits for that employee’s salary and contributions.
• PSER will issue a credit for all salary that you reported in the following fields in this
employee’s monthly Work Report Records and Work Report Adjustment Records:
Base, Over Time, and Supplemental. The Excess Salary and the Non Retirement
Covered Compensation fields are not included in the credit process. Therefore,
no contributions are paid on salary entered into these fields.
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• Contact PSERS as described in Contacting PSERS on page 205 if you do
not receive a credit when you feel you should.
• If the employee fails to qualify for membership within the school year, PSERS
will automatically issue a credit to the employee during the fall of the following
school year.
• PSERS will remove the service time reported for the employee during the
school year from the employee’s account if the employee requests and
receives a refund of their contributions.
• Contact PSERS as described in Contacting PSERS on page 205 to receive a
credit for Employer Contributions paid for a part-time employee in a fiscal
year PRIOR to 2004-2005.
Example: An employee works part-time for three school employers during the 2006
– 2007 school year. Each employer includes the employee in their monthly Work
Reports with one employer choosing to withhold contributions from the first day of
employment. The employee works 20 days and 200 hours during the school year
total service among the employers. These combined values do not qualify the
employee for membership in PSERS for the 2006 – 2007 school year. After all three
employers have submitted their Work Reports for August 2007 (due September 10 th ,
with corrections due by September 20 th ), PSERS determines that the employee did
not qualify for contributions that fiscal year. For the employer who withheld
contributions from the first day of employment, PSERS credits the employer’s
contributions for this employee back to their account.
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Credit for Salaries & Contributions During a Leave of
Absence
You are eligible to receive a credit for Employee and Employer Contributions you
paid for an employee on leave under certain circumstances.
BOTH of the following must be true:
• The employee was on a qualifying type of Contributing Leave. See Reporting
– Leaves of Absence on page 113.
• You reported this employee’s salary and contributions to PSERS using
monthly Work Reports (with Work Status set to the type of leave).
ONE of the following must also be true:
• The employee did not return from the leave. To indicate this to PSERS,
submit a Member Contract Record with Work Status set to “TRMNTN –
Termination” and Work Status Start Date set to the date the employee should
have returned and didn’t. If you do not terminate the employee manually and
the employee does not return from leave, PSERS will end-date the
employee’s Member Contract Record(s) automatically at the end of the time
period appropriate for that type of leave.
or…
• The employee returned from the leave but did not remain in your employ for a
period equal to the length of the leave or longer.
or…
• The employee voluntarily extended the leave beyond the time of the original
sabbatical leave, special sick leave, exchange leave, or leave for professional
study. In this case, submit a Member Contract Record with Work Status set
to “TRMNTN – Termination” and Work Status Start Date set to the date the
employee was originally due to return to work.
You CANNOT receive a credit for Employer Contributions you paid for an employee
on an activated military leave. Refer to the top of page 200 for more information.
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Complete the Request for Reporting Unit Credit (PSRS-709) shown below. You will
not receive a check for any contributions that are being refunded. Instead, a credit
for the Employer Contributions and the Member (Employee) Contributions will be
posted to your accounts with PSERS.
Request for Reporting Unit Credit (PSRS-709)
• For leaves, PSERS will issue a credit for salary reported in Base, Over Time,
Supplemental, and Unpaid Retirement Covered Compensation fields of
monthly Work Reports and Work Report Adjustments you submit during the
employee leave.
• You will also receive a credit for all Member (Employee) Contributions that
were paid during the leave. You are responsible for refunding these to the
employee.
• PSERS will remove the service time reported for the employee during the
leave from the employee’s account. This is true even if the employee
received partial or full salary during the leave.
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Chapter
21
Health Insurance
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Chapter
22
Contacting PSERS
Contacting PSERS through the Online System
You can contact PSERS through the online system as follows:
1. Access the Employer Services window in the online system. If you are not
familiar with how to do this, see Accessing the Online System on page 1.
2. From the Employer Services window, click “Contact PSERS” in the left-hand
menu. You will see the following screen:
contactNPAS@state.pa.us
Select a topic from the drop-down menu and then type your message in the
“Comments” field. Include your school districts name and number along with the
phone number of the contact person. When done, click “Submit.”
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Contacting PSERS by Telephone or Fax
The Employer Service Center can be reached at:
1-888-773-7748, extension 4002
or…
Contact your Employer Service Center Representative directly.
If you need to fax a form to PSERS, use this fax number:
(717) 783-8760
Refer to PSERS Telephone Directory at the end of the Employer’s Reference Manual
for Member Benefits to contact another department or person at PSERS.
Contacting PSERS by Mail
You may mail forms and letters to PSERS at this address:
Employer Service Center
Public School Employees’ Retirement System
PO Box 125
Harrisburg, PA 17108-0125
Do NOT use this address for payment by check if you are including a payment
coupon. Instead, see page 194 in Methods of Remittance.
Contacting PSERS by Email
You may email the Employer Service Center at:
ContactESC@state.pa.us
Please be sure to include your name, phone number and your school district in
your message.
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Obtaining PSERS Forms
Forms within the Online System
The most commonly used forms are available directly in the online system. To view
or download these forms:
1. Access the Employer Services window in the online system. If you are not
familiar with how to do this, see Accessing the Online System on page 1.
2. From the Employer Services window, click “Forms” in the left-hand menu.
You will see the following screen:
From the list of forms, you may:
• View the form on your screen.
or…
• Download the form. Downloading saves a copy of the form on your local
computer, so you can print it whenever needed.
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Forms on the PSERS Website
If the form you need is not available in the online system, it may be available on
PSERS’ website. Direct your Web browser to:
http://www.psers.state.pa.us/er/employer.htm
You will see a screen similar to the following:
Scroll down to see the information under the “Forms & Publications” heading.
Click on the desired form to view or download this form.
Paper Forms
In rare cases, the form you need may not be available in the online system or on
PSERS’ website. In this case, contact PSERS to obtain a copy of this form.
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