Reviewing Report Eligibility Warnings

Many Reporting Employers (REs) focus their attention on suspended RP records with errors on the monthly Regular Payroll (RP) or RP Adjustment reports. Did you know the report warnings should help you avoid errors in the future? A bit of attention now could save you time on future reports.

Two common warnings on RP reports identify possible eligibility issues when:

• A TRS eligible employee is reported working less than half time (and they do not hold an eligible position with another employer); and
• An ineligible employee is reported working 50% or more of the FTE but they were reported in a position working less than half time.

Another common warning seen when employees have no time worked at the beginning of their employment or beginning of the school year. This message helps identify employees whose time worked was not reported in the first month of their ED40 contract. An ineligible employee is reported working 50% or more of the FTE but they were reported in a position working less than half time.

• The Contract Start Date for this position is prior to the current report month and RP Transactions do not exist.

These warnings are a valuable tool to eliminate time-consuming adjustments and uncomfortable conversations. For example, a TRS eligible employee was not set up with TRS deduction and missed contributions from eligible pay. In the current fiscal year, these are required member contributions which must be withheld from the employee’s pay.

What should I do when I see warning messages?

Investigate! TRS eligibility should be evaluated upon hire; a change in position expectations (hours or position FTE); and the beginning of each TRS fiscal year.

1. Are employees working the weekly hours they were hired to work? Make sure supervisors understand scheduling employees more or less than expected can impact TRS membership status.
2. Has there been a change in workload or could it be an isolated occasion? For example, was the employee working more
3. to cover another employee who was out sick for a week; long-term absence of another employee; or working more to cover a vacancy?
4. Reevaluate the position for TRS membership eligibility if expectations have changed. An employee projected to continue working half time or more of the position’s FTE for an unknown period likely meets criteria for TRS membership.

Where do I find report warnings?

Messages for errors and warnings are found at the top of the RP, ER, and ED records.

Warning messages are surrounded by an orange box:

Error messages are surrounded by a red box:

You can view or download a list of all warnings on the RP or RP Adjustment reports by navigating to the Report Totals.

On the Total pages, you can view Warnings.

You can sort by the Warning Code so all records with similar warnings are together. Review the warning messages to address potential issues now to minimize errors on future reports.

Sorting by the Warning Code helps you identify similar issues and possibly find a pattern.

Determine if the employees listed are all the same position code or from the same department. If so, you have a starting point! Use this information to help educate others when changes to schedules can impact TRS membership eligibility of employees.

What if I disregard warnings?

When an employee’s hours are not as expected for two consecutive months, a warning informs you to evaluate the situation. Warnings allow for short-term or irregular fluctuations in hours not expected to continue.

Month 1 - Warning

Month 2 - Warning 

Month 3 - Error

When hours continue outside of the position expectations for a third month, you will have an error requiring your attention. REs must review and evaluate for TRS membership eligibility.

Should I request an Override?

If you have supporting information that an override of an eligibility error is justified, you can provide your RE Coach with information to review.

For example, the following information is needed to consider overriding an eligibility error:

1. How many hours per week was the employee hired to work?
2. What is the Full-time Equivalent (FTE) in hours per week for position? (a whole number between 30-40 hrs, or 00 if no FTE)
3. What caused the employee to work more than normal?
4. What date did/will employee return to their expected hours?