Reporting of Earnings FAQs

The following is a list of the most frequently asked questions regarding the Employer Reporting Interface and reporting of earnings by school districts.

1. Now that we are reporting termination pay and non-regular compensation for all tiers, do we withhold mandatory member contributions on those monies for Tier 3, 4 and 5 members? No, because you will not be billed for those payments.

2. What if my district has two or three substitute rates?

• If you are using the “substitute rate” for the “Annual Base Pay Rate” for the person paid by fee, then use the entry-level rate.
• If you are establishing the “Annual Base Pay Rate” for the person employed as a “per diem substitute,” then multiply the substitute’s rate/day by 200 days.

3. What should be reported in the "Percent of Part Pay for Leave" field? If a person is on paid leave but at less than full pay, you can use any percentage higher than 0% but less than 100%.

4. What if we use different leave-type codes? Use your code with a three-character limit. Please send a list of your codes with descriptions to NYSTRS’ Employer Reporting unit.

5. How do districts report? Districts should submit their monthly file online via the Employer Secure Area.

6. What should be reported in the "Service Days Worked" field? The actual full-time equivalent (FTE) days for which the employee – whether full-time, part-time, or per-diem – has been paid.

7. What should be reported in the "Service Days from Hours" field? The actual full-time equivalent days for employment for which the district pays an hourly rate (e.g., tutoring and curriculum activities). The Annual Base Pay Rate used to calculate “Service Days from Hours” is:

Hourly rate of pay X Hours in your district’s school day* X 200 days

*Note: “Hours in school day” cannot be less than 6 hours

8. What if the salary changes and the member receives a lump sum payment because the change is retroactive to the beginning of the current school year? The current year's Annual Base Pay Rate should be adjusted to the correct amount and the retroactive amount should be included in that month’s monthly base pay. The number of days worked will not change.

9. What if the Annual Base Pay Rate changes during the month? Report the salary in effect at the end of the month.

10. Since voucher payments are not paid through payroll, how will these payments be handled? We will seek, by separate correspondence, an accounting of any monies paid by voucher. Use NYSTRS form ERP-1, or your equivalent.

11. The "Current Payroll ID" field, "Position 46-60" (page 5), has 15 positions but our system has a payroll ID that is only four digits. What should be done? Provide your payroll ID and left justify.

12. Regarding the "Ceased Teaching Date" field (page 6), we have adjunct teaching faculty who only work on a semester basis. Are we to use this date for those individuals when their obligation is over? No. This should only be used when a member leaves the district.

13. If we have a teaching faculty member who quits teaching to begin an administrative position, should they have a Ceased Teaching Date here? No, not if the position is reportable to NYSTRS.

14. What should be the file suffix? We are only allowing the transfer of files with the following suffixes: dat, txt, or csv. We prefer that you name your file using this format before sending (an example from a July 2011 file): TRS0711.txt.

15. If there is nothing to report for an employee on any given month, can he/she be left on the report? We prefer to have the employee removed from that particular monthly report.

16. If the date of hire is not available, the instructions state to use the date of membership. What should be done if the date of membership is not available? Please use the Membership Verification feature of the Employer Secure Area to see if a membership exists for an employee. Here you will also find the member's date of membership with the System.

17. Will you accept electronic transmittal of the report? Yes. Using the Employer Secure Area ensures a secure means of transmitting your monthly reports.

18. Regarding the field "D: MTD Summer School Pay" (ER Interface, page 8), we have faculty and adjunct faculty that teach during our "summer session," which we do not term as "summer school." Does this pay need to be identified as instructional pay? No. Identify it as Summer School Pay.

19. Loans and employee contributions are on the report. Do we continue to pay the loans on a monthly basis per the report? Yes.

20. Are employee contributions paid when billed after NYSTRS year-end (September, October, November), or are they to now be paid on a monthly basis per the report? They are due in September, October and November.

21. How should dates be entered? Date fields (Type = Date) should be initialized to zero date (0000-00-00) or date should be in CCYY-MM-DD format where CC = century, YY = year, MM = month, DD = day.

For birth date and hire date, allow valid year, day, month only. No zeroes, spaces, blanks or asterisks. Format must be CCYY-MM-DD. CCYY > 1900 for birth date and CCYY > 2000 for hire date; MM 01-12; DD 01-31.

Districts should use "CCYY-01-01" where CCYY is 1901 if date of birth is unknown and CCYY is current year for date of hire if unknown.

22. Regarding the "Current Social Security Number" field, "Position 28-36" (ER Interface, page 5), can all zeroes be entered? No. Use numerals only and not all zeroes. Do not use spaces, asterisks or other non-numbers.

23. Regarding the "Prior Social Security Number" field, "Position 37-45" (ER Interface, page 5), can all zeroes be entered? Yes. Using all zeroes is allowed. You can also use numerals or blanks. Do not use asterisks or other non-numbers.

24. Will NYSTRS accept a file if the person's full name is incomplete? A file missing a first and last name will be rejected.

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