Enrollment

When you enroll employees with optional membership as NYSLRS members through Retirement Online, you receive their NYSLRS IDs, registration numbers, tiers and contribution rates immediately. You will not enroll mandatory members through Retirement Online unless instructed to by NYSLRS.

What to Keep in Mind When Enrolling

• During the enrollment process, you must enter a job code for the employee. A job code identifies the work an employee does and determines their retirement plan.
  • Use the NYSLRS Job Codes tool to help you decide which code to use.
  • If you need to use a general code, use 04500E – Office Staff (do not use 03600E – General Employee).
  • Alternatively, review the Member Contribution Rates page in Retirement Online to see what code was used for an employee with the same title.

What to Keep in Mind When Working with PayServ

• Before you enroll a new employee in Retirement Online, check to see if the employee has been set up in PayServ first. Set up the new employee in PayServ and enroll them in Retirement Online on the same day so the two online applications will be able to process the employee’s information correctly.
• When you enter a new employee’s information into PayServ:
  • Be sure to enter the same Agency Code that was used when enrolling the employee in Retirement Online.
  • Include the employee’s date of birth. Do not leave this field blank.
  • Enter the correct Social Security number in both PayServ and Retirement Online. (Entering a different number in one of these systems can create multiple accounts for the employee.)
  • Be sure to enter the employee’s annual wage correctly at the time of hiring in PayServ. This determines their contribution rate if they are a new Tier 6 member or have not been a NYSLRS member long enough to have their contribution rate calculated based on their actual earnings.
• Do not fill out the Retirement panel unless you have been instructed to by NYSLRS or State Payroll.

How To Use Retirement Online

Watch this video on how to enroll optional members in Retirement Online.

Watch this video on how to select job codes.

Helping Your Employees

Now that Retirement Online helps us to process salary and service information, your employees may notice changes to how deductions come out of their paycheck or how refunds are made. Here are some tips if your employees come to you with questions:

Loan and Service Credit Purchase (SCP) Deductions

Each week, NYSLRS provides State Payroll the latest loan and SCP deductions for upcoming paychecks. There may be a three-to-four-week lag from the time deductions are sent to State Payroll and are applied to an employee’s paycheck. However, Retirement Online will always contain the up-to-date deduction amount we expect to receive.

If an employee questions the deduction amounts coming out of their paycheck, check Retirement Online for the current amount. To find the deduction amounts for your employees:

• Go to your Retirement Online Account Homepage
• Access your Employer Reporting Dashboard
• Click the Loan/SCP Deduction Notification link

Deficiencies

Deficiencies are created when an employee’s contributions are underpaid. An employee may receive a one-time SCP deduction if they have a deficiency from under-contributing. If you have the payroll security role, you will receive a notification about this deficiency.

Refunds

If an employee is due a refund, it will either be returned through State Payroll or the employee will receive a refund directly from NYSLRS. Refunds from NYSLRS may take additional time to be returned to employees.

Voluntary Contributions

If an employee elects to make voluntary contributions (under Section 21(L) or Section 321(L)), we must have the employee’s Election to Make Voluntary Contributions (RS5379) form on file at NYSLRS before you begin taking deductions, otherwise the voluntary contributions will be rejected. We will notify you when to begin taking deductions and how much to deduct.

Looking Up Member Information

If you look up an employee’s information in PayServ and something doesn’t quite match, you can check Retirement Online. The Member Contribution Rates page provides you with the employee’s correct date of membership, benefit plan, contribution rate, and the date the contribution rate became effective. To look up this information:

• Go to your Retirement Online Account Homepage
• Access your Employer Reporting Dashboard
• Click the Member Contribution Rates link

How to Use Retirement Online

Watch this video on looking up employee information (such as their contribution rate, deductions or improper withholdings) in Retirement Online.