Employers

Chapter 8: Transmittal Reporting

Manual (Paper) Reporting

Procedures for Manual (Paper) Reporting

The following pages describe some common procedures for transmittal reporting using the "Member Earnings Transmittal Report—MRL." For additional details about these procedures or for information about procedures not covered on these pages, please contact ESS. See a copy of the manual report for the Member Earnings Transmittal ReportMRL and the Member Earnings Transmittal Report MRL with Corrections.

General Procedures

When working with this report:

Check to see if the information you last reported for an employee is still correct. If it is, you do not need to change it for the current month.
Make changes or enter new information, using red ink. Red ink is easier for ESS personnel to see and helps ensure that changes are entered correctly when your transmittal report is processed.
Change data in the Member Information section by crossing out the incorrect information. Using red ink, write the correct information next to the information you are changing.
Change data in the Earnings Information section by crossing out the incorrect information and using the open line below it to enter the correction.
Use the open lines to enter additional records for a current employee or enter information at the end of the report for a new employee.
Adjust the page and plan totals as necessary; after you have made your changes adjust the system total.
Review the contact information in the header. If your contact name or telephone number has changed, inform DRS. Use the address change area of the banner page to notify DRS of changes in your transmittal report address.
Make a copy of the transmittal report for your records and send the completed form to ESS by the 15th of each month.

Adding an Employee to the Report

When you hire a new employee who is eligible for retirement system coverage or when an existing employee becomes eligible for retirement coverage, you must begin reporting the employee to DRS.

Before adding an employee

Verify the employee's plan assignment. The correct plan assignment is critical to ensure accurate transmittal reporting. Contact the appropriate retirement services unit (PERS, LEOFF) at DRS for assistance with verifying plan assignments.
Determine if the employee needs to complete an Member Information Form. If necessary, have the employee complete the appropriate sections then complete the employer information and send the form to DRS.
Determine the correct earning month for reporting the employee. If an employee first earned compensation in March, you would begin reporting the employee with a March earning period and begin date. The employee could be added to either the March or April report depending upon your payroll cycle. (See the section called "Reporting and Your Payroll Cycle" for information about payroll cycles.)

Reporting a new employee:

On a blank line of the report, provide information about the employee in each of the following fields:

Social Security Number
Name
Gender
Birth
Type
Address
City
State
Zip Code
Investment Program
Rate Option
Tax Status
Choice⁄Transfer Date
Plan Choice
Earning Period
Status
Compensation
Member Contributions
Employer Contributions
Hours⁄Days
Begin Date

To avoid an error, verify that you have entered a gender code, birth date, and begin date for the employee, and the reported begin date falls within the month and year of the reported earning period.

Make adjustments necessary to the page, plan, and system totals.

Changing Member Information

Most information in the Member Information section will remain the same each month. If it changes; e.g., the address, you will need to correct it. If an employee changes names, he or she will need to complete a Name/Address Change Form and send it to DRS. When the change has been made, it will be reflected on the next report you receive.

Changing Earnings Information

Information in the Earnings Information section will often change each month. To change the preprinted information, use the blank area beneath each field.

Changing compensation and contributions:

Cross out the amounts shown in the Compensation, Member contributions, and Employer Contributions fields.

Enter the correct amounts in the blank area provided beneath each field.

Make any adjustments necessary to the page, plan, and system totals.

Adjusting Page, Plan and System Totals

If you change an employee's reported compensation, contributions, or hours/days of service, you must adjust the page, plan and system totals. Page totals must be entered on each page of the report. Plan totals must be entered on the last page of information for a given retirement plan. System totals must be entered on the last page of information for a given retirement system.

Changing page, plan and system totals

On each page of the transmittal report, add together the amounts reported in the Compensation, Member Contributions, Employer Contributions, and Hours/Days columns. Cross out the page total shown for each column and enter the corrected amount.

On the last page of information reported for each plan, add together the separate page totals reported, cross out the plan total shown for each column, and enter the corrected amount.

On the last page of the transmittal report, add together the separate plan totals reported, cross out the system total shown for each column, and enter the corrected amount.

Separating an Employee

When an employee is no longer eligible for membership in a retirement system, you need to stop reporting him or her to DRS. You can use the transmittal report to separate the employee; if you don't want to wait until the transmittal report is due, you can submit a correction report at any time during the month.

Separating an employee on the transmittal report:

In the Status field, enter status code S.

In the Compensation, Member Contributions, Employer Contributions, and Hours/Days fields, cross out any incorrect amounts and enter the necessary corrections.

In the End Date field, enter the employee's last date of eligible employment. (Make sure the month and year of the end date you enter falls within the month and year of the reported earning period for this line.)

Note: Use additional lines to report any leave cashouts for eligible PERS Plan 1 employees. (See When to Use Cash Out Codes and the List of Status Codes for Cash Outs for details about reporting leave cashouts.)