In the July newsletter, we introduced a toolkit to provide to your new hires and proposed that reporting units email links to the Retirement Plan Election Guide (R0606C) and the new Retirement Plan Decision Guide (R0607C) to their new-to-MPSERS employees. These two materials were recently revised to allow ORS to comply more easily with a new requirement to report plan election information to the Michigan Legislature. Language on the PickMiPlan website was slightly revised as well.
If you provide links to these guides to your new hires in email, please copy and paste the revised links above instead of the links we provided in July. If you printed copies of these guides to distribute, please download the revised guides and use them in place of any copies you already printed. The revision date (found at the bottom back page of the guides) should read 9/19.
No substantive changes were made to the content of the Election Guide. In the Decision Guide, the format of the activity called “Which Retirement Plan Is Best For You?” was simplified, and the section called “Retirement Plan Activity Rationale” was removed.
If your reporting unit was audited for professional services leave (PSL) or professional services released time (PSRT), a final report will be sent to your Employer Reporting contacts and Web Administrator contact. Please review this report and make any adjustments listed there.
Professional services leave (PSL) is when a public school employee leaves his or her normally assigned duties to work in a position for an employee organization or union on a part-time or full-time basis. The public school employee has a contract renewed annually with the employee organization/union for this role.
Professional services released time (PSRT) is when a public school employee is released from his or her normally assigned duties to handle employment matters for an employee organization or union.
For more information on professional services leave (PSL) see 4.04.12: Professional Services Leave/Professional Services Released Time and 7.17.01: How to Report Professional Services Leave/Professional Services Released Time.
The Reporting Authorization Certification form, sent annually to all reporting units, was mailed to superintendents or chief financial officers on Oct. 8. Your reporting unit should have received it by now.
The return date shown on the form is Oct. 27. However, we will not consider the forms late until Nov. 1. We apologize for the miscommunications about this mailing and appreciate your patience. By returning this completed form, you comply with statute and ensure that communications we send reach their intended audience.
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The Download Detail is a tool on the Employer Reporting website that allows you to view the details on the submitted reports in spreadsheet format. To access the tool: from the Work on Reports page click View Totals. for the posted or unposted report. Then click the Download Detail link. You can use the Download Detail for your entire report or for only posted records, unposted records or adjustment records.
The spreadsheet lists all members on the report, their benefit structures, class codes, wages, reported and calculated contributions from both member and employer, and TDP information if reported. For members with a DC component it also displays their reported and calculated DC contributions, whether the contributions have been transferred to Voya, and whether they have reached their IRS contribution limit.
The Download Detail spreadsheet can be especially helpful when looking for discrepancies in member and employer contributions. You can use the information from this spreadsheet to reconcile your reports with your payroll system output.
Download Detail spreadsheets are available on the Employer Reporting website for one year. Once the report is gone from the site, it cannot be re-created. It is important to keep a copy of the Download Detail after your report is 100% posted.
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 A DTL1 - Member Demographic record is required the very first time you report wages for any employee who's new to your reporting unit, whether the employee has previously been reported to MPSERS or not.
Include a DTL1-Member Demographic record along with the DTL2-Wage and Service Record and, if needed, a DTL4-DC Contribution record, the first time the new hire is reported. If you do not, the DTL2 and DTL4 records will suspend.
The DTL1 fields highlighted in yellow above must be populated to avoid a suspend error that will keep the DTL1 record from posting. Populate the other fields as needed. Populate Zip 1 only if the address is in the USA.
The fields highlighted in orange are only used for employees who live outside the US. The Postal Code is required only if address is outside of the USA. If this field is populated when the Country Code says USA, the record will suspend.
For more information on all DTL1 fields, see RIM 7.11.01: Detail One (DTL1) Demographics.
If you’re new to public school reporting, we understand the many complexities of the job. Our Introduction to ORS Reporting guide is a great starting point that provides a basic summary of reporting for public schools. This guide contains information on benefit plans, detail records, class codes, report submission and more. In addition, you can learn about who ORS is and how we work with MPSERS employers.
Introduction to ORS Reporting, along with other helpful information, can be found on the Employer Information website under Education and Training and in the scrolling topic bar at the bottom of the homepage.
 Are additional duties reportable?
Sometimes employees are paid extra compensation for duties that are in addition to their normal duties and responsibilities. Is that compensation reportable?
Examples of additional duties that are reportable:
- A principal assumes the assistant superintendent duties during an unexpected leave until the position has been filled.
- A teacher substitutes in another classroom during a prep hour.
Report these wages the same as for regular earnings on a DTL2 record (and a DTL4 record if required by the employee’s benefit plan).
Examples of additional duties that are not reportable since the additional compensation is for an increase in volume of the same duties:
- An Intermediate School District (ISD) adds a Young 5 (preschool) program, and now the payroll officer has 10 more employees to process.
- A teacher receives additional compensation for an increase in students in the classroom.
Don’t report this pay on a DTL2 record, but do report it on a DTL4 record (if required by the employee’s benefit plan) since the wages are part of the employee’s gross earnings.
Please contact ORS if you have any questions about whether an additional duties payment is reportable. For more information please see RIM section 4.08.01: Additional Duties.
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