STRS Payroll

Ohio's State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) requires payroll reporting of earnings and employee and employer contributions. Use the STRS Payroll page to generate reports and submit them to Ohio STRS.

The payroll work file is specific to the pay date. If more than one payroll has the same pay date, the date is consolidated in the work file to produce a single PAY record for each employee for that pay date. You must run a load after each check run and before the following payroll calculation to load the data from each payroll. Failure to run the load option before the following payroll calculation causes the current data to be lost and a backup restore will be needed to complete the payroll report. Only the very latest payroll calculation is loaded into the work file.

The New Hire load depends not on the employee's hire date but on the start date of an STRS deduction. The New Hire records are not loaded if STRS deductions are added for an employee without start dates.

Menu Path

From the Human Resources menu, select State. From the State - OH menu, select STRS Payroll.

Prerequisites

Deduction Codes for STRS Contributions

Deduction codes for STRS contributions must be set up on the Deduction Table page as follows:

After-Tax Plans

The deduction amount is the published rate for employee contributions, and the benefit amount is the published rate for employer contributions.

Employee Paid (or Salary Reduction) Pickup Plans

There must be two codes. One code representing the employee contribution will need a deduction amount equal to the published rate for employee contributions and a zero benefit amount. The other code, which means the employer contribution, will have a zero deduction amount and a benefit rate equal to the published rate for employer contributions.

Straight Pickup Plans

There must be two codes. The first code, which represents employee contributions, will need a deduction amount equal to the employee-paid portion of the published employee contribution rate. The benefit amount will equal the employer-paid portion of the published employee contribution rate. The second code, which represents employer contributions, will need a deduction amount of zero and a benefit amount equal to the published employer contribution rate.

Pickup on Pickup Plans

There must be two more codes. One code, which represents the employee contribution, will need a deduction amount equal to the employee-paid portion of the published employee contribution rate and a benefit amount equal to the employer-paid portion, weighted to include pickup on pickup, of the published employee contribution. The second code, which represents the employer contribution, will need a deduction amount equal to the published employer contribution rate, weighted to include pickup on pickup. Use the formulas in the examples below to determine the weighted rates.

This option will load records for all employees with current STRS deductions into a separate work file. The payroll figures are extracted from the current buckets on the employee deduction page. The load option must be run before the following payroll calculation, as the payroll calculation clears the current bucket. Failure to run the load option before the following payroll calculation causes the current data to be lost, and a backup restore is needed to complete the payroll report. If more than one payroll has the same pay date, the data is consolidated in the work file to produce a single PAY record for each employee for that pay date. However, you must run a load after each paycheck run and before the following payroll calculation to load the data from each run. Only the very latest payroll calculation is loaded into the work file.

Reemployed Retiree Fields

Before generating the STRS Payroll report, enter valid information on the Reemployed Retiree Fields page.

Load Data

You can load data in the following ways:

Payroll Load

Use this option to load payroll data for the pay date specified in the STRS Payroll Reporting work file for all employees with a valid retirement deduction.

On the OH STRS Payroll page, select Payroll Load.
Select the Pay Date.
Select Load.
If the Accrued option on the STRS OH Retirement System Deductions is selected, payroll accrued records will be created, not regular ones. To avoid creating accrued pay records, select No and uncheck the Accrued option on the STRS OH Retirement System Deductions page before continuing. Otherwise, select Yes to create accrued pay records.
Select Yes.
If the selected Pay Date is not valid, select OK and then select a valid Pay Date.
If data for the selected criteria is loaded, select Yes to delete and reload the data.
Only one record per employee per pay date is loaded into the STRS maintenance table.
Save the Load Summary report and select OK.
Navigate to the folder containing the summary report file.
Inspect the file. Update data if needed.
Repeat these steps until all required data is loaded.

New Hire Load

Use this option to load new hire and reemployed retiree data for all employees hired or otherwise introduced into the STRS system on or after the pay period start date of the entered pay date.

On the OH STRS Payroll page, select New Hire Load.
Select the Pay Date.
The Pay Date should be the same as the Pay Date run for the most recent Payroll Load because this date is used to associate Payroll and New Hire records when the state submission is created.
Select Load, and then Yes.
If the selected Pay Date is not valid, select OK and then select a valid Pay Date.
Save the Load Summary report and select OK.
Navigate to the folder containing the summary report file.
Inspect the file. Update data if needed.
Repeat these steps until all required data is loaded.

Maintain Data

You can correct loaded data before submitting the report.

On the OH STRS Payroll page, Filter records using the filter criteria. To enter filter criteria:
1. Select an option in the first field.
2. Select or enter a value.
3. Select Add if the button is enabled.
  Refer to Searching for Records for more information.

To add a record, click Add Record. Refer to the Field Descriptions and enter valid information in the required fields. Select Save, and then Yes.
To edit a record, select the ellipsis in the Actions column and then select Edit. Update the information and select Save.
To delete a record, select the ellipsis in the Actions column, select Delete, and then select Yes.

Field Descriptions

Field	Description
Pay Date	The pay date to be updated. You cannot update the value for existing records.
Post-tax Contribution	The amount of the employer contribution or pickup.
Record Type	The record type to be updated. You cannot update the value for existing records. Valid values: PAY - Payroll PAYA - Payroll Accrued NM - New Hire RM - Reemployed Retiree ADJ - Adjustment
Pre-tax Contribution	The amount of the employee's contribution calculated depending on the plan type.
Employee Number	The unique employee identification number. Click the lookup icon to search for and select a valid employee number. You cannot update the value for existing records.
Fiscal Year	The payroll data's fiscal year. You cannot update the value for existing records.
Social Security	The employee's Social Security number. The value is retrieved from the Social Security field on the Employee Information page. You cannot update the value for existing records.
Service Credits	The amount of service credits for the employee. You cannot update the value for existing records.
Last Name	The employee's last name. The value is retrieved from the Last Name field on the Employee Information page.
Hire Date	The new hire’s start date.
First Name	The employee's first name. The value is retrieved from the First Name field on the Employee Information page.
Notes	A textbox to enter notes.
Middle Initial	The employee's middle initial. The value is retrieved from the Middle Name field on the Employee Information page.
Suffix	The employee’s name suffix. The value is retrieved from the Suffix field on the Employee Information page. Valid values: II III IV JR SR V

Create File

On the OH STRS Payroll page, select Report.
Select the Pay Date for the report.
Create a hard copy of the report to verify data before you create the electronic file:
1. Select Hard Copy.
2. Select Include Payroll to include loaded payroll records in the report.
3. Select Include NewHire to include loaded new hire records in the report.
4. Select Include Prior Year Adjustment to include prior fiscal year adjustment records in the report.
5. Select Create, then Yes.
Save the file and select OK.
Navigate to the folder containing the report file.
Inspect the file. Update data if needed.
Repeat these steps until all the required data is included.
Create the electronic file:
1. Select Electronic File.
2. Select Include Payroll to include loaded payroll records in the report.
3. Select Include NewHire to include loaded new hire records in the report.
4. Select Include Prior Year Adjustment to include prior fiscal year adjustment records in the report.
5. Select Include Trailer to include a trailer record in the electronic file.
6. Select Include Header to include a header record in the electronic file. If this option is selected, the Header Information section displays.
  1. Select the Payroll Type and Payment Method to include in the header record.
  2. Enter the Payment Reference Number, Payment Amount, and Employer Reference to include in the header record.
7. Select Create, and then Yes.
8. Save the file and select OK.
  The default file name is <Employer STRS Number><MMDD>.txt
  where
  the Employer STRS Number is retrieved from the Employer STRS Number field on the Human Resources Profile - State page.
  MMDD represents the Pay Date selected in Step 2.

Follow the state's submission procedures.