What is the purpose of the employer portal in the secure employer area?

The portal was created to help Teachers’ Retirement System and employers administer Public Act 100-0587, a new state law that may affect the amount of employer contributions employers pay to TRS. Under this law, an employer’s contribution to TRS may rise for a member who was granted a salary increase on or after July 1, 2018 that exceeds 3 percent over the previous year’s salary – if the resulting higher salary is or will be used to determine the member’s final average salary upon retirement.

Prior to the effective date of PA 100-0587, the salary increase threshold triggering a higher employer contribution was set at 6 percent. The underlying law, which has been in place since 2005, requires employers to pay TRS a contribution equal to the actuarial value of the pension benefit created by any salary increase that exceeds the threshold.

The law setting the threshold at 3 percent contains a “grandfather” clause that applies the old 6 percent threshold on all raises after July 1, 2018 if the raise was authorized under a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) or individual employment contract that was entered into, amended or renewed prior to June 4, 2018 – the effective date of the new threshold.

In order to determine which threshold may apply to your employees – 3 percent or 6 percent – TRS must gather information from you about all CBAs and individual employment contracts that were entered into, renewed or amended prior to June 4, 2018.

What internet browser(s) should I use for the portal?

The employer portal supports Internet Explorer and Chrome.

What is the CBA process?

On the Employer Dashboard click on the task “Public Act 100-0587 CBA Collection Process” to view the process flow. 

  • Add Agreement – The Agreement List where employers will name the CBA or contract and enter the dates that CBA(s) and/or individual contracts were entered into, amended, or renewed prior to June 4, 2018 and their expiration dates. If any TRS-covered employees are not covered by a CBA or contract, employers will also need to select No CBA/No contract.
  • Assign Employees – The Employee List where employers will match employees to the CBA or contract they were covered under or to No CBA/No Contract if they were not covered by a CBA or contract.
  • Review and Submit – Employers will submit the Agreement and Employee Lists to TRS from this page. Each employee must be assigned on the Employee List to an agreement before proceeding.  This page will show a list of all Agreements, their entered into and expired dates and the number of employees assigned to each agreement.   

What should I do first?

Go to the Agreement List to document agreements (collective bargaining agreements (CBA(s), contracts, No CBA/No Contract).  Employers will also be required to upload copies of the CBA(s) that were entered into, amended or renewed prior to June 4, 2018.

What is the Agreement List?

This screen will be empty when employers begin working on the CBA process. All agreements will be entered on this screen. 

What is an Agreement?

Agreements include CBAs, individual contracts (See question “What qualifies as an individual contract?”), and No CBA/No contract.

What qualifies as an individual contract?

This includes administrators with formal written contracts and administrators who are not given a formal written contract (other than their first year of employment) but whose salary is approved yearly by the board.

 What functions will I perform on the Agreement List screen?

  • Enter the name of the CBA(s) and the dates that the CBA(s) were entered into, amended, or renewed and the expiration dates.
  • Upload copies signed CBA(s) that were entered into, amended, or renewed prior to June 4, 2018. Employers will not need to upload copies of individual contracts.
  • If any members on the Employee List were covered by individual contracts, employers will enter the dates their individual contracts were entered into, amended, or renewed prior to June 4, 2018 and the dates the contracts expired or will expire.
  • If any members on the Employee List are not covered by a CBA or individual contract, add an agreement and select the type No CBA/No Contract.

What steps should I follow when adding CBAs and contracts to the Agreement List?

Add CBAs:

  • Select the “add” icon at the top right of the Agreement List page.
  • Name the agreement (e.g. CBA for 2015 to 2019).
  • Enter the month, day and year the CBA was entered into, amended or renewed prior to June 4, 2018.
  • Enter the month, day and year the CBA expired or will expire.
  • The reason will be prepopulated as Public Act 100-0587.
  • Upload the CBA that was entered into, amended or renewed prior to June 4, 2018. This can be done by either selecting inside the box once or choosing a file to upload or by dragging an image into the box to attach and upload.
  • Ensure you have saved your document in an acceptable file format (pdf, jpg, png).
  • The file size cannot be larger than 20 MB or smaller than 1 KB.
  • If the CBA is longer than 10 years, you will be asked to verify the dates are correct.
  • Select the “add” icon.
  • You will be given the option to return to the Agreement List to add additional agreements (CBAs, contracts or No CBA/No Contract) or go to the Employee List.
  • If the district has more than one CBA, follow the above steps for each additional CBA.

View the members on the Employee List to determine if any of the members were covered by individual contracts. This includes administrators with formal written contracts and administrators who are not given formal written contracts (other than their first years of employment) but whose salaries are approved yearly by the board. 

For those administrators with a formal written contract:

  • Select the “add” icon at the top right of the Agreement List page.
  • Under the agreement type, select Contract.
  •  Enter the month, day and year the contract was entered into, amended, or renewed (signed by both parties) prior to June 4, 2018. 
  • Enter the month, day and year the contract expired or will expire.
  • If the contract is longer than five years, you will be asked to verify the dates are correct.
  • Name the contract (e.g. John Smith).
  • The reason will be prepopulated as Public Act 100-0587.

For those administrators without formal written contracts but whose salary is approved on a yearly basis:

  • Select the “add” icon at the top right of the Agreement List page.
  • Under the agreement type, select Contract. If you have a group of administrators who are all treated the same way, you can enter one contract and assign the group of administrators to the contract. For example, if all principals’ salaries are approved on a yearly basis in April, create one contract for this group of administrators or you can enter each administrator’s contract individually.
  • If the 2018-19 salary was approved by the board prior to June 4, 2018, provide the date entered into (board meeting month, day and year) and the expiration date.
  •  If the 2018-19 salary was not approved by the board prior to June 4, 2018, enter the date entered into (board meeting month, day and year) and expired date for the 2017-18 school year.
  • Name the contract (e.g. John Smith, one-year contracts, principals, etc.). 
  • The reason will be prepopulated as Public Act 100-0587.
  • Select the “add” icon.
  • You will be given the option to return to the Agreement List to add additional agreements (CBAs, contracts or No CBA/No Contract) or go to the Employee List.

Review the members on the employee list to determine if anyone was not covered by a CBA or individual contract. For anyone not covered by a CBA or individual contract:

  • Select the “add” icon at the top right of the Agreement List page.
  • Under the agreement type, select No CBA/No Contract
  • The Agreement Name will be prepopulated as No CBA/No Contract.
  • The reason will be prepopulated as Public Act 100-0587.

What is the Employee List?

The Employee List includes all full-time and part-time contractual TRS members age 45 and older as of July 1, 2018 that were included on your 2017-18 Annual Report. 

What will I do on the Employee List screen?

  • Use this screen to match the members on your Employee List to the specific CBA(s) and contract(s) you entered on the Agreement List.
  • For any member on your Employee List that is not covered by a CBA or contract, after adding it to the Agreement List, select the No CBA/No Contract option.
  • You will be able to delete anyone who has left your district and add anyone (45 or older as of 7/1/18) who has joined your district for the 2018-19 school year.

Once I have entered my CBA(s) and contracts, how do I assign members to them?

  • Go to the Employee List screen.
  • You can assign members to the CBA(s), contracts or No CBA/No Contract individually or as a group.
  • To assign one member to a CBA, contract or No CBA/No Contract, select the “edit” icon . Under Agreement Name, select the CBA or contract this member is covered under or No CBA/No Contract.
  • If the member was not covered by a CBA or contract, select one of the following regarding policies:
    • Your district had employment policies that were referenced by a CBA.
    • Your district had employment policies that were not referenced by a CBA.
    • Your district did not have employment policies containing retirement incentives.
  • To assign a group of members to a CBA, contract or No CBA/No Contract, select the box to the left of the members’ first names, click on the “ellipsis (...)” icon and select Edit Checked Employees. Under Agreement Name, select the CBA or contract this group is covered under or No CBA/No Contract. 
  • If you assigned a group of members to No CBA/No Contract, you will need to edit each member to answer the above policy questions.

Some members are listed on the Employee List who are no longer employed at our district. What should I enter for them?

You will need to delete anyone who has left your district after the 2017-18 school year. To delete a member, select the “delete” icon to the left of the member’s name.. 

How do I enter members who are not on the Employee List because they were employed with us after the 2017-18 school year?

You will need to add them to the Employee List. Select the “add” icon to add any current full-time or part-time contractual TRS members age 45 or older as of July 1, 2018 who have joined your district and are not included on the list. 

What about members who were not covered by a CBA or contract?

  • On the Agreement List screen select the “add” icon. 
  • Under Agreement Name select No CBA/No Contract.
  • On the Employee List screen assign members individually to the No CBA/No Contract agreement name using the “edit” icon and select one of the following regarding policies: 
    • Your district had employment policies that were referenced by a CBA.
    • Your district had employment policies that were not referenced by a CBA.
    • Your district did not have employment policies containing retirement incentives.
  • You can also assign a group of members to the No CBA/No Contract agreement name by selecting the box to the left of the members’ first names, clicking on the “ellipsis (…)” icon and selecting Edit Checked Employees. Under Agreement Name, select No CBA/No Contract.  You will need to edit each member to answer the above policy questions.

Do I need to do anything if I do not have any TRS-covered employees who are 45 or older as of July 1, 2018?

On the Agreement List screen, you will be asked to verify that no TRS-covered employees age 45 or older were employed as of July 1, 2018. If no TRS-covered employees meet the age requirement, you will select no and submit and complete the CBA Collection process. If you select yes, you will need to add the employees and assign them to the CBA, Contract or No CBA/No Contract.

I downloaded the incorrect CBA. What should I do?

  • If you have not yet submitted your Agreement and Employee Lists to TRS, go to the Agreement List screen and select the “edit” icon. Upload the correct CBA document. The members attached to the CBA will not change and the previous document will be replaced.
  • If you delete the CBA using the “delete” icon, any members attached to the CBA will no longer be attached to any agreement and you will need to add and upload a new CBA and attach the members to it or attach them to a different contract, CBA, or No CBA/No Contract.
  • If you have already submitted your agreement and Employee Lists to TRS, email the TRS Employer Services Department at employers@trsil.org.  TRS will remove the CBA and will allow you to upload a new CBA and resubmit the Agreement and Employee Lists to TRS. When TRS removes the CBA, the members attached to the CBA will not change.

I entered the incorrect dates for a contract. What should I do?

  • If you have not yet submitted your Agreement and Employee Lists to TRS, go the Agreement List screen and click  to edit. Correct the dates from the Edit Agreement screen. 
  • If you have already submitted your Agreement and Employee Lists to TRS, email the TRS Employer Services Department at employers@trsil.org.

What should I do if I have assigned a member to the incorrect Agreement (CBA, Contract or No CBA/No Contract)?

  • Go the Employee List, select the “edit” icon. From the Edit Employee screen, correct the Agreement Name.
  • If you have already submitted your Agreement and Employee Lists to TRS, email the TRS Employer Services Department at employers@trsil.org.

In reviewing the Employee List, I noticed that several of my members’ names are incorrect. What should I do?

For your ease in working on the Employee List, you can change a member’s name by selecting the “edit” icon and changing the name on the Edit Employee Screen. However, please be aware that this will not change the member’s name at TRS. Have the member complete the Notice of Name Change form.

How do I add a newly hired teacher to the Employee List after I have submitted my Agreement and Member Lists to TRS?

If the CBA has not yet expired and the member is age 45 or older, email the TRS Employer Services Department at employers@trsil.org.