The Employer Relations Team recently rolled out a new format for the ASRS Basics for Employers training. Based on feedback provided by employers after last year’s training, we set about to change ASRS Basics again.
While well-received, the most common feedback on last year’s format was that it was too long with a lot of information in one sitting. The Basics training is essentially a detailed walk-through of the ASRS Employer Manual to ensure employers understand the benefits of ASRS membership, eligibility criteria, how to define compensation, and report contributions, just to name a few fundamental topics. We understand that trying to absorb all that information in a compressed amount of time was a lot to ask of our employers, especially our new employer users, which this training is targeted towards.
This year, Basics was presented as a 5-part series of role-based webinars to break down the topics into 90-minute sessions so employers could customize their training by picking the topics that pertained to their responsibilities to the ASRS. Employers were able to pick from 5 sessions that covered the following topics:
- Membership Eligibility & Enrollments
- Compensation & Contribution Reporting
- Ending Payroll Verification & Hiring Retirees
- Health Insurance Premium Benefit
- Long Term Disability
All sessions were presented via Google Meet and were well-attended, and we received positive and helpful feedback approving of the new format and suggestions that we will definitely consider for the next Basics scheduled for December 2023, like spreading the sessions over a 2-week period rather than just one.
While we provided handouts electronically prior to the sessions, there were a few technical glitches that prevented some from receiving the PDFs, so the full slide decks are now available on the Employer Reference Materials webpage.
Written by Genevieve McBride, Employer Relations
Published August 2023
