Over the last 20 months, the ASRS has been implementing an enhanced and standardized contribution reporting file format to be used by all ASRS employers. Many ASRS employers have already adopted the enhanced file format and many more are in the process of updating their payroll software to accommodate the changes.
The contribution file format has been enhanced with three new data fields:
- Employee type will be used to indicate if the employee works 9, 10, 11 or 12 months each fiscal year.
- Employee pay types will be used to classify the payments being made to employees. There are 9 specific pay types from which to choose.
- Hours worked, by employee pay type, will be used to indicate the number of compensated hours in the pay period being submitted.
If you have not yet adopted the new file format, please contact your ASRS Employer Liaison or Contribution Reporting contact for more information.
The ASRS believes this new data will be beneficial in a number of ways. The collection of employee type will allow the ASRS to analyze how service is credited and whether it should be based on the position the employee is in rather than the type of employer they work for.
Collecting pay types is expected to eventually make the new retiree process more efficient. Currently, the ASRS collects this data after a member retires. Over time, this will allow us to process new retiree applications using the data we already have on file.
The collection of hours worked should help to improve employer compliance with membership statutes, which will ultimately save employers money and allow the ASRS to be more proactive in identifying membership issues.
Finally, the collection of hours associated with pay types will allow us to identify how many hours of overtime or other types of pay are being earned, which will lead to more accurate member data analysis.
