Employer Update

Hybrid Retirement Plan auto-escalation went into effect January 1, boosting members’ voluntary contributions by 0.5%, except for those members who opted out or who already contribute the maximum 4%. Employers are required to implement the deferral changes for the first payroll of this month.

VRS and MissionSquare Retirement are here to help ensure your hybrid member and employer contributions are reported correctly. The Hybrid Retirement Plan Employer Resource Center payroll page covers all the steps to reconcile payroll, process contributions and make payments.

Your First Step

School divisions, political subdivisions and decentralized state agencies should download the deferral changes report from EZLink to see the new voluntary contribution rates and process payroll changes.

Centralized state employers using Cardinal HCM should follow the normal payroll-certification process for the first January payroll.

Employers that elected an employer-sponsored 403(b) plan for the defined contribution portion of the Hybrid Retirement Plan also are required to implement the increase for employees who did not opt-out of the auto-escalation through their 403(b) plan.

Submit Contributions in a Timely Manner

Step 5 on the Payroll webpage covers the process, including how to add voluntary contributions and the employer match to your submission file. Watch the Creating Contribution Submissions video for step-by-step instructions.

Timely reporting of contributions to MissionSquare each pay period is essential. Likewise, it’s important to quickly correct any contribution reporting errors to avoid incurring penalties or causing employees to miss investment earnings (see the Hybrid Retirement Plan Correction Policy).