TRS trains Illinois school employers on Supplemental Savings Plan enrollment and payroll reporting

Melissa Keane, a deferred compensation plan analyst at the Teachers' Retirement System, led a TRS employer training covering the Supplemental Savings Plan, automatic enrollment and defined-contribution reporting in Gemini. The webinar explained employer responsibilities for accurate defined-benefit reporting, timing and submission of SSP contributions to Voya Financial and tools TRS provides to monitor IRS limits.

The SSP, launched in 2022 under Illinois law as a 457(b) supplemental defined-contribution account, is designed to supplement — not replace — the TRS pension. Keane told attendees that employees first employed in a TRS-covered position on or after Jan. 1, 2023 are subject to automatic enrollment at a 3% pre-tax deferral into a target-date fund unless they opt out. "We need you as the employer to accurately report your member's employment information on your defined benefit report through Gemini," Keane said, stressing that eligibility is determined by TRS from the defined-benefit (DB) report rather than by districts.

Why it matters: automatic enrollment creates a payroll deduction obligation for districts once TRS confirms eligibility and issues an automatic-enrollment effective date. Employers must begin withholding on the pay period that begins on or after the contribution-effective date shown on the SSP…