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 deferrals report in Gemini and remit funds promptly so Voya can invest them on the member's behalf.

Key employer responsibilities explained in the training

- Report accurate employment data on the DB report: TRS determines SSP eligibility from information sent on the defined-benefit report. Keane warned that terminated employees must have termination dates reported promptly so members can receive separation-of-service distributions when eligible.

- Watch the SSP deferrals report: TRS generates a PDF and CSV deferrals report that lists new deferrals, changes and existing deferrals. Employers must not implement a change until it appears on the report. The report shows the contribution-effective date, contribution category (pre-tax, Roth, catch-up types) and an "IRS limit met" flag.

- Submit contributions in Gemini and provide correct banking (ACH) details: Once the employer posts the defined-contribution (DC) report, TRS will withdraw SSP payments via ACH and send them to Voya. Keane noted that reports submitted after 2 p.m. post the next business day and that employers may submit SSP payments up to six calendar days after the pay date for that report.

- Monitor IRS contribution limits: TRS tracks regular and age-based catch-up limits separately for SSP contributions. For calendar year 2025 the regular 457(b) limit referenced in the training is $23,500; the standard age‑50+ catch-up is $7,500 and a new SECURE 2.0–related age 60–63 catch-up limit cited was $11,002.50. Keane emphasized that district payroll must stop contribution categories that show "IRS limit met" for the remainder of the calendar year.

Automatic enrollment, member options and timelines

TRS sends an enrollment guide and PIN about seven to 10 days after a member is first reported to TRS; the automatic-enrollment effective date is no less than 30 days after TRS receives the DB report. Members may personalize elections, confirm the default, or opt out before that date. If they take no action, they are enrolled at 3% into the target-date default investment. Members who have contributions posted may request a permissible withdrawal (a refund of contributions adjusted for investment results and fees) through Voya within 90 days of the first posted contribution.

Voya and TRS roles

Keane described TRS as the plan sponsor and Voya Financial as the SSP recordkeeper and member-service provider (pre-login site: trsilssp.voya.com). Voya receives and invests member deferrals according to elections, processes withdrawals and provides local education representatives for district meetings.

Operational details and system checks mentioned

- Deferrals report formats: TRS provides both a PDF and CSV deferrals report; the CSV is useful for payroll systems. - Warning and fatal edits in Gemini: TRS uses edits such as ER5086 (warning: member near limit), ER5090 (fatal: reported amount exceeds IRS limit for that category) and ER5077 (fatal: IRS limit already met) to block or flag problematic DC submissions. - Delinquent contributions: TRS runs a delinquent-contribution report when a pay date is more than seven days past and no DC report has been posted; that report lists the most recent posted pay date and the delinquent pay date.

Resources and follow up

Keane pointed employers to the TRS employer website (SSP employer information) for the plan document, summary plan description, definition-of-compensation guidance, FAQs, the SSP reporting training (Angie Gerlock recorded a reporting demo) and member-facing materials such as enrollment guides and posters. Keane closed by opening the session for a question-and-answer period and by listing SSP accounting and general contact channels for follow up.

Ending

The session focused on operational compliance: accurate DB reporting in Gemini, timely DC submissions and careful monitoring of IRS contribution categories. Keane urged districts to review the SSP deferrals and year-to-date reports before each payroll and to contact the SSP team or Voya for member-level questions or corrective actions.