Benefits and Deductions | Payroll Services (2024)

Mandatory Retirement Types for Benefits Eligible Employees

All public higher education employees employed in a position that is eligible for the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS) are automatically enrolled in TRS on their first day of employment. Full-time faculty, librarians, and certain professionals and administrators employed in public higher education are eligible to elect the Optional Retirement Program (ORP) in lieu of TRS before the 91st day after becoming eligible. The decision for those eligible for ORP is a one-time irrevocable choice.

Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS)

TRS is a traditional defined benefit plan and a qualified governmental retirement plan under the provisions of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, Section 401(a).

TRS Home Page
TRS Publications (Newsletters, Brochures, etc...)

Keep Your Address Current

It is very important that TRS have your correct address on file as it is used for mailing confidential information regarding your TRS account. As a reminder, TRS no longer accepts address changes from the employer. Employees must update their address with TRS in one of three ways:

1. Mail a Change of Address Notification form (TRS 358)to TRS.
2. Mail a written request to TRS. The letter must contain your social security number or your TRS Participant ID number and your signature.
3. Online as a registered user of MyTRS. Please note: If you were not a TRS member prior to the start of the 2017-18 school year, you cannot register for a MyTRS account until further enhancements to the self-service portal are complete.

This information was communicated to members by TRS in the April 2018 TRS newsletter.

Hours Worked

Due to new TRS reporting guidelines that went into effect September 1, 2017, TRS now monitors the total number of hours an employee is paid for in the month. As a reminder, employees classified as Benefits EligibleMUST work and/or submit leave time each month for a minimum of hours equivalent to one-half time. If the employee does not meet this requirement they may forfeit their TRS membership.For example:

January has 22 work days (Monday–Friday)

22 x 8 = 176 work hours available

176 / 2 = 88 hours to equal one-half time

A minimum of 88 hours, worked and/or submitted as leave time, would be required for the month of March.

For questions please send an email to webmaster.payroll@ttu.edu.

Refund of TRS Account

Former employees wanting to request a refund of your TRS account must complete a TRS 6 Application for Refund. Once the form has been completed and notarized, it should be mailed directly to TRS according to the instructions given on the application. TRS will contact Texas Tech for certification of termination of employment. The termination cannot be certified until your department has processed the employment termination paperwork and your final deposit has been posted to your TRS account.

TRS typically processes refunds 30-60 days after your final deposit has been posted to your account. Due to TRS reporting guidelines, deposits must be reported based on check date and cannot be submitted to TRS until the first week of the month following the final check date. For example, if your termination date is March 31st, your final deposit would be included on your April 10th check if paid semi-monthly or April 1st check if paid monthly. The April report cannot be submitted to TRS until the first week of May. The deposit will be posted to your account once the report clears all TRS edits which can take approximately two weeks.

To check on the status of your refund contact TRS at 1-800-223-8778.

Working Retirees

If you are retired from TRS and thinking about returning to work with an employer covered by TRS, OR you are thinking about retirement and considering possible employment with an employer covered by TRS after you retire, the Employment After Retirement guide will help you make the decision that is right for you and avoid any unexpected loss of annuity payments.

Work hours allowed when limited to working one-half time or less: