Employers with Internet access must use Employer Access to enroll members.
Do the following to ensure complete enrollment of a member in IMRF:
Consult the booklet "Should this Employee be Enrolled?" to confirm whether an employee should be enrolled in IMRF.
Effective August 1, 2008, employers with Internet access must use Employer Access to enroll a new or rehired member.
NOTE: Employers must determine if a new hire is a person receiving an IMRF pension from previous employment. Refer to paragraph 3.20D (600 hour employers) or 3.65D (1,000 hour employers).
If an elected official or city hospital worker elects to participate in IMRF, IMRF requires the official’s or employee’s signature on the ”Election To Participate For Qualifying Position” form. Therefore, as part of the online enrollment process, a pre-populated ”Election To Participate For Qualifying Position” form is created. The employer will download the pre-populated form, sign it, have the elected official sign it and mail it to IMRF along with the signed enrollment form.
The election to participate cannot be rescinded. An elected official who elects to participate in IMRF is required to continue to participate if re-elected to subsequent terms of office.
The Elected County Official (ECO) Plan is closed to new members as of August 8, 2011. If a current elected county official has not elected to participate in ECO, he/she no longer has the option to do so. Future elected county officials may not elect ECO. If a county has not adopted the ECO plan, it no longer has the option to do so. Elected County Officials currently participating in ECO remain in the plan.
If the employee elects to participate in IMRF as a SLEP member, a pre-populated ”Election of Police Chief to Participate as SLEP member” is created as part of the online enrollment process. The employer will download the pre-populated form, sign it, have the employee sign it and mail it to IMRF along with the signed enrollment form. (Please note: if the police chief is the first employee to enroll in SLEP for your employer, i.e., your employer does not have a SLEP plan, the online enrollment process will advise you to call IMRF’s Member Services Unit for assistance.)
Refer to Paragraph 3.80C for information on eligibility requirements for police chiefs.
For Employee Who will Perform
Teacher Aide Duties
P.A. 94-834 changed the Reciprocal Act to allow a former IMRF member who
participated as a teacher aide (para-educator) and transferred to a position
that is covered by the Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS) to retire under
the Reciprocal Act even though the former teacher aide has less than 12
months of IMRF service credit. Indicate
on IMRF Form 6.10 if the employee will perform teacher aide duties.
An employee who works as teacher aide may have a position title such as paraeducator, classroom aide, reading aide, teacher assistant, special services assistant/technician, program assistant or library assistant. IMRF applies guidance from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook to define a "teacher aide". The following are typically considered teacher aide dutiesl:
Reinforce lessons presented by teachers by reviewing material with students one-on-one or in small groups
Enforce school and class rules to help teach students proper behavior
Help teachers with recordkeeping, such as tracking attendance and calculating grades
Help teachers prepare for lesons by getting materials ready or setting up equipment, such as computers
Supervise students in class, between classes, during lunch and recess, and on field trips
Teacher aides may work within different areas of the school, such as the computer laboratories, libraries, lunchroom, or schoolyard. Some teacher aides work only with special education students with academic work. They may also work with students having more severe disabilities on other basic needs, such as eating or personal hygiene, or certain life skills.
Employers with Internet access must submit the employee’s enrollment via Employer Access.
IMRF requires that the member terminate (Employers with Internet access must terminate members via Employer Access) from the first employer and enroll with the second employer because in addition to keeping track of member credits, IMRF must also track employer liabilities.
Without the appropriate termination and enrollment documents, IMRF is unable to maintain accurate member and employer accounts. However, some employees participate concurrently under two or more employers. If this is the case, IMRF only needs the Online Termination for the employer from which the member is terminating.
Go to the Employer Access area to Terminate IMRF Participation
Do not submit an enrollment (via Employer Access) for member personal information changes. Those changes should be made as follows:
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