If a person is employed in a qualifying position, you must enroll that person in IMRF. A qualifying position is one that will normally require performance of duty for at least the employer’s hourly standard during the next 12 months following the employee’s date of hire.
The hourly standard is either 600 or 1,000 hours. School districts and special education cooperatives have a 600-hour standard. Non-school employers can have a 600-hour standard or can elect the 1,000-hour standard. To change from the 600 hour standard to the 1,000-hour standard, the governing body would adopt a resolution, and file a certified copy of the resolution with IMRF. If you want to use IMRF's suggested form of resolution, please send a secure message to request a "Resolution to Adopt the Annual 1,000 Hour Standard for IMRF Participation" form. If you are unable to send a secure message, please call the employer-only phone number at 1-800-728-7971.
Once a governing body adopts the 1,000-hour standard, that standard cannot be revoked. For details, refer to 6.60 E. Adoption of the 1,000 Hour Standard.
Learn more about the 1,000-hour standard below.
A person employed in a position normally requiring performance of duty for 600 hours or more in the next 12 months following the employee’s date of hire must participate in IMRF. It is the expected annual hourly requirements that determine participation; actual hours worked may be more or less than the hours expected. A good-faith evaluation of the hours expected will include a review of the written job description and the history of the position or the time required to do similar work. If you are unable to make a good faith determination of the requirements for the position, enroll the employee in IMRF.
The best practice is to complete the publication, "Should this Employee be Enrolled" found in the Employer Access Learning Center located at www.imrf.org. To find this publication, enter the Learning Center, hover over employers, and select the Employer Access Learning Center.
If an employee is enrolled in IMRF because the position was expected to require more than 600 hours in a year, but the employee actually works less than that, there is no need to reclassify the position retroactively. However, when this happens, the requirements of the position should be reevaluated to determine whether it should be reclassified prospectively. If a position consistently requires less than 600 hours annually, it must be reclassified and you must terminate the member’s participation.
A person employed in a position normally requiring performance of duty for less than 600 hours in the next 12 months following the employee’s date of hire may not participate in IMRF.
If the position was expected to require fewer than 600 hours in a year, but the employee actually works more than that, there is no need to reclassify the position retroactively. However, when this happens, the requirements of the position should be re-evaluated to determine whether it should be reclassified. If a position consistently requires more than 600 hours annually, it must be reclassified and you must enroll the employee in IMRF.
The 1,000-hour standard can apply only on and after the date it is adopted and applies only to those employees hired after that date, who had not ever held an IMRF-qualifying position with that employer prior to the adoption of the 1,000-hour standard.
The 1,000-hour standard is applied in the same manner as the 600-hour standard. If a person is employed in a position normally requiring performance of duty for 1,000 hours or more in the next 12 months following the employee’s date of hire, you must enroll that employee in IMRF. It is the expected annual hourly requirements that determine participation; actual hours worked may be more or less than the hours expected.
A good-faith evaluation of the hours expected will include a review of the written job description and the history of the position or the time required to do similar work. If you are unable to make a good faith determination of the requirements for the position, enroll the employee in IMRF.
The best practice is to complete the publication, "Should this Employee be Enrolled" found in the Employer Access Learning Center located at www.imrf.org. To find this publication, enter the Learning Center, hover over employers, and select the Employer Access Learning Center.
If a person was classified as a non-member employee because he or she was expected to work less than 1,000 hours in a year but actually worked more than that, there is no need to reclassify the position retroactively. However, when this happens, the requirements of the position should be re-evaluated to determine whether it should be reclassified prospectively. If a position consistently requires more than 1,000 hours annually, it must be reclassified and you must enroll the employee in IMRF.
A person employed in a position normally requiring performance of duty for less than 1,000 hours in the next 12 months following the employee’s date of hire may not participate in IMRF.
If an employee is enrolled in IMRF because the position was expected to require more than 1,000 hours in a year, but the employee actually works less than that, there is no need to reclassify the position retroactively.
However, when this happens, the requirements of the position should be reevaluated to determine whether it should be reclassified prospectively. If a position consistently requires less than 1,000 hours annually, it must be reclassified and you must terminate the member’s participation.
Employer audits have found that, over time, positions (and the number of hours an employee works) change. The change can affect whether that position qualifies for IMRF. Therefore, it is important to review both participating and non-participating positions on an annual basis to determine if the position:
• Continues to meet/exceed your employer’s hourly standard for IMRF participation
• Requires fewer hours and no longer meets your employer’s hourly standard for IMRF participation
• Requires more hours and now meets your employer’s hourly standard for IMRF participation
When an employee works more or fewer hours than originally expected, you do not need to reclassify the position retroactively, if the initial determination included a good-faith evaluation. However, you should carefully review the hourly requirements and the actual hours worked to determine whether the position will continue to require the same number of hours. You would then submit either a termination notice or enrollment notice, as required, as soon as you identify the change and reclassify the position. A position that consistently requires more or fewer hours than originally expected must be reclassified.
The publication, "Should this Employee be Enrolled” can serve as a guide when re-evaluating a position. This brochure should be used when a new employee is hired, is promoted or assumes a new position, or when an employee assumes additional responsibilities.
If an employee works in more than one position for one unit of government, whether the hours of all his or her jobs must be combined when applying the hourly standard depends on what types of positions the employee holds. Service in two or more regular, non-elected positions must be combined to meet the hourly standard. This includes non-governing body appointed positions. These positions are the only ones that must be combined in order to meet the hourly standard.
Elected positions and governing body appointed positions may never be used in combination with a regular position to meet the hourly standard. In order to get service credit for elected positions or governing body appointed positions, those positions must individually meet the applicable hourly standard.
If an employee is hired during the fiscal or calendar year, the hourly standard should be applied based upon the expected hours of duty for the next 12 months following the employee’s date of hire, not the remainder of the fiscal or calendar year.
You can refer to the publication, ”Should this Employee be Enrolled” to help you determine if an employee should or should not participate in IMRF. You can find this publication in the Employer Access Learning Center located at www.imrf.org. To find this publication, enter the Learning Center, hover over employers, and select the Employer Access Learning Center.
1. IMRF Plan Tiers
Public Act 96-0889 created a second tier of benefits for IMRF’s Regular and Elected County Official (ECO) plans. Effective January 1, 2011, IMRF will assign a benefit tier to an employee when he or she is enrolled in IMRF’s Regular or ECO plan. The tier is based on the member’s participation date:
Tier 1: Members enrolled in IMRF before January 1, 2011. If a Tier 1 member:
Stops participating in IMRF and is again enrolled in IMRF, the member will participate in Tier 1.
Changes IMRF employers, the member will participate in Tier 1.
Terminates participation, takes a refund of his or her contributions and is later enrolled in IMRF, the member will participate in Tier 1.
Tier 2: Members first enrolled in IMRF on or after January 1, 2011
EXCEPTIONS: Members enrolled in IMRF on or after January 1, 2011, will participate in Tier 1 if the member:
Previously participated in IMRF or in a Reciprocal retirement system (even if the member took a refund of his or her contributions and has not yet repaid the refund) or
Purchases omitted service credit that creates a participation date before January 1, 2011.
The ECO Plan is closed to new members as of August 8, 2011. Elected county officials may not elect the ECO plan; counties may not adopt the ECO plan.
Public Act 96-1495 created a second tier for IMRF SLEP. A member’s participation date determines his or her tier.
a. Tier 1: Members first enrolled in SLEP before January 1, 2011:
If a member ever participated in SLEP with any employer before January 1, 2011, that member always participates in Tier 1 even if that member terminated participation and took a refund of contributions.
b. Tier 2: Members first enrolled in SLEP on or after January 1, 2011:
A member will participate in SLEP Tier 2 even if that member participated in Regular IMRF Tier 1, or Tier 1 with a reciprocal retirement system. Some SLEP members will be participants in both Regular plan Tier 1 and SLEP plan Tier 2.