IMRF launched our new Employer Access system on March 4, 2024. Below are some frequently asked questions about our new system. Check back on this page regularly as we will update it with new questions and answers.
Rate Information and Financial Documents
Expand list of Questions related to Rate Information and Financial Documents
Making Payments and Applying Credits
Expand list of Questions related to Making Payments and Applying Credits
Wage Reports
Expand list of Questions related to Wage Reports
Data Collections Processes
Expand list of Questions related to Data Collections Processes
Forms - Locating and Completing
Expand list of Questions related to Forms Locations
- How can I get an Appointment of Authorized Agent form?
- Where can I find the Voluntary Additional Election form and the Omitted Service Application?
- Can Voluntary Additional Contribution (VAC) changes become effective at any time of month? Which date on the form will be used as the effective date?
- How can I get a Health Insurance Continuation Through Employer form?
- Can reciprocal members who are not vested with IMRF apply for their pensions in IMRF Member Access?
Health Insurance and Union Deductions
Expand list of Questions related to Health Insurance and Union Deductions
Finding and Editing Information in Employer Access
Expand list of Questions related to finding information in Employer Access
- How do I find a specific IMRF member in Employer Access?
- How can I add an email address and make other information changes for a member?
- Where can an employer find current and past Member Statements?
- What is the new process for reporting retiree hours?
- When enrolling an employee in IMRF, I am receiving member error “The address could not be verified as entered. Correct and resubmit.” What steps can I take to get the error removed and the employee enrolled?
Adding a Team Member in Employer Access
Expand list of Questions related to adding a Team Member in Employer Access
Frequently Asked Questions and Answers
Rate Information and Financial Documents
Q. How can we determine our Employer Retirement Contribution rate in new Employer Access?
A. Go to the Partner Information screen and choose the Contributions tab. Your Employer Retirement Contribution rate total can be calculated by taking the sum of the Employer Retirement Normal Contribution rate and the Employer Retirement Funding Adjustment Contribution rate. These two components make up your employer’s unique and total Employer Retirement Contribution Rate.
The Employer Retirement Contribution Rate is the amount calculated as the normal retirement cost for all IMRF employers. The Employer Retirement Funding Adjustment Contribution rate is the difference, unique to your employer’s funding, that will adjust your Employer Retirement Contribution rate to the amount required for your employer for the year.
Q. How do I view my employer’s Preliminary Rate Information?
A. Click the gear icon in the toolbar on the left side of the Employer Access homepage and click Partner Information. Enter your employer number where it says Partner Code. Click on the Contributions tab. To filter by year, enter the appropriate effective date. Add the components shown in the right column under Contribution Rate to determine your preliminary rate (shown below). To view instructions in video format, click here.
Q. How do I view GASB documents and SOC-1 Type 2 Report in new Employer Access?
A. These important financial documents will be available in the Documents Viewer in new Employer Access.
To view these documents, click on the file folder icon in the toolbar on the left side of the Employer Access homepage and then click Document Viewer (shown above). Choose the Document Category button, type in GASB, and click the Search bar (shown below).
Please note: Census data for active and inactive IMRF members will be located in GASB 68- Census Data - Active. Census data for retirees will be located in GASB 68- Census Data - Inactive.
Making Payments and Applying Credits
Q. How do I apply a credit?
A. For instructions on how to apply a credit in new Employer Access, please go to the Pay Online Procedures page of the IMRF website, click on the PPT file next to the Making Payments to IMRF training topic, and go to page 7.
Q. Is it possible to get an IMRF payment reversed in new Employer Access?
A. No, Employer Access does not allow for reversal of funds for payments made or credits used to pay an invoice. If you make a payment error, you will need to contact your employer’s bank.
Wage Reports
Q. Why am I receiving this error: “Member is not enrolled under Plan Listed. Review and correct”?
A. When completing your Wage Report data collection, if you receive this error and you have confirmed this member is enrolled, you will need to change this member’s Period Start Date in the data collection to match their enrollment date.
Q. Why is the data collection I submitted showing a status of “Verification Requested” and not completing?
A. This means the data collection was sent for IMRF review due to a warning being approved by the employer that needs secondary review from an IMRF staff member. If IMRF staff approves the data collection, this will show in your “Completed” data collections view. If staff rejects it, the data collection will show a Status of “Verification Rejected – Action definition.” The employer will need to reopen this data collection and make the necessary changes that were requested in the “Verification Result” section and resubmit the data collection.
Q. How do I reconcile the amount charged on my wage report invoice?
A. For instructions on how to reconcile the amount charged on your wage report invoice, please view this pdf.
Data Collections
Q. Which processes are now done through Data Collection in the new Employer Access System?
A. The processes now done through Data Collections are:
- wage reports
- wage adjustments
- enrollments
- terminations
- employer disability certification
- disability return-to-work
- member information changes
In the future, the pensioner return-to-work process will also be done through Data Collection.
Q. What is the new process for certifying disability benefits?
A: If one of your employees is filing for disability, please submit an Employer Disability Data Collection through Employer Access, in the My Data Collections widget. If you do not submit the Employer Disability Data Collection, it will delay the processing of the member’s Disability benefits. For Instructions on Completing the Employer Disability Data Collection visit the Manage Member Events page in the Employer Access Learning Center and look for the Employer Disability Certification training topic. There you will find a video and step-by-step procedure on how to complete the data collection. For more information about the disability process, visit the Employer Checklists page in the Employer Access Learning Center and look for the Disability Checklist training topic.
Q. How do I delete a data collection that was started but is no longer needed?
A. To delete a data collection that is no longer needed, follow the instructions in this Deleting Data Collections procedure.
Health Insurance and Union Deductions
Q. How do I terminate a health insurance deduction?
A. For instructions on how to terminate a health insurance deduction, go to the Manage Member Events page of the Employer Access Learning Center, and click on one of the resources next to the Insurance and Union Deductions training topic (shown below).
Q. How do I set up a retroactive health insurance deduction?
A. For instructions on how to set up a retroactive health insurance deduction, go to the Manage Member Events page of the Employer Access Learning Center, and click on the PDF file next to the Insurance and Union Deductions training topic (shown above) and scroll down to page 4 of the PDF.
Q. Can a change to a health insurance deduction be made at any time?
A. If you are changing the amount of a deduction or terminating a deduction, it cannot be done more than one month in advance of the desired effective date. Also, please be sure to look at the monthly cut-off dates in the 2024 Mark Your Calendar to make sure you get your changes entered in time to be processed for the month you are wanting the change to begin. For more details, go to the Manage Member Events page of the Employer Access Learning Center, and click on one of the resources next to the Insurance and Union Deductions training topic (shown above).
Forms - Locating and Completing
Q. How can I get an Appointment of Authorized Agent form?
A. The Appointment of Authorized Agent form can be requested by secure message through Employer Access. If you are a new Authorized Agent seeking this form and you do not yet have login credentials for Employer Access, please call the Employer Contact Center at 1-800-728-7971 to request the form.
Q. Where can I find the Voluntary Additional Election form and the Omitted Service Application?
A. These are considered member forms. Members can print pre-populated Voluntary Additional Election forms and Omitted Service Applications from their Member Access accounts (see the "How to Produce a Pre-populated Form" instructions in the Member Access Learning Center). When they do this, the form will have a barcode at the top that will direct the form to the member’s account once it is returned for processing. If the member does not have a Member Access account, they can self-register for one by clicking on the Member Login box in the upper right corner of the IMRF website and then clicking Self-registration at the bottom of the gray box. The form can also be requested by calling the Member Contact Center at 1-800-275-4673 and using the form request feature. Once the member has completed their section of the form, they should bring it to their employer. The employer should then complete the employer section of the form and submit the form to IMRF.
Q. Can Voluntary Additional Contribution (VAC) changes become effective at any time of month? Which date on the form will be used as the effective date?
A. Yes, VAC enrollments and deduction changes can begin on a specific date you choose. If you want the enrollment or VAC deduction change to begin on a day other than the first of the month, a specific effective date including month, day, and year should be listed in the Certification by Authorized Agent box (shown below) on the Election to Make Voluntary Additional Contributions Form. If you provide only the month and the year in this box, the effective date will default to the first of the month that you indicated. We recommend including the full date (month, day, and year) for wage reporting purposes. Please note that any checks or payments dated after the effective date must include the updated VAC deduction.
Q. How can I get a Health Insurance Continuation Through Employer form?
A. The Health Insurance Continuation Through Employer is also considered a member form. The member can contact Member Services to request this form, by sending a secure message in Member Access. If the member does not have a Member Access account, the form can be requested by calling the Member Contact Center at 1-800-275-4673. The form will be sent to the member, and the member will get it signed by their employer. After it is signed by the employer, the form can be submitted by the member as an attachment to a secure message in Member Access.
Q. Can reciprocal members who are not vested with IMRF apply for their pensions in IMRF Member Access?
A. No, reciprocal members who are not vested with IMRF cannot apply for their pensions in IMRF Member Access. They will need to submit paper applications. The paper application can be found by logging into Member Access and clicking on the Documents box on your Member Access homepage.
Finding and Editing Information in Employer Access
Q. How do I find a specific IMRF member in Employer Access?
A. Click on the person icon in the tool bar on the left side of the Employer Access home screen. In the menu that pops out, select Members. Enter the SSN, Member ID, or last name in the search line and click the search button.
Q. How can I add an email address and make other information changes for a member?
A. To add an employee’s email address to their record, click the New Data Collection button at the bottom of the My Data Collections box on the Employer Access dashboard. (shown below)
Click the Create Data Collection button. Choose Member Information Changes from the Data Type drop down menu. Enter your IMRF Employer Number where it says Partner Code. Click the Save and Continue button in the right column.
This will bring you to the Add Member Data screen. Click the Add Record button.
You will need to enter the member's social security number, first name, and last name. Next to Email, add the member's personal email address and click Save. Once the email address is added to the member's record, the member will then be able to self-register in new Member Access, if they haven’t already.
For additional information on how to make member information changes, please watch this video and/or this webinar.
Q. Where can an employer find current and past Member Statements?
A. The employer copies of the Member Statements are no longer available in Employer Access. However, this same information can be found in Employer Access by clicking on the Members (person) icon, searching for the member, and then clicking on View Member Profile. Once there, click the Employment tab at the top to see the same information that was found in the employer copy of the Member Statement previously, for all employment years, in one spot.
Q. What is the new process for reporting retiree hours?
A. Return-to-work hours are no longer reported by the retiree to the Member Contact Center. At this time, we are asking employers not to use the Pension Return-to-Work Data Collection. Starting in late summer, employers will report hours monthly in Employer Access for IMRF retirees who have returned to work. We will inform you when this functionality is available. Until then, please track the hours, to be sure the hourly standard is not exceeded.
Q. When enrolling an employee in IMRF, I am receiving member error “The address could not be verified as entered. Correct and resubmit.” What steps can I take to get the error removed and the employee enrolled?
A. We recommend following these steps to complete the enrollment:
- Confirm with the employee regarding the address that is being entered.
- If confirmed and the system is not accepting the address, please use the employer’s business address and submit the data collection.
- After the data collection is submitted, send a secure message to IMRF’s Employer Services Department, and provide the name and MID of the member and the correct address. Our team will then make the correction.
- IMPORTANT: We also recommend that you enter the member’s email address in the email address field when completing the enrollment. This will allow the member to set up their member access account quickly and the member will be able to make the address change in their account.
NOTE: IMRF uses Melissa Data for address verifications. You can click HERE to search and view the suggested address from Melissa Data.
Adding a Team Member in Employer Access
Q. What do you mean by “team member”?
A. For new Employer Access, the phrase “team member” refers to a person in your organization who is responsible for completing IMRF tasks on behalf of your employer. These people were previously referred to as Web Assistants or Security Administrators.
Q: Why is the Save button not working when I am trying to add a team member to our new Employer Access account?
A: The Save button will appear to be grayed out and not working if you have skipped the step about granting Partner Access in the center of your screen. To resolve this, click the Add Partner button, then enter your IMRF Employer number in the pop-up window and hit the Search button. When your organization pops up in the list, click on it and then hit the Add Selected button. A white box will appear below the Partner Access bar in the center of the screen. Click the arrow for the drop-down menu in the middle of the white box, and choose the role (access) you want this team member to have in your new Employer Access account. See next question for what the roles mean.
Watch this video to walk through the full process to Add a team member:
Employer Access: Add Team Member on Vimeo
Q. What does the list of roles mean in the drop-down menu when I try to Add a team member?
A. When IMRF sets up a new Authorized Agent, they will be given the role of Employer Admin, Primary Contact. ONLY the Authorized Agent who was set up by IMRF should be given the designation of Primary Contact (by checking the Primary contact box). This ensures that the AA receives all IMRF notifications.
Here are explanations of what all the roles in new Employer Access mean. The drop-down menu with these roles listed will be visible only to the Employer Admin:
- Employer Admin – this role will have access to all portal functions and is able to create new users.
- Employer All Access – this role will have access to all portal functions, however they cannot create new users.
- Employer Financial – this role has access to all financial functions, i.e. monthly Wage Report, Wage Adjustments, Accounts Payables and Receivables, all payment functions and history.
- Employer HR – this role has access to all member processes including enrollments, terminations, change of member information, death, and disability.
- Employer View Only – this role is able to view and read basic information only.
Employer Access Learning Center
In the Employer Access Learning Center, you will find key documents which will help you navigate our new Employer Access. Click here to explore the Employer Access Learning Center.