Changes in work responsibilities and hours often affect whether positions qualify for IMRF. Every year, Authorized Agents must review and determine whether positions continue to meet or exceed the employer's hourly standard for IMRF participation.
This process below is specifically for employees who are NOT receiving an IMRF pension. If you have an employee working for you AND receiving an IMRF pension, learn more here about the rules that need to be followed.
Expected versus actual hours
If a person is employed in a qualifying position, the Authorized Agent must enroll that person in IMRF. To qualify for IMRF participation, a position must require at least 600 or 1,000 hours (depending on the employer's hourly standard) over the next 12 months. To determine this, measure the expected hours the position requires against the employer's hourly standard; the actual hours worked may be more or less. While conducting this measurement:
- Pay attention to part-time, temporary, and seasonal employees since their hours can change quickly.
- Be mindful of those who have more than one IMRF position with the same employer. When determining IMRF participation, these employees’ hours are combined; these combined hours may qualify the employee for IMRF participation, although the individual positions may not qualify.
Steps to reclassify
If the requirements of a position change and the position requires reclassification:
- Determine if the position will continue to require the newly increased or decreased number of hours.
- Log in to Employer Access to complete and submit either an enrollment or termination notice to IMRF if the change is permanent.
More information
To help in evaluating positions, download and complete the “Should this employee be enrolled in IMRF?” checklist.
Keep the checklist in the employee's file for reference. Also, review Section 3.65A of IMRF's AA Manual for additional information.
If you have additional questions, call the Employer Contact Center at 1-800-728-7971.