The Benefits and Deductions section within Payroll & Tax Services handles the reporting and payment of deductions which are being taken from Employees' compensation. Detailed deductions records can be found on the Employee Dashboard under Deductions History.
Important Reminder: Please check your earnings statement monthly to make sure that your insurance deduction information is correct. This is especially important at the beginning of a new plan year, after you have made a change to your coverage, or if you are a new hire and your premiums are being deducted for the first time. For information on enrollment, plan options, or changing insurance coverage, visit your Human Resources website:
Insurance premium deduction information feeds electronically from Employees Retirement System (ERS) into the payroll system. Changes to your payroll deductions will be effective on the payroll processed after information is received from ERS. On occasion, it may be necessary for a bill to be issued or additional deductions to be taken from a paycheck for missed premiums depending on when premium information is received and when coverage is effective.
If your insurance has been cancelled or reduced for non-payment of premiums and you want to find out if your coverage(s) can be reinstated, please contact Human Resources.
If you have not received your Health insurance card(s) and your coverage is already in effect, contact your insurance provider: www.ers.state.tx.us.
All leave must be reported by the department (Leave Form) timely to avoid late paperwork charges.
If the employee is on leave but still receiving pay for any day during the month, Texas Tech will be responsible for the collection of the employee portion of the premium(s) either by deductions from pay received or issuing a bill to the employee. The department will be charged the regular employer portion of the premiums for the month.
If the employee is on leave but not receiving pay for any day during the calendar month, the employee will be placed on a leave status with ERS for the month(s) in which no pay is issued.
The employees will be responsible for the employee portion of the premiums. The department will be responsible for the employer portion of the premiums. ERS will send a bill to the employee who is responsible for making payment directly to ERS.
The employee will be responsible for both the employee and employer portions of the premiums. ERS will send a bill to the employee who is responsible for making payment directly to ERS.
It is crucial that the department submit a form indicating the employee has returned from leave as soon as they are notified of the return. This will allow both our system and ERS to be updated to show the employee has returned to active status. Once the employee has been returned to active status, deductions will resume being taken from the employee's paychecks.
Failure by the department to report the leave status of the employee timely or mistakes in reporting leave dates could result in the department being responsible for both the employee and employer portions of the premiums
Faculty, TA's and GPTI's who receive pay over nine months: If you are enrolled in insurance and have out of pocket premiums deducted from your paycheck, these out of pocket premiums for the summer months will be pre-deducted from your March, April and May earnings.
All other employees paid over nine months: If you are enrolled in insurance and have out of pocket premiums deducted from your paycheck, you will be billed for these premiums for the summer months if you are placed on leave without pay with benefits for the summer months.
Departmental charges for the employer portion of the insurance premiums for all employees will be processed during the summer months.
For enrollment information, visit your Human Resources website:
Employees who terminate employment with Texas Tech University will have insurance coverage through the end of the month in which they terminate employment. As a result, insurance premiums will need to be collected for the entire month. If we are unable to deduct all insurance premiums owed from your final paycheck, premiums will either be deducted from your lump sum vacation payout, or a bill will be sent to your permanent address.
Information on retirement programs available to employees is available on the Human Resources Website:
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.
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...)
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:
This information was communicated to members by TRS in the April 2018 TRS newsletter.
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 Eligible MUST 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.
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.
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:
For questions please send an email to webmaster.payroll@ttu.edu.
If you hire a TRS retiree who retired after September 1, 2005 and they work more than one-half time (50% fte) in a calendar month, the department is required to pay a surcharge of 16% of the total salary paid in that month. If the retiree is enrolled in TRS Care health coverage, you may also be responsible for the employer portion of the premium.
For questions please send an email to webmaster.payroll@ttu.edu.
The Optional Retirement Program (ORP) is an individualized retirement plan in which each participant selects from a variety of investment products offered by insurance and investment companies that are authorized by the employing institution. Tax-deferred contributions made by both the state and the employee each month are sent by the institution to the selected ORP company to purchase annuities or mutual fund investments authorized under Section 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code.
To enroll in or update your ORP elections, log into Retirement Manager or contact your Human Resources office.
Texas Tech does not have information on your account such as investments, balance, growth, losses, etc. You will receive statements from your ORP companies that provide this information. Companies send out statements at different times, monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually. You will need to contact your company to find out how often their statements are generated.
For information on vesting, transferring of funds, or withdrawals, please contact your respective Human Resources Department:
Elections and updates to contributions are made using Retirement Manager.
Texas Tech does not have information on your account such as investments, balance, growth, losses, etc. You will receive statements from your TDA companies that provide this information. Companies send out statements at different times, monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually. You will need to contact your company to find out how often their statements are generated.
Elections and updates to contributions can be completed using Retirement Manager.
For more information, please contact your Human Resources office.
Deduction information feeds electronically from ERS into the payroll system. Changes to your payroll deductions will be effective for the pay period beginning on the first of the month following the month in which the changes are processed by ERS.
Elections and updates to contributions can be completed online on the TexaSaver Empower Website.
Payroll Services facilitates withholding for the following garnishment types:
The withholding for these deductions is dependent on the court orders and notices from the respective outside agencies. Any changes to the amounts being withheld from your earnings will have to be initiated by the agency which submitted the original orders.
To start, change or stop the deductions listed below, you will need to contact the organizations directly. Once a change has been made, they will forward the information to Human Resources for processing. Generally the change will be effective for pay periods from the first of the month following receipt of the form by Human Resources.
To start, change or stop a payroll parking deduction, contact Parking Services.
Parking ServicesRegional campuses, please contact your parking office.
Your parking deductions can be pre-taxed, which means your federal and FICA taxes will be calculated on earnings after your parking deduction has been taken. If you wish to sign up for this benefit, speak to the Parking office when setting up your payroll deductions.