FAQs

It is important to verify your earnings statement monthly to make sure your deductions are correct. If you see anything you believe is incorrect, please request assistance via the Payroll & Tax Services Customer Portal.

You can make changes to your insurance benefits during the summer enrollment period each year or if you have a qualifying life event. Changes are made via the ERS Online Portal.

For more 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.

Please note that deductions on your paycheck are for the pay period you are receiving pay for. For example, monthly employees are paid for March on April 1st, and semi-monthly employees are paid for March 1st-15th on March 25th.  The deductions on your April 1st or March 25th paycheck would be for March if monthly or the first half of March if paid semi-monthly.

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. You will receive an email in March to notify you of these pre-deductions.

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.

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. ERS will never prorate insurance premiums.

If we are unable to deduct all insurance premiums owed from your final paycheck, premiums may be deducted from your lump sum vacation payout.

If you are on leave but still receiving pay for any part of 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.

If you are on leave and not receiving pay for any part of the calendar month, you will be placed on a leave status with ERS for the month(s) in which no pay is issued and they will send you a bill for insurance premiums owed.

Texas Tech Payroll & Tax Services remits all HSA deductions that were collected during a month on the last business day of that month. ERS’ projected deposit date to send these funds to Optum bank is the 15th of the following month. The actual deposit date may vary up to 7-10 business days.

Please note that deposits cannot be made if an account is not open. You will be contacted by your Human Resources office if your account was unable to be funded.

All public higher education employees employed in a position that is eligible for the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS) are required to participate in TRS and are automatically enrolled in TRS on their first day of employment. ORP is only available to select titles and positions on campus. Employees who are eligible will be contacted by HR via email.

TRS requires that we report your salary paid on a fiscal year basis. Therefore, we report to TRS your salary paid from September 1st – August 31st which would not necessarily match your salary paid by calendar year.

As a TRS member, if you permanently terminate all employment with your TRS-covered employer(s) and have neither applied for nor received a promise of employment with a TRS-covered employer, you may terminate membership in TRS and withdraw all of the accumulated contributions (plus interest) in your member account. 

Members can submit a refund request electronically by logging in to the MyTRS member portal. 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.

Most retirement benefits are processed within 45 days after TRS receives all required information including properly completed application(s) and required forms ​as well as your retirement date and final salary information from your employer(s). Please note that termination and salary information will be provided by your employer after your final paycheck is processed.

For 9-month employees: If you terminate employment in May and receive your final pay in August, you will likely receive your first retirement benefit payment in October.

Access your personal account information 24/7 by creating and signing into your MyTRS account, or call TRS for assistance at 1-800-223-8778.  TTY 1-800-841-4497.

Employees cannot change the amount deducted from their paychecks for TRS. The TRS contribution rates are a percentage of your salary that is established by state legislature and are subject to change by fiscal year. To see current and past TRS contribution rates please visit https://www.trs.texas.gov/Pages/re_contribution_rates.aspx.

Employees cannot change the amount deducted from their paychecks for ORP. Participant and employer contribution rates are established by the ORP statute, the General Appropriations Act for each biennium, and the TTUS Board of Regents and are subject to revision. Employees who were participating in the ORP on or before August 31, 1996, will receive the FY 95 supplemented employer contribution rate of 8.5%, subject to legislative change.

403(b) plans are available to employees on an optional basis. You can enroll in an account as well as make any elections or updates using the Retirement Manager website.

Payroll & Tax Services remits all 403(b) contributions to Retirement Manager after every on-cycle payroll is finalized. If your 403(b) deductions were taken on an on-cycle payroll, you should see your account funded within a few business days after your paycheck date. If your 403(b) contributions were deducted on an off-cycle payroll, such as a lump sum vacation payout, they will be funded with the next on-cycle semi-monthly check.

The Texa$aver Deferred Compensation Program (IRC 457) is available to employees on an optional basis. To set up a Texa$aver 457 plan, call Texa$aver directly at 1-800-634-5091. Elections and updates to contributions can be completed online on the TexaSaver Empower Website.

Payroll & Tax Services remits all 457 contributions to Empower Retirement on the 1st business day of every month. If you are paid monthly, your contributions will be remitted to Empower Retirement on the same date you are paid. If you are paid semi-monthly, your contributions for the month will be paid to Empower on the 1st business day of the following month. For example, the payment made to Empower Retirement on February 1st includes contributions from semi-monthly paychecks dated January 10th and 25th as well as monthly paychecks dated February 1st. If you have 457 contributions on an off-cycle check, they will be remitted to Empower on the payment made the 1st business day after your check date. Accounts will then be funded by Empower within a few business days.

Payroll and Tax Services facilitates withholding for child support, spousal support, bankruptcy, tax levies, and guaranteed student loans. The withholding for these deductions is dependent on 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.