Contribution Reporting

From the first day that an employee or elected official qualifies for membership under PERA’s Defined Benefit Plan (DBP) or the Defined Contribution Plan (DCP) through the last date of employment, you must withhold a PERA deduction from the individual’s compensation.

Accurate and timely contribution reporting is the foundation for determining members’ future benefits. For DBP members, the salary earned each month is used to grant service credits and to determine high-five years of salary – two of the factors used to calculate monthly benefits. For DCP members, the employee and employer contributions are combined and used to purchase shares in the account(s) selected by the individual.

At the end of each payroll cycle, you will remit payment of all employee and employer contributions along with a Salary Deduction Report that provides earnings and payroll data. Generally, the payment and data are sent using our online services. To avoid a late charge, the payment and SDR need to be received by PERA within 14 calendar days after the date the employees are paid. You can find instructions on how to calculate and remit contributions in Chapter 7 of the Employer Manual. To view the current contribution rates for the DBP and DCP, click here.

It is important for you to know that not all forms of compensation paid to your employees qualify as salary for PERA purposes. Chapter 5 of the Employer Manual will help you to understand the forms of compensation that are considered to be “PERA-eligible earnings.”