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A.23 How to Report Retroactive Wages on a DTL2 (formerly 7.15.00)

A.23 How to Report Retroactive Wages on a DTL2 (formerly 7.15.00)

Marked obsolete 12/01/2021

Retroactive wage records allow you to correct existing wage records for a contract settlement for an entire group of employees. The wage codes for reporting retroactive wages are:

  • Wage code 04 - Retroactive Wages
  • Wage code 45 - Retroactive Wages Positive Adjustment
  • Wage code 46 - Retroactive Wages Negative Adjustment

Please note, PA 54 of 2011 prohibits the payments of retroactive wages for labor contracts that have expired. Consequently, ORS no longer expects retroactive pay adjustments for settled contracts after June 8, 2011.

Screenshot of Detail 2 record screen for Retroactive Wages

This DTL2 record allows you to adjust and entire fiscal year at a time. Several things are important to know when reporting a retroactive payment:

  1. Include the employee's current rate of pay (hourly, contractual, or annual; not daily or weekly).
  2. Include the same employment class code under which the original wags were reported.
  3. The end date of the record must fall in a previous pay period.
  4. Retroactive records cannot cross fiscal years or a change in employment class code. If you need to report retroactive wages for a time period that crosses fiscal years or class codes, you will need to break it up into multiple records, one for each fiscal year or class code.
  5. The begin and end dates of a retroactive Detail 2 wage record (wage code 04 or 45) can match the contract negotiation dates (i.e. 7/1 to 6/30), as long as wages with the same class code were reported any time during that period.

When you submit your original retroactive records, we evaluate them for these key elements:

  • Are there hours in the record? (There shouldn't be.)
  • Do the dates of the record overlap the dates of the current report? (They shouldn't.)
  • Do the dates on the record span two fiscal years? (They shouldn't.)
  • Does the employee have wages reported under this class code during the retroactive period? (He/she should.)
  • If any of these conditions are not met, the record will suspend, and you will receive a suspend error message.

If you do receive suspend errors on retroactive wage records, you can resolve many of them easily. Below is a chart showing some of the most common edit messages you will see for retroactive wage records. These edits are labeled as ORG Fix, and you can correct them. However, you could get more than one message for the same record and another message might be On Hold. For more information on edit labels see section 7.07: Editing a Retirement Detail Report After ORS Validation earlier in this chapter.
 

Common Edit Messages for Retroactive Wage Records
 
Message Solution

No wage record found for this class code during the retro period. The class code and the record begin date combination is not correct. Create separate retro records for each fiscal year.

 

The employee was not reported with this class code during the retro period. Edit the record by entering the correct class code using the drop down menu.

You may also get this message if the record crosses fiscal years. If this is the case, create separate retroactive wage records for each affected fiscal year.
No wage record found for this class code during the retro period. The class code and the record begin date combination is not correct. The employee was not reported with this class code during the retro period. Edit the record by entering the correct class code using the drop-down menu.
 
The wage code is 04 and the retirement hours are greater than zero. You have included hours on the retroactive wage record. Delete the hours from the Detail 2 record.
Record End date cannot be greater than the Pay Period End Date.
or
Retroactive wages can only be reported for prior pay periods.		 Records with either of these edit messages have an end date that falls in or after the current report period. Retroactive wages can only be reported for prior pay periods. To resolve these errors and preserve your totals, take the following actions:
  1. Change the end date on the retroactive record to the end date of the previous report period.
  2. Add the retroactive wages for the current pay period into regular wages.
You may also choose to delete the record from this report and enter it on your next report, but this will not preserve your totals. If you have not yet accepted your report (no wages posted), you can delete the file, correct your dates and resubmit.

The member is reported more than once; each of record's class code and wage codes are not unique; begin, end dates overlap.

You have two (or more) retroactive wage records for the same person, for the same report period, using the same class code. If they are both really for the same class code, combine them into one.

If you are trying to submit two separate records for this person for two different class codes, make sure you have the class codes entered correctly.

When making an adjustment or a retroactive payment, you will also need to calculate the correct member contribution amounts to be withheld from the employee's pay. If the wages are being paid in the same fiscal year (July 1-June 30) in which they were earned, use the same member contribution rate that you used for the last set of posted wages for that school fiscal year.

For example, you have an employee who has posted earnings of over $15,000 at the time you make the adjustment or issue retroactive pay. Even if you are adjusting pay periods earlier in the year when the MIP graded percentage was lower, because this employee is already at 4.3 percent, that is the MIP rate you use.

If the wages are being paid for a previous fiscal year, use the same member contribution rate that you used for the last set of posted wages for that fiscal year. If you are reporting current wages along with the retroactive pay or adjustment, these may require separate calculations.

The employer contribution rate for any adjustment or retroactive payment is the rate in effect for the record's pay period end date. So, retroactive wages paid in the fall for the previous school fiscal year (July 1 - June 30) are calculated using the previous fiscal year's contribution rate.

Last updated: 04/13/2012