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Employers Manual
Absences & Leaves
Current Absence or Leave
If desired by the member, contributions on the amount that would have
been earned had the member not been absent may be withheld, in addition
to contributions on current earnings, during the year in which the absence
occurred. In this case, the contributions should be included by the
employer on a payroll report and, likewise, included on the Annual
Report of Member Contributions.
Alternatively, the member may pay member contributions on the amount of compensation he or she would have earned if the absence or leave had not occurred. Contributions must be paid by June 30 of the second year following the year in which the absence ended.
Employers should forward the contributions to STRS Ohio along with a letter certifying:
- An approved leave of absence or absence due to illness or injury;
- The amount of earnings the member would have earned had he or she worked the entire fiscal year;
- Any additional earned service credit; and
- How the contributions remitted were calculated.
Contributions for an absence or leave occurring in a previous year should be sent separately from payroll deposits.
The contributions required to obtain a full year of credit for a leave can be calculated based on compensation the member would have earned had the leave not occurred. The following are examples of the calculations and costs for Defined Benefit Plan members. Members enrolled in the Combined Plan also pay employer contributions in addition to calculated member contributions.
Example 1: A teacher on an unpaid leave of absence during 2007–2008 who did not work and would have earned $30,000 for that year could purchase full STRS Ohio service credit by remitting $3,000 to STRS Ohio through the employer by June 30, 2010.
| Earnings had teacher worked | $30,000 |
| 2007-2008 contribution rate | 10% |
| Contributions required for full year of service credit | $3,000 |
Example 2: A teacher who worked 80 days and earned $12,900 during 2006–2007 and then was on an unpaid leave of absence would have earned .44 of a year of service credit. A full year of STRS Ohio credit can be obtained by remitting contributions on a full year’s compensation through the employer by June 30, 2009.
| Earnings had teacher worked | $30,000 |
| Less earnings | $12,900 |
| Earnings to be contributed on | $17,100 |
| 2006-2007 contribution rate | 10% |
| Contributions required for full year of service credit | $1,710 |
Example 3: A teacher is on an unpaid leave of absence with employer A during 2006–2007. During the leave of absence the teacher works at employer B and earns .10 of a year of service credit. The following calculation would be used to determine the cost to obtain a full year of STRS Ohio service credit.
| Contract had teacher worked at employer A | $30,000 |
| % service credit to be purchased | 90% |
| Earnings to be contributed on | $27,000 |
| 2006-2007 contribution rate | 10% |
| Contributions required for full year of service credit | $2,700 |
