Startup Procedures

  1. Request an STRS Ohio employer number, send pay dates and review payment options

    Complete a Request for STRS Ohio Employer Number form and provide your pay dates by completing a Pay Date Calendar. Email both forms to [email protected]. Upon receipt, STRS Ohio will issue an employer number, activate your online accounts and send a confirmation letter. Review the confirmation letter and begin using the assigned employer number on all future correspondence.

    After your ESS account is activated, review payment options. Member contributions must be paid electronically through direct debit in ESS (preferred method), ACH credit or wire transfer. For direct debit, set up your account in ESS and submit an authorization agreement via secure file upload. Please note it takes three business days for the account to be approved. Your treasurer will receive an email once the account is authorized for use. For more information, refer to Payment Options, Section 15 of ESS Instructions and the Direct Debit Setup and Direct Debit Payment tutorials.

  2. Notify STRS Ohio of pickup plan adoption

    Pickup refers to employee contributions that are pretax or tax-deferred. Employers may choose to pick up member retirement contributions as a means of deferring federal and state income taxes on these amounts. If you adopt a pickup plan, send us a completed Notification for Employer Pickup of Employee Contributions form, along with the corresponding board resolution. Once received, STRS Ohio will send you a confirmation letter. Please review it for accuracy.

  3. Notify STRS Ohio of new hires

    Notify STRS Ohio of all new hires who qualify for STRS Ohio membership within 10 business days of their first day worked. Notifications can be submitted through ESS or secure file upload.

    If you hire a retired Ohio public employee to teach in your school, submit a reemployed retiree notification using one of the methods above. This must be submitted for all new employees who are retired from any of the Ohio public retirement systems (STRS Ohio, OPERS, SERS, Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund, Highway Patrol Retirement Systems or City of Cincinnati).

    For more information about new hire and reemployed retiree notifications, see the New Hire Reporting section of this website.

    Note: You must also send us a properly completed Form SSA-1945 signed by the employee. This form can be scanned and sent via secure file upload. Multiple forms can be sent in one file.

  4. Remit payroll reports and contribution payments

    The current member contribution rate is 14% for compensation earned during the fiscal year. Begin deducting STRS Ohio contributions from members’ payroll checks, and remit payroll reports and member contributions for each pay date. Member contributions deducted from their pay are after-tax if a pickup plan has not been adopted; deductions are pretax if a pickup plan has been adopted. Payroll reports and contribution payments are due to STRS Ohio within five business days of each payroll date. Submit reports electronically using ESS or secure file upload. Please reference the Payroll Report Record Layout when formatting your files for secure file upload. For step-by-step directions on submitting a payroll report in ESS, see the Payroll Report section of the ESS Instructions. See Step 1 for payment options.

For a printable PDF of this information, see the Community School Quick Reference Guide.