Employer Participation

WRS requires a signed Employer Agreement from each participating employer.

If your organization participates in the WRS pension plans, you must cover all full-time and regular part-time employees as of their employment date. You must cover all employees regardless of any probationary period you may have for other benefits. Cities, towns and counties, however, may choose to cover only their full-time employees or specific departments pursuant to W.S. § 9-3-405(a)(ii)(A).

If your organization chooses to have the employee portion of contributions submitted on a pre-tax (untaxed) basis, then you must provide WRS with a resolution from your governing body stating your intention. The resolution must state that the employer is submitting the employee contribution and that the employee does not have the option to receive the contributed amount as pay.

If WRS does not have a valid resolution from your organization, the employee contributions must be reported as taxed. This requirement does not apply to State agencies. For further information please contact us.

Every employer is assigned a number by WRS and this is known as the “employer number” or “agency number”. If you are a State agency, your number for WRS is not the same as your number for the State Auditor’s Office. If you need to know what your number is, please contact WRS.

Non-state employers wishing to participate in the 457 Plan must sign a resolution letter adopting WRS’ plan document for the 457 Plan. Please contact the WRS 457 Plan to obtain a resolution letter.

Participating employers are responsible for sending employee and/or employer contributions to the Plan’s custodian. The Plan can accept employee contributions only through payroll deduction. WRS works with participating employers in providing technical assistance with this process. Employers should submit contributions each payroll period. Please do not send 457 Plan contributions to WRS.

The U.S. Department of Labor sets a standard that compensation withheld from an employee’s paycheck for the employee’s 457 Plan account must be remitted to the plan record keeper the same day it is withheld, if possible. Otherwise, it must be remitted as soon as reasonably practicable. The longest timeframe allowed to remit contributions is fifteen (15) business days after the end of the month in which the compensation would otherwise have been paid to the employee. Failure to remit compensation on a timely basis could create a liability for the employer.

All new enrollments and authorizations of deferral elections must go through WRS to ensure IRS requirements for effective dates are met. The IRS requires all deferral elections to be made prior to the beginning of the month in which the deferral is to become effective.

There are annual limits on 457 contributions that are established by federal law. If a participating local government employer offers more than one 457 plan, the employer must coordinate the maximum annual contribution among all of the 457 plans. Employees should consult a Retirement Educator if they are concerned about going over those limits.

To learn more about your organization participating in the 457 Plan, a WRS Retirement Educator will visit your location upon request.