Payments Not Considered SDRS Compensation

Some payments are not considered compensation for SDRS purposes and are not reported to SDRS, including:

• Unused sick and annual leave pay (lump-sum payouts of accumulated leave upon termination, lump-sum payout of accumulated leave to active employees such as personal leave payout at the end of the school year)
• Payment, reimbursement, or allowance for expenses (travel, meals, lodging, moving, uniform, and other business expense payments are not considered SDRS compensation)
• Allowances or payments for housing or vehicles
• Worker's Compensation payments
• Payment for/in lieu of insurance coverage (payments for and/or in lieu of insurance coverage or other employee benefits by an employer on behalf of an employee or an employee and dependents are not considered SDRS compensation)
• Temporary payments not due to additional duties
• Payments based on/attributable to retirement (payments made, whether lump-sum or over a period of time, based on or attributable to an employee's retirement or agreement to retire in the future, are not considered SDRS compensation)
• Payments that result in an incentive to retire
• Payments upon dismissal/severance/termination

If you ever question whether payments should or should not be reported to SDRS, please contact the SDRS office toll-free at 1-888-605-SDRS (7377).