Paper W-2 Opt Out Election

For several years, the UT Payroll Office has offered an online version of the W-2 as a convenience to employees. In the second phase of the Electronic W-2 Initiative, active UT employees have the opportunity to discontinue receipt of the paper W-2 forms and receive the electronic version only.  Some key benefits of electing to use the online W-2 are:

• Enhanced security is realized since the online form is accessed using the NetID and password, and the presentation is done via a secure protocol in the My IRIS Web portal (https://irisweb.tennessee.edu/). Sensitive personal information would no longer route through regular mail.
• Electronic W-2 Forms are available in advance of the forms received via regular mail.
• The reduction of paper use supports the UT Sustainability initiative.
• The reduction of paper use and the reduction of postage costs result in cost savings for the University.
• Electronic W-2 Forms are available online 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.

The IRS requires that an employee must specifically acknowledge an agreement to receive an electronic version only, so no action is necessary for staff members who elect to continue receipt of paper W-2 forms.

Employees who decide to partner with us in the new efficiency opportunity may initiate this process by logging in through the My IRIS Web portal at https://irisweb.tennessee.edu. After authenticating, take the following steps to access the W-2 paper opt out election:

1. Click on the Employee Self Service tab
2.    Click       
3. Click   
4. Click .  A new section will open up at the bottom of the screen titled “Election Details”.
5. Click .
6. Click  on the confirmation pop-up:

The two hundredth employee who signs up to opt out of the paper form will receive an iPad mini.  This election period is available now and will remain available into January; an additional announcement will be made before the election period closes. Once the election to discontinue paper is in place, the election will apply to all W-2 forms for the current and future years until/unless the employee elects to revert back to the paper form using this same process. An election phase will be available each year before W-2s are distributed.

Inactive and terminated employees will continue to receive paper forms mailed to their home or US Postal Service addresses as recorded in the IRIS Payroll system. Active employees can confirm their mailing addresses or make changes through the My IRIS Web portal at https://irisweb.tennessee.edu.

The dates for the distribution of both electronic and paper W-2 forms will be announced at a later date. The process for the W-2 distribution is listed below.

Electronic W-2 Electronic W-2 Forms will be available using the My IRIS Web portal at https://irisweb.tennessee.edu. Email notifications including a link to the online form will be distributed to all active employees who opt out of the paper copy of the W-2. If an employee has elected to receive their W-2s electronically and does not have an email address, they can log into the portal and find the W-2 on the Employee Self Service tab.

Paper W-2 Paper W-2 forms will be distributed to those persons who do not opt out of the paper W-2.  Distribution will occur by the same means used in previous years.

Additional communications will be distributed in early January, 2017.

We appreciate your continued partnership. If you have any questions or need additional information contact the University Payroll Office at (865) 974-5251.