PERMANENT RULES
RETIREMENT SYSTEMS
Date of Adoption: May 11, 2000.
Purpose: To amend the department's rules implementing the law codified in chapter 41.32 RCW in order to make those rules consistent with 1999 statutory amendments to RCW 41.32.570.
Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 415-112-540 and 415-112-545.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 41.50.050.
Adopted under notice filed as WSR 99-23-013 on November 5, 1999.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 2, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 0, Amended 2, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 2, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0. Effective Date of Rule: Thirty-one days after filing.
May 11, 2000
John Charles
Director
OTS-3562.3
AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending WSR 97-01-015, filed 12/6/96,
effective 1/6/97)
WAC 415-112-540
How will returning to work affect my TRS
((I)) Plan 1 monthly pension?
This section implements RCW 41.32.570(((1))) which limits employment for TRS ((I)) Plan 1
retirees with public educational institutions to five hundred
twenty-five hours regardless of the nature of service. In
certain circumstances RCW 41.32.570 (((2) and)) (3), (4) and (5)
allow additional service without suspension of your TRS ((I))
Plan 1 pension. Those limitations are discussed in WAC 415-112-545.
(1) You may return to any type of service with a public
educational institution for up to five hundred twenty-five hours
per school year without affecting your TRS ((I)) Plan 1 monthly
pension((.)) under RCW 41.32.570(((1))).
(a) Your employer must notify the department when you return
to work. Your employer must notify the department if you work
more than five hundred twenty-five hours for a public educational
institution during a school year, unless you qualify for
additional service under RCW 41.32.570 (((2) or)) (3), (4) or
(5), see WAC 415-112-545.
(b) If you are a TRS Plan ((I)) 1 retiree, you may elect to
return to membership if you are employed by a public school. If
you ((so elect)) return to membership, the department will
suspend your monthly pension effective from the first of the
month during which you return to employment.
(c) If you are a TRS Plan ((I)) 1 retiree working for a
public educational institution as a bona fide independent
contractor as determined under WAC 415-02-110, you are not
considered an employee of the institution and are not subject to
the work limitations of RCW 41.32.570.
(2) If you work for more than five hundred twenty-five hours
during a school year the department will suspend your monthly
pension. In some cases you may be able to work an additional
((one hundred five)) three hundred fifteen hours, see WAC 415-112-545.
(a) If you return to any type of service with a public
educational institution ((pursuant to)) under a written contract
or ((other)) continuing employment relationship, and you work for
more than five hundred twenty-five hours during a school year,
the department will suspend your monthly pension beginning with
the five hundred twenty-sixth hour of employment.
(b) If you serve as ((a)) an on-call substitute teacher for
more than five hundred twenty-five hours during a school year,
the department will reduce your monthly pension by five percent
for each day you work beyond the five hundred twenty-five hour
limit until your monthly pension is reduced to zero.
(3) You must repay any monthly pension payment that you receive in excess of the amounts allowed under this section or WAC 415-112-545.
(4) The department will reinstate your pension at the end of
the school year or after you terminate your employment. If the
department suspends or reduces your monthly pension due to your
reemployment, the department will reinstate the original amount
of your pension, less deductions to ((recapture)) recover any
overpayment, effective the day following your termination of
employment, or at the end of the school year, whichever comes
first.
(5) Defined terms used. Definitions for the following terms used in this section may be found in the sections listed.
(a) (("Day"; "five hundred twenty-five hours" - WAC 415-112-0152.
(b))) "Public educational institution" - WAC 415-112-0157.
(((c))) (b) "School year" - WAC 415-112-0161.
(((d))) (c) "Substitute teacher" - RCW 41.32.010(36).
[Statutory Authority: RCW 41.50.050. 97-01-015, § 415-112-540, filed 12/6/96, effective 1/6/97. Statutory Authority: RCW 41.50.050 and 41.32.570. 91-21-084, § 415-112-540, filed 10/18/91, effective 11/18/91. Statutory Authority: RCW 41.50.050(6) and 41.50.090. 78-03-023 (Order IV), § 415-112-540, filed 2/15/78. Formerly WAC 462-28-040.]
In addition
to the five hundred twenty-five hours of service permitted for
TRS ((I)) Plan 1 retirees under RCW 41.32.570(((1))) (2), you are
eligible to also serve for up to ((one hundred five)) three
hundred fifteen more hours as ((a)) an on-call substitute teacher
or substitute ((administrator)) principal without affecting your
pension if you meet each of the following criteria((.)): See RCW 41.32.570 (((2) and)) (3) and (5).
(1) You must be employed by a school district. The option
for TRS ((I)) Plan 1 retirees to work an additional ((one hundred
five)) three hundred fifteen hours during a school year without
affecting their pension is only available to school district
employees. An employee of a school district participating in a
multidistrict substitute cooperative is also covered. An
employee of an educational service district, the State Schools
For the Deaf or Blind, or an institution of higher education is
not covered.
(2) You must be employed as a substitute teacher or
substitute ((administrator)) principal.
(((a))) The term "substitute teacher" as used in RCW 41.32.570(((2))) (3) is limited to classroom teachers serving on
an on-call basis. A person working under a contract with a
guaranteed number of hours or days does not qualify as a
substitute teacher, see RCW 41.32.010(36).
| Example 1: | A school district employs a retiree as a
substitute teacher under a contract for ninety
days. Because the retiree is employed under a
contract and not on an on-call basis, she may not
serve for more than five hundred twenty-five hours
as a substitute teacher without having her monthly
pension suspended. |
(b) A substitute administrator is a person who fills in for an absent administrator on a temporary basis. A substitute administrator can be employed under a contract with a guaranteed number of hours. Substitute administrator positions include but are not limited to:
(i) Principal and assistant principal;
(ii) Superintendent and assistant superintendent;
(iii) Personnel manager;
(iv) Business manager; and
(v) School librarian.
(((3))) (4) Your school district employer must adopt a
resolution. Before a school district can employ a TRS Plan ((I))
1 retiree for ((an)) additional ((one hundred five)) hours in a
((fiscal)) school year without affecting ((his or her)) the
retiree's TRS ((I)) Plan 1 pension, the district must adopt a
resolution establishing the need for the additional employment. Each resolution is valid only for the school year in which it is
adopted. The resolution authorizes additional employment only on
or after the date it has been adopted and cannot be applied
retroactively.
(a) Authorizing additional hours for substitute teachers:
To authorize a TRS Plan ((I)) 1 retiree to work an additional
((one hundred five)) three hundred fifteen hours in a ((fiscal))
school year as a substitute teacher, a school district must adopt
a resolution stating that it has exhausted or can reasonably
anticipate exhausting its list of qualified and available
substitutes, and therefore, the services of retired teachers or
administrators are necessary to address that shortage.
(i) If a school district is a member of a multidistrict cooperative, the board of each school district in the cooperative must adopt such a resolution.
(ii) After a resolution has been adopted, a school district
may employ a TRS Plan ((I)) 1 retiree as a substitute teacher for
up to an additional ((one hundred five)) three hundred fifteen
hours once its list of other qualified and available substitutes
has been exhausted.
(b) Authorizing additional hours for substitute
administrators: To authorize a TRS Plan ((I)) 1 retiree to work
an additional one hundred five hours in a ((fiscal)) school year
as a substitute administrator, a school district must adopt a
resolution stating that an emergency exists and the services of a
retired administrator or retired teacher are required because the
school district cannot find a replacement administrator to fill a
vacancy.
(((4))) (c) Authorizing additional hours for substitute
principals: To authorize a TRS Plan 1 retiree to work an
additional two hundred ten hours above the additional one hundred
five hours in a school year as a substitute principal, a school
district must adopt a resolution stating that an emergency exists
and the services of a retired principal or retired teacher are
required because the school district cannot find a replacement
principal to fill the vacancy.
(5) Your school district must provide information to the department. If your school district employer is not a member of a multidistrict substitute cooperative, the district must:
(a) Within thirty days after a resolution is adopted:
(i) Send a copy of the resolution; and
(ii) If the resolution is for substitute teaching, send a
list of all TRS Plan ((I)) 1 retirees working for the school
district as substitute teachers.
(b) During the ((fiscal)) school year:
(i) Send a copy of any amendments to the resolution or to
the list of TRS Plan ((I)) 1 retirees working as substitutes;
(ii) Send written notice immediately if any TRS Plan ((I)) 1
retiree works beyond ((six hundred thirty)) eight hundred forty
hours.
(c) At the end of the ((fiscal)) school year: Send a letter
indicating the total number of hours worked by each TRS Plan
((I)) 1 retiree that exceeded the ((six hundred thirty)) eight
hundred forty hours.
(((5))) (6) If your employer is a member of a multidistrict
substitute cooperative, the cooperative must provide the
information.
If you are employed by a school district which is a member
of a multidistrict substitute cooperative, the cooperative must
provide the information specified in subsection (((4))) (5) of
this section on behalf of each participating school district.
(((6))) (7) If you serve as a substitute teacher or
substitute administrator for the additional ((one hundred five))
hours but you are not eligible to do so, the department will
reduce your monthly pension.
(a) If you and your school district employer do not meet
each of the criteria under this section, you are not eligible to
serve as a substitute teacher for the additional ((one hundred
five)) three hundred fifteen hours under RCW 41.32.570 (((2) or))
(3).
(b) If you or your school district employer do not meet each of the criteria under this section, you are not eligible to serve as:
(i) A substitute administrator for an additional one hundred five hours under RCW 41.32.570(4); or
(ii) As a substitute principal for an additional two hundred ten hours for a total of three hundred fifteen hours under RCW 41.32.570(5).
(c) If you are not eligible to work additional hours, and
you serve for more than five hundred twenty-five hours during a
school year, the department will reduce your monthly pension as
provided under WAC 415-112-540(((3))).
| Example 2: | Sarah is a TRS 1 retiree who has worked as both a principal and classroom teacher. The local school district hires her as an on-call substitute classroom teacher for the 1999-2000 school year. She can work up to five hundred twenty-five hours in this capacity per school year under WAC 415-112-540. Sarah works up to this hour limit as a substitute teacher. |
| However, the school district still needs her services. They adopt a resolution establishing the need for the additional employment of substitute teachers. |
| In the middle of the school year, a neighboring school district needs to recruit a principal on an emergency basis. The district adopts a resolution demonstrating this need, stating that they need Sarah's services to fill the position because they cannot otherwise fill the vacancy. |
| Sarah can work three hundred fifteen hours total under WAC 415-112-545 in addition to five hundred twenty-five hours per school year under WAC 415-112-540. For example, she can work an additional one hundred five hours as a substitute teacher, plus two hundred ten hours as a substitute principal. Sarah can work up to eight hundred forty hours during this school year without affecting her retirement benefit. She could also work up to a total of eight hundred forty hours as a substitute teacher. |
| She may not work an additional two hundred hours as a substitute teacher and two hundred ten additional hours as a substitute principal without affecting her retirement benefit, since the total hours combined would exceed the three hundred fifteen-hour limit for additional hours under WAC 415-112-545. |
| NOTE: |
| • | It is not the position that you retired from but the position you are filling as a retiree that determines how many additional hours, if any, you can work. |
| • | The school district resolutions are only good for one school year. If Sarah's services as a substitute principal are still needed the following school year, the district will need to adopt a new resolution. |
| Example 3: | Pete is a TRS 1 retiree who has worked as a school administrator and principal. The local school district hires him as a substitute administrator for the 1999-2000 school year. He can work up to a total of five hundred twenty-five hours in this capacity under WAC 415-112-540. During the year in question, Pete works up to this hour limit. |
| However, the school district still needs his services. They adopt a resolution establishing the need for the additional employment of substitute administrators. |
| Pete can work as a substitute administrator for up to one hundred five hours under WAC 415-112-545 in addition to five hundred twenty-five hours under WAC 415-112-540 during this school year without affecting his retirement benefit. |
| The only way he can work an additional two hundred ten hours is if he is hired as a substitute principal after the school district adopts a resolution. The resolution must demonstrate the need for a substitute principal, and state that the district needs Pete's services to fill the position because they cannot otherwise fill the vacancy. The resolution does not apply retroactively. |
| NOTE: |
| • | It is not the position that you retired from but the position you are filling as a retiree that determines how many additional hours, if any, you can work. |
| • | The school district resolutions are only good for one school year. If Pete's services as a substitute principal are still needed the following school year, the district will need to adopt a new resolution. |
(((7))) (8) Defined terms used. Definitions for the
following terms used in this section may be found in the sections
listed.
(a) (("Day"; "one hundred five hours"; "five hundred
twenty-five hours" - WAC 415-112-0152.
(b))) "School year" - WAC 415-112-0161.
(((c))) (b) "Substitute teacher" - RCW 41.32.010(36).
[Statutory Authority: RCW 41.50.050. 97-01-015, § 415-112-545, filed 12/6/96, effective 1/6/97.]