Use of Retirees to Support Staffing
Bills to Support Staffing and HB 4545 Support Needs
House Bill 4545 mandates accelerated instruction practices be adopted beginning the 21/22 school year. One way to ensure that accelerated instruction is accessible to students is to use retired teachers as tutors. The tables below provide information related to employment after retirement laws and regulations. More specifically, recent legislation has provided opportunities for school districts to employ retirees without incurring financial burdens related to surcharges, breaks in service, and fulltime/part-time status. If your school district is interested in using retired teachers to meet the staffing needs for your accelerated instruction implementation, please carefully review the information below and contact TRS for any questions or clarifications.
Bill |
Summary |
LEA Considerations (and shared practices from the field) |
SB 202Employer surcharge responsibility |
Reporting employer is ultimately responsible for the pension and applicable health care surcharges for retirees who work more than one-half time in a calendar month Employer is prohibited from directly or indirectly passing the surcharges to the retiree. |
Employer may use any available LEA funds to pay applicable surcharges and secure eligible retirees for employment. “We have used ESSER funds to offset the cost of paying surcharges for retired teachers.” |
SB 288Surge personnel exceptions for EAR restrictions and surcharges. |
EAR restrictions and surcharges do not apply when:
Ends Dec. 31, 2024. Time worked under this exception will interrupt the 12-full calendar month break. Does not apply to disability retirees. Surcharges still apply to non-surge positions should a retiree work concurrently in both surge and non-surge positions. |
LEAs could create new surge positions focused on addressing student learning loss that are fully funded by federal COVID relief funds. |
HB 1585Allows certain retirees to return to work full time without a break in service (in addition to TRS Sunset legislation). However, all retirees must observe a one full, calendar-month break in service after their effective retirement date to avoid revoking their retirement. |
Service retirees who retired on or before Jan. 1, 2021 may work full time without the consecutive 12-month break in service that was previously required. Surcharges still apply when working more than one-half time in the calendar month. |
LEAs should work with eligible retirees seeking full-time employment to determine when their 12-month break in service has been fulfilled. “Internal employees recruiting people they know that retired and increasing daily substitute rate has been very successful.” |
SB 1356Tutor exception for EAR restrictions; must meet Section 33.913 of TEC. |
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Employer may use any available LEA funds to pay applicable surcharges and secure eligible retirees as tutors. “We only hire retirees for subs, tutors, or less than half-time work. Sticking with that makes it easier.” |
Combining EAR Exceptions for Service Retirees
If you choose to be employed in multiple positions for either multiple TRS-covered employers or for the same employer during a month and each of those positions qualify for EAR exceptions, the limits on the number of hours or days you may work in those positions may be different than if you worked in either position individually. Here are descriptions and examples of some of the more common EAR exceptions retirees combine in a month and the limits that apply.
Employment Type |
Substitute |
Tutor Under Section 33.913 Full Time |
Tutor Under Section 33.913 One-Half Time | One-Half Time or Less |
Substitute |
No limit for filled positions; if vacant position, 20-day limit |
Cannot be combined |
Total combined employment cannot exceed 11 days Oct. 2021: Limit is 10 days |
Total combined employment cannot exceed 11 days Oct. 2021: Limit is 10 days |
Tutor Under Section 33.913 Full Time |
Cannot be combined |
No limit |
No limit | Cannot be combined |
Tutor Under Section 33.913 One-Half Time |
Total combined employment cannot exceed 11 days
|
No limit |
No limit | Beginning Nov. 2021: Total combined employment cannot exceed 92 hours Sept. 2021: Limit is 88 hours Oct. 2021: Limit is 84 hours |
One-Half Time or Less |
Total combined employment cannot exceed 11 days Oct. 2021: Limit is 10 days |
Cannot be combined |
Beginning Nov. 2021: Total combined employment cannot exceed 92 hours |
Beginning Nov. 2021: Total combined employment cannot exceed 92 hours Sept. 2021: Limit is 88 hours Oct. 2021: Limit is 84 hours |
Note: Determining the correct monthly limits when combining EAR exceptions can be complicated in many cases and a retiree should strongly consider contacting TRS for guidance before doing so.
Additional Links and Information from TRS
Surcharges Information
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The amount of the pension surcharge is equal to the what the amount of both member and state contributions would have been on the compensation paid to the retiree if the retiree were an active member.
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A health benefit surcharge is also due for TRS-Care participants.
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The pension surcharge is 15.75% of payroll and the TRS-Care surcharge is $535, if applicable.
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The pension surcharge will increase from 15.75% to 16% beginning September 1, 2022; the TRS-Care surcharge will remain the same.