§710.1. Employment of retirees who retired on or after July 1, 2020
A. Except as otherwise provided in this Section, any retiree who returns to active
service with an employer covered by the provisions of this Chapter and who retired on or
after July 1, 2020, shall for that period of employment choose one of the following
irrevocable options, which shall be made in writing and filed with the appropriate officer of
the employer:
(1) Option 1. (a) Any retiree may be employed in any position covered by this system
during any fiscal year, provided that his earnings in such employment do not exceed
twenty-five percent of his final average compensation during any fiscal year. If actual
earnings exceed this amount in any fiscal year, the benefits payable to the retiree shall be
reduced by the amount in excess of twenty-five percent of his final average compensation.
(b) During the period of his return to active service, the retiree and his employer shall
make contributions to the retirement system as otherwise provided by law, but the retiree
shall receive no additional service credit and shall not accrue any additional retirement
benefits in the retirement system. Upon termination of active service, the retiree shall, upon
application, be refunded the employee contributions paid since reemployment. The refund
shall be without interest. The retirement system shall retain the employer contributions.
(c) Any retiree employed in a full-time position exercising Option 1 as provided in
this Paragraph may prospectively exercise Option 2 any time prior to or after reaching
twenty-five percent of his final average compensation. In such case, all employee
contributions made in accordance with this Paragraph prior to the exercise of Option 2 shall
be refunded at that time. If a retiree has earned in excess of twenty-five percent of his final
average compensation prior to an election made pursuant to this Subparagraph, the employee
contributions eligible for refund or the benefits payable to the retiree shall be reduced by said
amount.
(2) Option 2. Any retiree employed in a full-time position covered by this system
may request immediate suspension of his benefit, which may include all Deferred Retirement
Option Plan and Initial Lump Sum Benefit distributions, and become a member of this
system, effective on the first day of reemployment or on the first day a retiree notifies the
system of his election to suspend his benefits after using Option 1. Upon such regaining of
membership, the retiree and his employer shall make contributions to the retirement system
as otherwise provided by law. Upon subsequent retirement, his suspended retirement
allowance shall be restored to full force and effect effective as of the date a properly executed
application for subsequent retirement is received by the board of trustees of this system or
the date after the member terminates from service, whichever is later. The retiree shall be
eligible for a supplemental benefit under this option using the same computation formula
used at the retiree's original retirement. If the retiree has been reemployed and contributed
for less than thirty-six months, his original final average compensation shall be used in the
calculation of his supplemental benefit. If the retiree has been reemployed and contributed
for at least thirty-six months, the final average compensation used to calculate the
supplemental benefit shall be the greater of his original final average compensation or his
final average compensation since reemployment. In no event shall the member receive
duplicate credit for unused sick and annual leave that had been included in the computation
of his original retirement allowance. Any supplemental benefit shall be based on
reemployment service credit only and shall not include any other specific amount which may
otherwise be provided in the regular retirement benefit computation formula, including sick
and annual leave. No supplemental benefit shall be payable until ninety days after the date
of termination of reemployment as certified by the employer. In the event of the member's
death prior to subsequent retirement, payment of benefits to the designated beneficiary or
survivor shall be in accordance with the option selected by the member at the time of his
original retirement in accordance with R.S. 11:783(A)(2) and in accordance with any benefit
payable in accordance with R.S. 11:762(C) and (I). No change in the option originally
selected by the member in accordance with R.S. 11:783(A)(2) shall be permitted. In no event
shall the supplemental benefit exceed an amount which, when combined with the original
benefit, equals one hundred percent of the greater of the average compensation figure used
to compute the supplemental benefit or the average compensation figure used to compute the
original benefit. Under no circumstances shall any person who has regained membership
pursuant to the provisions of this Paragraph be allowed to purchase service credit for any
period employed in public service during which he continued to draw his retirement
allowance. Upon regaining membership pursuant to this Paragraph and subsequent
retirement, if a retiree has any subsequent employment that is not full-time employment, he
shall be permitted to select Option 1 for such reemployment as well as full-time employment
thereafter.
B. Any retiree who continues to be covered by R.S. 11:710 may elect to be covered
by the provisions of this Section. Any retiree who makes an election to be covered by this
Section shall no longer be covered by the provisions of R.S. 11:710.
C.(1) Any retiree who returns to active service covered by the provisions of this
Chapter within the twelve-month period immediately following the effective date of such
retirement shall have his retirement benefits suspended for the duration of such active service
or the lapse of twelve months from the effective date of his retirement, whichever occurs
first, even if such service is based on employment by contract or corporate contract.
(2) No person who retires based on a disability shall be authorized to return to
service pursuant to the provisions of this Section. Disability retirees shall be covered by the
provisions of law applicable to disability retirees.
(3) Any retiree who returns to active service with an employer covered by the
provisions of this Chapter shall have his benefit suspended for the duration of his period of
reemployment if such reemployment is based on a contract or corporate contract. The retiree
and his employer shall not make contributions to the system during such time, and he shall
receive no additional service credit and shall not accrue any additional retirement benefits.
D.(1) When any retiree covered by this Section returns to active service with an
employer covered by the provisions of this Chapter, the employing agency shall, within thirty
days thereafter, notify the board of trustees in writing of such employment and the date on
which employment commenced. Upon termination, the agency shall provide the same
notice. In addition, the employing agency shall also report to the retirement system within
forty-five days after June thirtieth of each year, the names of all persons being paid by the
employing agency and all persons having received a benefit, whether by contract or corporate
contract, pursuant to the provisions of this Section, along with such individuals' social
security numbers, their positions, their designations as part-time or full-time, and the amount
of their earnings during the previous fiscal year ending on June thirtieth of the reporting year.
Additionally, the employing agency shall transmit a monthly contributions report pursuant
to R.S. 11:888(A). Such monthly reports shall be transmitted within thirty days of the last
day of each month and shall include the salary paid to each individual retiree to whom this
Section applies. Should failure to give notice of return to active service or failure to report
any other information required by this Section result in any payment being made in violation
of this Section, the employing agency shall be liable to the system for the repayment of such
amounts.
(2) Should any employer covered by the system employ a retiree subject to this
provision and fail to submit the report required by this Subsection, the retiree shall be
considered as returning to active service under the provisions of Option 1 above.
E.(1) The salary of any retiree who is reemployed pursuant to the provisions of this
Section shall be based on the salary schedule which accounts for all prior years of teaching
service and pertinent experience.
(2) The status of any retiree who is reemployed pursuant to the provisions of this
Section shall be the same as a full-time active employee and shall be governed by the
applicable rules, procedures, policies, and statutes that apply to all such full-time active
employees.
F. Any retiree who retired on or before June 30, 2020, and who returned to active
service under the provisions of this Section may elect to be reemployed pursuant to the
provisions of R.S. 11:710. The retiree shall submit to his employer a form provided by the
system noting his decision to have his reemployment covered by the provisions of R.S.
11:710. After the termination of R.S. 11:710(G), the retiree may elect to be covered by the
provisions of this Section as provided in Subsection B of this Section. Any retiree who
elects to be reemployed pursuant to the provisions of R.S. 11:710 and who subsequently
elects to be covered by the provisions of this Section as provided in Subsection B of this
Section shall thereafter be covered exclusively by the provisions of this Section.
Acts 2020, No. 337, §1; Acts 2022, No. 549, §1, eff. May 31, 2022; Acts 2022, No.
601, §1, eff. May 31, 2022.