Retire Rehire — Guidelines and Directives

Important Information To Know

Retiree reemployment means the reemployment in any capacity of an individual who retired under the WSU Retirement Plan (WSURP) or a Department of Retirement Systems (DRS) Plan (PERS, TRS or LEOFF).

IMPORTANT:  No verbal or written discussions can occur prior to retirement with DRS participants about potentially returning to work after retirement.  This could result in the retirement being voided by DRS.

For WSURP retirees, employment may be up to forty percent (40%) of full-time equivalency following the date of retirement.  DRS retirees normally can work up to 867 hours a calendar year for PERS and LEOFF retirees, and per fiscal year for TRS retirees.  In some cases a DRS retiree may be able to work longer, and would need to be verified by HRS Benefits and DRS.

Retire-rehire appointments are intended to meet short-term temporary needs of the university, and are not intended to address permanent or long-term needs.  Normally retire-rehire appointments should not exceed one year, unless they are extenuating circumstances.  The business need of the request to rehire a retiree will be considered on a case-by-case basis.  Retire-rehire appointments are not guaranteed and may be denied by the university at its discretion or in the event there is another agreement on file with the university or the state that the individual is restricted from returning to work at WSU or with a state employer. 

Examples of retire-rehire appointments include but are not limited to:

• covering a course due to lack of other faculty being available to cover the course, 
• finishing a grant that has ongoing duties/responsibilities after the individual retires,
• assisting a department during a busy period where existing personnel are not available to pick up the workload,
• training the individual who will be performing the duties of the retired individual, and/or
• covering the position while a recruitment process occurs.

Retire-rehire appointees may have limited Workday security access, and therefore certain duties may not be able to be performed in a retire-rehire appointment.  Such duties may include supervisory duties, access to certain financial/budget information, and responsibilities requiring access to personal identifying information (not an all-inclusive list).

The university’s practice is for a retiree to have a 30-day break in service between their retirement date and the date of reemployment.  Based on the retirement plan the individual retired under, and the business need to reemploy, a review will occur to determine if an exception to the 30-day break can occur. This break allows the employee to fully retire from the university, and allows other actions to occur while the person is in a separated status, such as setting of Emereti status within the university system for eligible faculty members. 

Reemployment after retirement is not counted as additional service with the WSURP and DRS plans* and will not result in any eligibility for increased benefits under those plans or the WSURP Supplemental Retirement Plan (SRP). A reemployed retiree is not considered an active participant of the WSURP or DRS plans, nor is it expected they will be eligible for the employer-provided benefits package.  However, WSURP retirees may trigger benefit or retirement eligibility under a different retirement plan administered by the state, depending on their planned or actual work pattern.  *DRS retirees have the option to “un-retire” and return to active employee status.  These individuals should contact HRS Benefits and the DRS to determine if this may be an option they wish to pursue.   

Request to Rehire a Retiree Process

Under a 2010 Presidential Directive, WSU implemented the retire-rehire review process and identified the appropriate use of hiring retirees to address the university’s needs. 

Departments/Colleges must contact HRS Benefit Services prior to extending an offer to a retiree of a Washington State retirement plan, which includes the WSURP or a DRS plan.  HRS Benefits will provide critical information regarding rehire limitations and determine if the request for rehire can be approved.  The Office of the Provost will be notified of all faculty retire-rehire requests, and when needed, their input and/or review may be a part of the process. 

During this process, other HRS personnel will be collaborated with to identify the appropriate title, classification and salary/earnings limit.  All requests start with HRS Benefits who will provide the notice to the Office of the Provost.  (Departments/colleges need not alert the Provost’s Office of the retire-rehire request.) At a minimum, HRS Benefits needs the following information:

• What the employment need is; what duties and responsibilities need to be addressed
• How long will the services be needed
• Will the employment be on a set schedule or intermittent
• Are there other University personnel that could perform the duties
• If the duties are permanent or long-term, what efforts are being made to assign the duties to an existing faculty or staff member?  Is there a recruitment for a person to  perform these duties, and if so, the status of that recruitment
• Documentation the request for rehire has been reviewed and approved by the Dean/Vice President or other appropriate Appointing Authority

If the request is approved by HRS Benefits, the department/College will enter the appointment into Workday and HRS Benefits will approve the appointment with a comment on the appointment reflecting the request was approved and the appointment is within the limits of the retirement plan.

If the appointment needs to be extended or a future request to rehire the retiree again arises, the above process will be performed again.  The hiring unit will need to demonstrate extenuating circumstances in order to extend an appointment beyond one year.

Compensation and Employee Type 

A reemployed WSURP or DRS retiree’s job classification, as well as associated pay rate, will be based on the duties and responsibilities associated with the rehire appointment.  This determination will be conducted by applicable HRS personnel, in collaboration with the employing department.  Under no circumstances can a WSURP’s retiree’s salary exceed forty percent (40%) of the retiree’s average monthly basic salary paid during their highest twenty-four consecutive months of service, which is calculated by HRS Benefits personnel. Former ADR’s (additional duties and responsibilities) or other payments will not be included as part of the basic salary when determining this compensation calculation.  DRS retirees are not subject to an earnings limit. 

NonPermanent: If the duties reflect those of a NonPermanent job, the appropriate job classification will be identified, and the associated pay rate of the identified title will be applied.  The classification and pay rate will follow the Civil Service classification structure and the associated salary schedule classification.  This amount will often be less than the 40% salary maximum for WSURP retirees calculated by HRS-Benefits. 

Faculty:  If the duties of the retire-rehire appointment reflect faculty duties and show that the work will be performed on a consistent schedule, the job should be set up as an FTE faculty appointment.  If the duties will not be performed on a consistent schedule, they may hold an hourly faculty appointment.

Administrative Professional (AP):  A review of the duties will be performed to determine appropriate classification.  The following options may be considered based on the duties and responsibilities associated with the rehire:

• An AP appointment at no more than a 40% FTE.  If the duties will be performed on a consistent basis/schedule, this approach will be recommended.  
• A NonPermanent appointment at a scheduled FTE of no more than 40% FTE or non-scheduled appointment with an hourly rate.
• A professional hourly appointment may be considered if no other options exist.

Civil Services duties:  The NonPermanent scheduled or non-scheduled titles will be used for jobs consisting of civil service duties.

A reemployed WSURP retiree is not eligible for merit increases, equity adjustments, or market raises. However, mass salary increases will occur, and if needed, minimum wage adjustments may occur.  In all situations, any increases in wages cannot exceed the salary/wage rate calculated by HRS Benefits. DRS retirees are not subject to these same limitations.