La. Stat. tit. 11 § 710.1

Current with changes from the 2024 legislative session effective on or before 7/1/2024, from Acts 2,3, 6-535, and 580-647

Section 11:710.1 - [Effective 7/1/2024] 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.

G.

(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection A of this Section, a retiree who is employed in a critical shortage position shall be governed by the provisions of this Subsection.

(2)

(a) Except as provided in Subsection C of this Section, a retiree who is employed in a critical shortage position may receive a benefit during the period of his reemployment if the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and the board of trustees of this system have received certification that a critical shortage exists. Prior to making such certification for any critical shortage position, the employer shall satisfy the requirements of Subparagraph (b) of this Paragraph. If a certified applicant who is not a retiree applies for an advertised position, such person shall be hired before any certified retiree is employed, unless fewer than three applicants have applied for the position, each of whom is certified in the critical shortage area being filled.

(b) For any position sought to be filled by employment of a retiree, the employer may certify the existence of a critical shortage only after complying with all of the following requirements:

(i) Posting with the career development office, or similar such entity, of every postsecondary education institution within a one-hundred-twenty-mile radius of the employer's governing authority at the beginning of each semester a general statement that the employer is soliciting applications for future employment of certified teachers.

(ii) Advertising at least once per month in the official journal of the employer's governing authority that the employer is soliciting applications for future employment of certified teachers.

(iii) Prominently displaying a listing of positions that are unfilled or that are filled by reemployed retirees on the website of the employer's governing authority and of the employer, if the employer maintains a separate website.

(3) On an annual basis, the superintendent and personnel director of the school employing a retiree who returns to active service in a position defined in Subparagraph (5)(a) of this Subsection shall certify a critical shortage area to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and the board of trustees of this system.

(4) On an annual basis, the employing school board for a retiree who returns to active service in a position defined in Subparagraph (5)(b) of this Subsection shall certify to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and the board of trustees of this system that a critical shortage exists for the position in the school district.

(5) "Critical shortage position" means any of the following:

(a) A position for a full-time or part-time classroom teacher who teaches any student in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade in a school where a critical shortage exists.

(b) A position for a full-time or part-time certified speech therapist, speech pathologist, audiologist, educational diagnostician, school social worker, school counselor, school psychologist, interpreter, educational transliterator, or educator of the deaf or hard of hearing whose position of employment requires a valid Louisiana ancillary certificate approved and issued by the state Department of Education in a school district where a critical shortage exists.

(6) During the period of his return to active service under the provisions of this Subsection, the retiree and his employer shall make contributions to the retirement system as provided by this Chapter, 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 retired teacher 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.

La. R.S. § 11:710.1

Acts 2020, No. 337, §1; Acts 2022, No. 549, §1, eff. May 31, 2022; Acts 2022, No. 601, §1, eff. May 31, 2022.

Amended by Acts 2024, No. 394,s. 1, eff. 7/1/2024.

Amended by Acts 2022, No. 601,s. 1, eff. 5/31/2022.

Amended by Acts 2022, No. 549,s. 1, eff. 5/31/2022.

Added by Acts 2020, No. 337,s. 1, eff. 8/1/2020.

This section is set out more than once due to postponed, multiple, or conflicting amendments.