RE Pension Surcharge for Reported Retirees

Each Reporting Employer (RE) must report the pension surcharge through the ER - Employment after Retirement report on each TRS retiree with a retirement date after Sept. 1, 2005, unless the retiree is exempt.

Exemptions:

• The retiree's retirement date is prior to Sept. 1, 2005
• The retiree works only as a substitute
• The retiree does not exceed the one-half time limit for the report month:
  • Starting on November 2021:
    • If the retiree retired after Sept. 1, 2005, but does not work or receive paid leave for more than 92 hours in that calendar month.
    • If the retiree retired after Sept. 1, 2005, and combines substitute and any other TRS-covered employment in any amount in the same calendar month but does not work more than 11 days in that calendar month.
  • Report Months Prior to November 2021:
    • The retiree retired after Sept. 1, 2005, but does not work or receive paid leave for more than the equivalent of four clock hours for every *workday in that calendar month.
    • The retiree retired after Sept. 1, 2005, and combines substitute and any other TRS-covered employment in any amount in the same calendar month but does not work more than one-half the number of *workdays in that calendar month. For months with an odd number of whole workdays, the TRS retiree may not work any part of the one-half day remaining.

The pension surcharge is a percentage of the TRS Creditable salary paid to that retiree in the calendar month that the retiree exceeded one-half time employment. The amount of the pension surcharge is equal to the amount of both member and state contributions on the compensation paid to the retiree. The rate of member and state contributions may change with each school year. It is mandatory for the reporting official to use the current rate of contributions in calculating the surcharge amount.

If the retiree is also participating in TRS-Care, the employer will also owe a TRS-Care surcharge to TRS. Go to the RE TRS-Care Surcharge for Reported Retirees page for further instructions.

Effective Sept. 1, 2021, REs cannot directly or indirectly pass the cost of the surcharge onto TRS retirees. This includes payroll deduction, imposition of a fee or any other means designed to recover the cost.

*A workday is defined for this purpose as every Monday through Friday in that calendar month without regard to whether the workday was a holiday or the employer was open for business.