METROPOLITAN STATE OF DENVER

Transcription

1 METROPOLITAN STATE OF DENVER POLICY AND CRITERIA FOR HIRING A PERA RETIREE UNDER THE SB PROVISION THAT UP TO 10 PERA RETIREES CAN WORK 140 DAYS PER CALENDAR YEAR BEFORE THEIR BENEFITS WILL BE REDUCED. BACKGROUND: Section 24 of Senate Bill (which became law in February 2010) will allow State Colleges and Universities the ability to hire up to 10 PERA retirees for up to 140 days per calendar year. This section of the new law takes effect January 1, There is no maximum number of PERA retirees that a College or University may hire as long as the statutory limit of 110 day limit is not exceeded. The legislation includes several requirements that Colleges and Universities must follow to insure that the PERA retiree s benefits will not be reduced if PERA conducts a subsequent review. Those requirements listed in SB are: 1. The employer must determine that there is a critical shortage of qualified candidates for the position 2. The employer must also determine that the PERA service retiree has unique experience, skill, or qualifications that would benefit the employer 3. The employer must notify PERA upon hiring a service retiree pursuant to subsection A list of any and all service retirees employed by the employer (that will exceed the 110 day limit-but not the 140 day limit) shall be provided to PERA at the start of each calendar year and shall be updated when additional designations are made during the same calendar year ACTION TO BE TAKEN: The university established the following internal policies and procedures to assure full compliance with Section 24 of Senate Bill prior to January 1, POLICY AND PROCEDURES: If the hiring supervisor for any position (with an assigned work load of more than 110 calendar year work days) recommends that a PERA retiree be hired for that position, the hiring supervisor will be required to furnish in writing all necessary material to meet #1 and #2 of the Statutory requirements listed above.

2 Required material will include certification that the PERA retiree meets a critical shortage of qualified candidates for the position and that he/she maintains the unique experience, skill, or qualification that would benefit the university. The material would be included on a form to be approved by the immediate supervisor and all university personnel in that line of authority. After completion of the form and all signatures obtained from appropriate administrators for that area, the form would be forwarded to the Vice President for Administration, Finance and Facilities for review and approval. If there are more than 10 retirees seeking to work up to 140 days, the Executive Cabinet will grant final approval of the 10 retirees to be included for the calendar year. These up to 10 positions throughout the university to be filed with PERA retirees working up to 140 days per calendar year will NOT be assigned on a first come-first approved basis or solely on the basis that the PERA retiree has requested to work more than the 110 day limit allowed. The determination of which positions to approve will be based on the written justification and adherence to the requirements identified. In most cases these 10 positions would not be used by PERA retirees returning as Faculty members unless a critical shortage of qualified candidates for that academic field can be demonstrated. It should be noted that some flexibility already exists for PERA retirees working in faculty positions (see comment in second bullet below). Applications for the next calendar year will be submitted to the Vice President for Administration, Finance and Facilities for ongoing positions known to be filed with PERA retirees and any new requests that haven t been submitted in the past. The approval process will occur in late fall, and the list will be submitted to PERA by January. In addition, requests may be submitted thereafter on a monthly basis when the need arises to potentially fill a position with a PERA retiree if less than 10 retirees have previously been designated by the university. The University does not need to designate all 10 PERA retirees at once and the list provided to PERA may be updated throughout the year. However, the university is not allowed to make substitutions. Therefore once the University s list contains 10 individuals it cannot be revised or updated during the rest of that calendar year. The Human Resources department will be responsible for compiling and sending the information to PERA spelled out in #3 and #4 of the background section above.

3 Additional Criteria considered and/or included in this final policy: Can the work of the PERA retiree in this position be completed in 110 or less calendar year work days? As an example: Full-time work during fall semester of one calendar year and spring semester of the following calendar year for academic or student services positions might be managed within the 110 day/calendar year PERA limits. Should the use of these 10 positions be limited to hiring PERA retirees for non-faculty positions? PERA rules for faculty positions filled by PERA retirees are often based on which days of the week the faculty member is on campus teaching classes verses most administrative and staff positions that are on an hourly or 40 hour per week work assignment. How detailed should the material submitted be when spelling out the PERA retiree s qualifications, skills, and unique experience being brought to the position? A statement from the supervisor that outlines how the PERA retiree maintains the qualifications, skills, and unique experience will be sufficient to meet the intent of the law. How detailed should the material describe the critical shortage of qualified candidates for this position? A statement by the supervisor that in his or her opinion there is a critical shortage of qualified candidates and it is imperative that, at this time, the PERA retiree is the best candidate for the position will be enough to meet the intent of the law. The policy adopted states that the designation of these 10 positions where PERA retirees could work up to 140 days in a calendar year without penalty will be institutionally monitored and managed by the Vice President for Administration, Finance, and Facilities with input from the Executive Cabinet. The Human Resources department will be responsible for maintaining information on all PERA retirees hired and to submit required forms and data to PERA. June 25,2013

4 DESIGNATION OF RETIREES WORKING AFTER RETIREMENT UNDER THE 140-DAY/916 HOUR LIMIT Retiree Name: SSN: Position: Salary (Hourly Monthly ): JUSTIFICATION: Specify how the PERA retiree meets a critical shortage of qualified candidates for the position and that the retiree maintains the unique experience, skill, or qualification that would benefit the university. APPROVALS: Retiree: Date: Supervisor: Date: Date: Vice President/President Date: VP Administration, Finance & Facilities Date Approved by Executive Cabinet (if necessary)

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