There are three general criteria.

1. You work or worked for a state or local government in non-Social Security-covered employment.
2. You are entitled to a government pension from that employment. The Social Security Administration (SSA) deems you to be “entitled to a pension” when you file an application for the pension and a benefit is payable.
3. You are entitled to a Social Security retirement or disability benefit. In order to receive any benefit from social security, you have to have 10 years in social security covered employment.

It cannot be reduced by more than half, so if you have a pension of $500, the WEP reduction cannot exceed $250.

Yes. Congress exempted that type of service from the WEP.

Table 2. Monthly Benefit for a Worker With Average Indexed Monthly Earnings of $1,500

The Social Security spousal or widow(er) benefit of a person who also receives a pension from government employment (federal, state or local) that was based on work not covered by Social Security is reduced by a provision known as the GPO. The GPO reduction to Social Security spousal and widow(er) benefits is equal to two-thirds of the pension from non-covered government employment. If the pension from non-covered work is sufficiently large in comparison to a person’s Social Security spousal or widow(er) benefit, the GPO may eliminate the entire Social Security spousal or widow(er) benefit. Refer to the chart below for an example of how the GPO could impact your benefits.

Table 2. GPO Formula

Below is information around various provisions of the MainePERS teacher plan that questions frequently arise around. This is not a comprehensive analysis and individuals should always contact MainePERS to get precise estimates based on their own work history. Teachers, including Educational Technician IIs and IIIs are mandatory members of the MainePERS teacher plan.

Average Salary (3 highest years) * Years of Service * 2% multiplier = Initial Benefit
Example: $58,000 X 25 X .02 = $29,000

In September of each year following receipt of the initial benefit for 12 months, the benefit will receive a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). The COLA is applied to the first $20,941 of the benefit in 2016, indexed to inflation thereafter, at the rate of inflation or 3%, whichever is lower. The inflation factor is calculated based upon the June unadjusted CPI-U rate. The COLA is set in statute, so changes can be made legislatively to this provision.

For teacher members who were vested (10 years of service) prior to July 1, 1993 (i.e. normal retirement at age 60), up to 30 days of unused and accumulated sick leave can be put toward average final compensation (AFC). However, there is a separate rule that caps the maximum increase that can occur in each year of the average final compensation period that is applicable. The rule is referred to as an anti-spiking provision where compensation cannot be greatly increased in the final years of employment to increase the retirement benefit. This rule, in part, requires that Year 3 of the AFC calculation not be more than 5% greater than Year 2 of AFC or 10% greater than Year 1 of AFC calculation. An example of how this rule applies:

• Year 2 Regular Salary: $58,000
• Year 3 Regular Salary: $60,000
• Year 3 Cap (5% above Year 2): $60,900
• 30 days at Per Diem: $333.33 X 30 = $10,000
• Year 3 Regular Salary with Per Diem: $70,000
• Year 3 salary used for AFC purposes: $60,900

In short, the 30 days is not all counted toward the Year 3 salary for AFC as there is a cap. Per diem payout of sick leave beyond 30 days cannot count toward AFC, though in practice that is moot because of the rule capping maximum increases.

Teacher members who were not vested as of July 1, 1993 (i.e. minimum age of 62 or 65 to retire normally) are not allowed to count 30 days per diem toward their AFC. (Note, teachers who were not vested prior to July 1, 1993 but did have five years or more of creditable service on July 1, 2011 are in the age 62 plan to retire normally. Teachers who did not have five years of creditable service on July 1, 2011 are in the age 65 plan to retire normally.)

All teacher members can use 90 days of unused and accumulated sick leave as a credit for years of service.

For both the 90 days of service and 30 days toward AFC, teacher members need to have the sick time actually available to use (accrued time) upon retirement in order to use it toward the 30- or 90-day provisions. As an example, if a teacher has 100 days of sick leave accrued upon retirement and her/his contract pays out 30 days at per diem, the teacher will only have 70 days left to count toward the credit for years of service after cashing out the 30 days.

For teacher members of normal retirement age (attained 60, 62, 65 depending on plan), there are no MEPERS implications for being paid out beyond 30 days at per diem.

For teachers who are not of normal retirement age, there could be MEPERS implications to the employer for early retirement incentives. Districts that have been deemed to have offered early retirement incentives, as defined by MainePERS rules, have to pay a penalty, based on the added actuarial liability to the system that was created by the employee’s early retirement. This amount can be substantial. There is no bright line test for what constitutes an early retirement incentive. Being paid 30 days per diem when you are not a teacher of normal retirement age has never been considered an early retirement incentive by MainePERS. However, how many days per diem that can be paid out without triggering this penalty has not been defined, so some amount above 30 days likely would trigger it. As well, district contributions toward health insurance could trigger the early retirement incentive penalties, but what the benefit can be before triggering a penalty has not been defined. If a district wants to offer an early retirement incentive, it should run it by MEPERS to see if it will trigger a penalty.

Remember, early retirement incentives only apply to those who retire early, which is defined as before normal retirement age. For those of normal retirement age, there are no implications from MEPERS associated with receiving a retirement incentive.

BARGAINING IMPLICATIONS: While the 30 days of per diem cash out of sick time has been traditionally bargained and does provide a cash payment at retirement, the anti-spiking provision and phase out of the 30 days counting toward AFC has greatly diminished the utility of this provision to increase retirement income. Tradeoffs for eliminating the 30-day cash out should be given consideration. Local Associations will likely find that higher increases to salary provide a greater increase to retirement benefits than maintaining the 30-day benefit that more than offset the lost pay from the eliminated cash out. It may well be worth agreeing to a deal where a 30-day per diem is given up for 1% more on the scale. For instance, if there is an option of keeping the 30-day cash out and a 1% COLA or giving up the 30-day cash out for a 2% COLA, the latter may be a better deal both now and in retirement for members. However, the calculations will need to be made to determine if this works with a Local Association’s scale (and to demonstrate to members why they benefit from this trade). A phase-out of the cash out would likely be required to grandfather teachers in the 60 plan and allow the per diem cash out to be available for a year or two before eliminating it so no one is negatively impacted by this type of change.

The second implication that is often not understood is retirement incentives can be bargained without any MainePERS implications (districts oft cited reason for not offering incentives) for those of normal retirement age. These incentives can be for cash or benefits, such as health insurance (the state only pays 45%, remember). Retirement incentives can either be bargained into the contract or can be bargained on an ad hoc basis when there is an opportunity to do so.

• A. In one-year contracts, which may be nonconsecutive. The maximum time that a classroom-based employee may be restored to service with an individual school administrative unit pursuant to this paragraph is 5 years;
• B. Subject to the 5-year restriction specified in subsection 1 and the 75% compensation limitation for retired state employees and retired teachers specified in subsection 2, paragraph A; or
• C. In any combination of paragraphs A and B, as long as the total time the classroom-based employee is restored to service does not exceed 10 years with an individual school administrative unit.

The retired classroom-based employee must have had a bona fide termination of employment in accordance with state and federal laws and rules, may not return to employment after retirement with the same employer for at least 30 calendar days after the termination of employment and may not return to employment before the effective date of the person’s retirement.

For purposes of this section, “classroom-based employee” means a teacher whose principal function is to introduce new learning to students in the classroom or to provide support in the classroom during the introduction of new learning to students.

2. Compensation and benefits. The compensation and benefits of the retired state employee or retired teacher who returns to service after retirement as set out in subsection 1 is governed by this subsection.

• The compensation of the retired state employee or retired teacher who returns to service must be set at 75% of the compensation established for the position to be filled, at a step determined by the appointing authority. The compensation of the retired classroom-based employee who returns to service as a classroom-based employee pursuant to subsection 1-A, paragraph A must be set at 100% of the compensation established for the position to be filled, at a step determined by the school administrative unit, for up to the maximum 5-year period that a classroom-based employee may contract with an individual school administrative unit.
• The retired state employee or retired teacher who returns to service under this section is not a member and therefore may not accrue additional creditable service or change the retired state employee’s or retired teacher’s earnable compensation for benefit calculation purposes.
• During the period of reemployment, the retired state employee or retired teacher is not entitled to health insurance, dental insurance or life insurance benefits. The retired state employee or retired teacher is entitled to all other benefits for the reemployment position under collective bargaining agreements or civil service laws and rules. Health insurance benefits must be provided under the provisions of section 285, subsection 1-A for retired state employees or Title 20-A, section 13451 for retired teachers and life insurance benefits must be provided under the provisions of section 18055.

3. Contributions to the Maine Public Employees Retirement System and state group health plan. The portion of the employer contribution that goes to pay the retirement system for the unfunded liability and the state group health plan for retiree health care must be continued and based on the retired state employee’s or retired teacher’s compensation as provided under subsection 2 during the reemployment period.

 4. Notification requirements. Employers under this section are required to identify and report to the retirement system, in the manner specified by the retirement system, each individual who is a retiree who becomes an employee of the employer under the option provided in this section. Departments shall also report each retiree who becomes an employee to the Bureau of the Budget in a manner specified by the bureau. The employer shall report each such employee whenever and so long as the employee is the employer’s employee.

 5. Exclusion. A retired state employee or retired teacher who is hired as a substitute teacher is not subject to the restoration to service 5-year limitation in subsection 1 or the compensation limitation in subsection 2, paragraph A.

I didn’t always work in education and contribute to MainePERS. I used to have another job and I contributed to Social Security. Will that affect my pension benefit?

No. You will still receive your pension, as long as you are vested. However, your Social Security payment will likely be lower due to the fact that you are also receiving money from a pension. This may not be true for certain PLDs, but is the case for all enrolled in the Teacher Retirement Plan. Your Social Security benefit will also be decreased if you take a private sector job and contribute to Social Security after you retire from your public sector job. The reduction is known as the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) which again, reduces the Social Security benefits of workers who also have pension benefits from employment not covered by Social Security. You are eligible to receive Social Security benefits after you’ve worked for 10 or more years (40 quarters {4 quarters in a year}) in a Social Security eligible job. Social Security benefits received by those who also receive a pension are impacted on a sliding scale, depending on how many years you’ve contributed to Social Security. The chart below highlights the reduction in benefits due to the Windfall Elimination based on years of Social Security Coverage:

*Important: The maximum amount may be overstated. The WEP reduction is limited to one-half of your pension from non-covered employment.
Source: Social Security Administration, How the Windfall Elimination Provision Can Affect Your Social Security Benefit, Washington, D.C.

What about my spouse-he/she pays into Social Security-does that affect my benefit?

Yes and no. You will still receive the same public pension benefit, regardless of your spouse’s benefit. However, if your Social Security eligible spouse passes away, the Government Pension Offset or GPO reduces the Social Security spousal benefits by 2/3 of the pension from the non-covered public employee. In other words, the GPO lowers the dependent/survivor benefit by 2/3 from your government pension. The GPO, however, does not reduce the benefits of your spouse who was covered by Social Security.

Example: Terry works in non-SS-covered employment for a State and Local Government. She will receive a government pension from the job of $600 per month. Her husband works in SS-covered employment. She is entitled to a dependent benefit from his work of $500 per month before the Social Security Administration (SSA) applies the GPO.

To calculate the GPO, SSA does the following:

multiplies $600 by two/thirds (600 X 2/3 = $400); and subtracts the $400 from the $500 dependent benefit (500 – 400 = $100).

Result: Terry receives a dependent/survivor benefit of $100 per month. This is called a “partial GPO offset.”

In some cases the calculation under the GPO could mean when your Social Security covered spouse passes away you receive zero of his/her Social Security benefits; this is called a “total GPO offset.” There are some GPO exemptions.

For more information: www.ssa.org Both the WEP and the GPO apply to those contributing to the Teacher Retirement Plan and the PLD.