Post-retirement employment of annuitants under the Wisconsin Retirement System, participation status under the Wisconsin Retirement System, and granting rule-making authority. (FE)

Termination of annuity for rehired annuitants Currently, when a WRS participant terminates employment and receives an annuity he or she may return to covered employment and either terminate the annuity and again become a WRS participating employee or, instead, continue to receive the annuity, as well as wages from covered employment. If a participant does not terminate the annuity, the participant may not be a participating employee in the WRS and, in the case of state employment, is not eligible for group insurance benefits provided to participating employees, and may not use any of his or her employment service as a rehired annuitant for any WRS purposes. If the participant terminates the annuity, the participant returns to participating employee status and is eligible for all group insurance benefits provided other participating employees, as well as is able to accumulate additional years of creditable service under the WRS for the additional period of covered employment.

This bill provides that, if a WRS participant who is receiving an annuity, or a disability annuitant who has attained his or her normal retirement date, is appointed to a position in covered employment in which he or she is expected to work at least one-half of what is considered full-time employment by the Department of Employee Trust Funds (DETF), as determined by rule, the participant's annuity must be terminated and no annuity payment is payable until after the participant again terminates covered employment. This provision first applies to a WRS participating employee who terminates covered employment under the WRS on the bill's effective date.

Under the bill, even though the participant again becomes a WRS participating employee after terminating his or her annuity, and becomes eligible to receive group insurance benefits provided to other participating employees, the participant may not accumulate additional years of creditable service under the WRS for the additional period of covered employment. Also, all WRS employee required contributions that are paid by the participant during the period in which the annuity was terminated, as well as any interest on those contributions, must be paid to the participant as a lump sum upon the reestablishment of the terminated annuity.

Termination of annuity for annuitants providing employee services The bill also provides that, if a participant receiving a retirement annuity, or a disability annuitant who has attained his or her normal retirement date, enters into a contract to provide employee services with a participating employer after the bill's effective date, and he or she is expected to work at least one-half of what is considered full-time employment by DETF, as determined by rule, the participant's retirement annuity must be terminated and no annuity payment is payable until after the participant no longer provides employee services under the contract. This provision first applies to a WRS participating employee who terminates covered employment under the WRS on the bill's effective date.

Termination of annuity for annuitants providing employee services for a temporary help agency The bill also provides that, if a participant receiving a retirement annuity, or a disability annuitant who has attained his or her normal retirement date, is employed by a temporary help agency, which contracts with a participating employer to provide services, and the participant is expected to provide services for the participating employer in a capacity of at least one-half of what is considered full-time employment by DETF, as determined by rule, the participant's retirement annuity must be terminated and no annuity payment is payable until after the participant no longer provides employee services under the contract. This provision first applies to a WRS participating employee who terminates covered employment under the WRS on the bill's effective date.

Two-thirds employment requirement for participation in WRS Finally, 2011 Wisconsin Act 32 increased the number of hours that an employee must work in order to become a participating employee in the WRS, from one-third of what is considered full-time employment to two-thirds of what is considered full-time employment, as determined by DETF by rule. Under 2011 Wisconsin Act 32 , this change in law did not apply to those employees who were first hired by a WRS employer before July 1, 2011, regardless of whether they were participating employees before that date. This bill provides that, in order to be exempt from this change in law, employees must have been participating employees before July 1, 2011.

Because this bill relates to public employee retirement or pensions, it may be referred to the Joint Survey Committee on Retirement Systems for a report to be printed as an appendix to the bill.