Retirement Information For HDESD Employees

The decision to retire is important. This information is being provided to help you in planning a smooth retirement whether you stop working at retirement or contract back with the district at full- or part-time status. Remember that all financial information regarding your retirement, the date of your retirement and pension payments are available and must come from PERS – the ESD will not be able to provide that information to you.

 Eight (8) weeks (60 days) before your retirement date, you must inform the HR office in writing or by email of your plan to retire, the date of your retirement and whether you plan to stop working or contract back with the ESD. The ESD may rehire retired employees after retirement upon recommendation of the program supervisor and approval by the Superintendent. PERS retired employees may work for the HDESD and/or another public employer up to 1,039 hours during a calendar year, including holidays and vacation.

 At retirement, an employee terminates employment with an employer. All accumulated sick leave will be forwarded to PERS and a balance-of-contract check will be provided to the retiree, i.e., all money that the employee has earned including the last day of work will be given to the employee at the time of retirement. If the employee is a union member all seniority in the unit will be forfeited.

 For those employees who are rehired with the district, a new contract will be established and a new PA issued for the contract period. Sick leave accrued before retirement is gone and a new sick leave accrual begins when rehired. The number of sick leave hours will be prorated based on the new contract period. The employee will retain, if any remain, the 3 days of personal leave which was allocated at the beginning of the year. For union members, a new hire date will be established for seniority purposes. For contractual purposes, the employee is considered a new employee and will be placed on probationary status: one year for classified employees and three years for certified employees.

 Medical and dental insurance: All HDESD employees who are eligible for and enrolled in the HDESD medical/dental insurance plan at the time of retirement may continue to enroll in the HDESD group insurance plan until age 65. The employee will need to fill out a new application and check the retiree box. Premium payments for retirees are at a tiered rate, i.e., different premium rates are paid depending on the number of people insured by that employee. Current tiered rates may be obtained from the HR office. Retirees need to fill out a new insurance form and check the retiree box instead of the active box.

Retirees who are rehired to work at a position eligible for insurance, will continue to receive up to the agreed-upon cap allowance for insurance premiums. However, due to the difference in premium price, the employee’s out-of-pocket expense may decrease or increase depending on the number of people insured by that employee. For those employees who do not work after retirement, the total insurance premium is the responsibility of the retiree and must be received by the HDESD payroll department by the 15th of the month for the following month.

 For further information, please contact:

Jayel Hayden, HDESD Director of Human Resources 541-693-5685 or [email protected]