Participation in the Early Retirement Incentive (ERI) is voluntary and is available to employees who qualify based on the eligibility requirements set forth below.
2.1. It is the responsibility of each potential early retiree to carefully evaluate his/her personal economic situation with respect to the Utah Retirement System (URS) and other retirement income prior to applying for District ERI.2.2. ERIs provided by the Washington County School District are subject to change and benefits described in this Policy are not vested until the employee is eligible for and has applied for Utah State Retirement, signed a District Application for Incentive Participation, and received Board approval of an ERI Application. Once the signed application and agreement Form(s) are approved by the Board, the decision of the employee to retire from the District may not be rescinded without the written agreement of both the employee and the Board.
2.3. No action may be brought in any court to enforce or contest any provision, term, or condition of this policy unless the person contesting the act or omission has exhausted the administrative remedy provided in the WCSD Grievance Procedure, Policy1720, except the grievance shall be filed at step one of the formal procedure. (5-8-07)
3.1. Definitions:3.1.1. District means Washington County School District.3.1.2. Retirement is the complete separation from employment in the Washington County School District as a Retired Employee.
3.1.3. Retired Employee means a former employee of the District that has entered into Retirement.
3.1.4. FTE means Full Time Equivalent employee. The maximum FTE calculation for the purposes of this policy is one (1). To be credited with one FTE a classified employee must have been employed in a position that required at least 40 hours of work per week for a minimum of 180 days or more and a Certified employee must have been contracted to work for the entire school year on a "full time" basis. The fraction of a part-time contract will determine the appropriate fraction of an FTE.
3.2. Eligibility Requirements
3.2.1.To qualify for the ERI the applicant must:
- Have been continuously employed by the District for a minimum of ten (10) consecutive years just prior to retirement under contracts that were established for at least 20 hours per week for a minimum of 180 days per contract year, and
- Qualify for retirement benefits from the Utah Retirement Systems (URS) as of the date of retirement from the District, and
- Apply for retirement benefits from the URS at least 30 days prior to the date of retirement, and
- Not be receiving retirement benefits from the URS because of an earlier retirement.
3.2.2. The applicant must submit a signed application for retirement to the URS according to its rules and an application for District ERI on District provided forms. Failure to actually retire according to URS rules immediately following District employment will result in forfeiture of the ERI and all District benefits.
3.2.3. The applicant must be eligible for retirement benefits under rules of the URS at the end of the contract year in which the application is submitted.
3.3. Application and Notice Requirements::
3.3.1. Retirement Application WCSD Form 542 and Agreement Form(s) may be obtained from the District Office.3.3.2. To be considered for the ERI, a retirement application (WCSD Form 542) must be completed and submitted to the Office of the Superintendent no later than the 31st of January of the final year of service.
3.3.3. At the time application is filed, the applicant must be eligible to retire under the rules of the URS at the end of the employee's current contract year.
3.3.4. The applications of those candidates that qualify for the program will be forwarded to the Board for appropriate action at a regularly scheduled Board meeting. Any questions regarding the eligibility of an individual will be reviewed with the applicant by the Human Resource Director.
3.3.5. Any exceptions to this policy, to include an early retirement effective date other than at the end of the contract year, will require Board action. Benefits must comply with application deadline dates identified in Table 3.4. and other eligibility requirements described in this policy. Access to the "Phase-Out" ERI Program will end on January 31, 2009.
3.4. "Phase-Out" Early Retirement Incentive (ERI) Program:
3.4.1. Any individual who participated in the "Phase-Out" ERI Program is not eligible for participation in the ERI Program described in Sections 3.5. et seq.3.4.2. Eligibility to participate in the "Phase-Out" ERI Program expired on January 31, 2009, access to the "Phase-Out" ERI program is terminated. All benefits described in Sections 3.4. et seq. of this policy terminated and are replaced with the ERI Program described under Sections 3.5. et seq.
3.5. Early Retirement Incentive (ERI):
3.5.1. Employees must meet all eligibility and application requirements listed in Sections 3.2 and 3.3.3.5.2. The Benefit payment identified in Table 3.5 will be adjusted by the employee's average FTE over the last 10 years of service. For example, an eligible employee who worked half-time during the last 10 years will have an average FTE of .5, the employee will therefore receive half of the amount in the applicable row of Table 3.5 as the final benefit payment. Table 3.5
Years of WCSD Qualifying Employment Service Credit at time of retirement (see § 3.2.1) Maximum Lump Sum Benefit Payment to a qualified Tax Sheltered Annuity Plan 0 to 9.9 Ineligible 10 to 14.9 $5,000 15 to 19.9 $10,000 20 to 24.9 $15,000 25 or more $25,000 3.5.3. Amounts in Table 3.5 will be adjusted at the same rate as the cost of living adjustments made to the teacher's salary schedule beginning after the 2006-07 school year.3.5.4. The Lump Sum Benefit Payment may be used to purchase URS retirement service credit under Utah Code 49-3-410, deposited to a qualified Tax Sheltered Annuity such as a 401A, 401K, or 403B, or a combination of any such distribution within 3 weeks of the employee's retirement date. In no case will the employee be eligible for a "Cash" payment.
3.6. Re-employment after retirement:
3.6.1. An employee who retires from the District may be rehired within the limitations and conditions specified in Utah Code Amended § 49-11-504; except that, employees hired into "full-time" positions as defined by UCA § 49-11-504 (3) within six months of the date of retirement will be ineligible for continued participation in the District ERI and must repay the District for any benefits received under this policy.3.6.2. Post-retired former District employees who participated in the "phase-out" ERI section 3.4 are considered to have a voluntary break in service for the purposes of pay setting. Prior years of service or experience will not count toward steps on the pay scale.
3.6.3. Employees who receive benefits under the Early Retirement Incentive (ERI) program, described in Policy 1320.3.5, are not subject to the limitations established in paragraph 3.6.2 that excludes credit for prior years of service or experience toward steps on the pay scale.
Distribution: Board Members, Superintendent, Associations,
Assistant Superintendents, Administrators and Principals.
Form 542-Employee Retirement Application