SECTION 31.5. Notice and Forfeiture Requirements for Certain Service Retirees

(a) A service retiree with an effective date of retirement after January 1, 2021, shall only forfeit the service retiree's monthly annuity payment based on the service retiree's employment by a Texas public educational institution during a calendar month if TRS has previously issued the warnings required by subsections (b) and (c) of this section to the retiree.

(b) If TRS determines that a service retiree's employment by a Texas public educational institution does not qualify for an exception under Subchapter B of this chapter (relating to Employment after Retirement Exceptions), TRS shall issue a written EAR warning to the service retiree notifying the retiree of this fact. The EAR warning under this subsection may address multiple months of the service retiree's employment.

(c) If TRS determines that a service retiree's employment by a Texas public educational institution does not qualify for an exception under Subchapter B of this chapter and that employment occurs in a month after the month TRS issued to the service retiree the warning under subsection (b) of this section, then TRS shall issue a second EAR warning to the service retiree that:

(1) notifies the service retiree of this fact; and

(2) requires the service retiree to pay TRS an amount equal to the lesser of the total amount of either:

(A) the service retiree's gross monthly annuity payments for the months addressed by this warning; or

(B) the total gross amount of compensation earned by the service retiree during the months addressed by this warning as described by §31.6 of this title (relating to Second EAR Warning Payments).

(d) The EAR warning under subsection (c) of this section may address multiple months of the service retiree's employment.

(e) If TRS determines that a service retiree's employment by a Texas public educational institution does not qualify for an exception under Subchapter B of this chapter and that employment occurs in a month after the month TRS issued to the retiree the second EAR warning under subsection (c) of this section, the service retiree is not entitled to receive a monthly annuity payment for any such month and TRS shall collect any annuity payments the service retiree received to which the service retiree was not entitled.

(f) If TRS determines after issuing an EAR warning under subsections (b) or (c) of this section that the service retiree's employment by a Texas public educational institution did not qualify for an exception under Subchapter B of this chapter and that employment occurred in a month prior to or during the month TRS issued such a warning but was not included in the warning, then TRS shall:

(1) issue an EAR warning in accordance with subsection (b) of this section if the excluded month was the month TRS issued the EAR warning under that subsection or an earlier month; or

(2) issue an EAR warning and request for payment under subsection (c) of this section if the excluded month was the month TRS issued the EAR warning under that subsection or in an earlier month that was also after the month TRS issued the EAR warning under subsection (b) of this section.

(g) If a service retiree appeals a TRS determination regarding the service retiree's employment with a Texas public educational institution during a month or months that TRS included in an EAR warning under subsection (b) or (c) of this section, the EAR warning shall still be considered to have been issued by TRS unless the service retiree's appeal contests every month addressed by the applicable warning. If the service retiree contests the TRS determination for every month included in an EAR warning, that EAR warning shall not be considered to have been issued during the pendency of the service retiree's appeal.

(h) If a service retiree prevails on an appeal of every month included in an EAR warning under subsection (b) or (c) of this section, then TRS shall rescind the EAR warning. If the service retiree's appeal does not prevail on any month included in an EAR warning under subsection (b) or (c) of this section, then the EAR warning shall be reinstated and TRS shall adjust the amounts owed by the service retiree to TRS, if any, for months after the issuance of the reinstated EAR warning in which TRS determined the service retiree's employment by a Texas public educational institution did not qualify for an exception to the limits on EAR as provided by Subchapter B of this chapter.

(i) TRS shall consider an EAR warning under this section to have been issued on the date TRS sends the warning to the service retiree.

Source Note: The provisions of this §31.5 adopted to be effective November 1, 2021, 46 TexReg 6940; amended to be effective February 1, 2024, 49 TexReg 280