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TWU Human Resources>Benefits & Welfare >Transfer from/to Another Texas State Agency
Benefits & Welfare
Transfer from/to Another Texas State Agency
An employee who directly
transfers from one Texas State Agency to another either transfers or retains
certain benefits.
Vacation/Sick Leave
and Longevity
- The total number of
months of employment with the State of Texas is used to determine the amount
of vacation leave
and longevity pay for which a state employee is eligible.
- Employees who have
eligible, previous State of Texas service should notify the Office of Human
Resources (OHR) Payroll area to secure proper credit for that employment toward
vacation leave,
sick leave
and
longevity
accruals.
- Credit for previous state
service will be given to the employee upon receipt of written documentation
from the previous state agency.
- Public school/ISD service,
junior college service, and community college service are NOT
eligible for previous state service credit.
- A state employee who
transfers directly from one state agency to another shall be given credit by
the receiving agency for the accrued balance of his or her accumulated
vacation and sick leave, provided that his or her employment with the state is
uninterrupted. If rehired by a state agency within one year, sick leave will
be re-instated.
- All regular full-time
staff (100% FTE) employees other than law enforcement personnel who are eligible
for hazardous duty pay are eligible for longevity pay of $20 per month after
the completion of two years of service with the University and/or the State
of Texas. Longevity pay increases after every two years of Texas State service
by
another $20 per month, for up to a maximum of forty-two years service.
Questions about
previous state service should be directed to the OHR Payroll area.
Retirement
- Teacher Retirement
System (TRS)
- Your TRS service can go
with you from one Texas State employer to another.
- An employee who
transfers directly (no break in service) from another Texas
State employer and who participated in the TRS
will retain TRS years of service and contributions when employed with the new agency.
- An employee who has a
break in service between one agency to another, but did NOT
withdraw TRS funds, will retain his/her TRS years of service and
contributions when employed with the new agency.
- An employee who has a break in service between
one agency to another AND withdrew
TRS funds after last employment, will start over with years of
service and contributions.
- Optional Retirement
Program (ORP) (from the Texas
Higher Ed Coordinating Board Overview of TRS and ORP)
- Your ORP service could
go with you from State to State depending on the ORP carrier you select.
- Transferability of
ORP among Texas public institutions of higher education is similar to that
available under TRS. However, higher education faculty, librarians,
and certain professionals and administrators normally require interstate
mobility during their careers. To enhance national recruitment of
these employees, ORP was created as a more "portable" alternative to TRS.
Most colleges and universities across the nation offer 403(b) investment
opportunities for their employees, so it is highly likely that a
prospective or new ORP-eligible employee with previous higher education
employment has already contributed to a 403(b) retirement plan and may
wish to continue to do so. Likewise, terminated ORP participants
will probably have the opportunity to contribute to a 403(b) plan if
subsequently employed by a private or out-of-state institution.
- ORP is considered a
"portable" retirement plan because participants "take their ORP fund with
them" when they terminate. A vested ORP participant has "ownership"
rights to state contributions, so both employee and state contributions
are available at termination. The relatively short one-year and one
day vesting
period for ORP is a valuable feature of its portability design.
After termination of employment, ORP participants independently manage
their retirement funds, including determination of the amount and timing
of withdrawals, within contractual provisions.
- Returning to TRS after
ORP Participation (from the Texas
Higher Ed Coordinating Board Overview of TRS and ORP)
- Employees who elect ORP
cannot return to active contributing TRS membership during the remainder of
their careers in Texas public higher education except under two
circumstances:
- ORP participant who
has not satisfied the ORP vesting period becomes employed by a Texas
public institution of higher education in a position that is eligible
under TRS but is not ORP-eligible. This individual must return to TRS
membership for the remainder of his or her career in Texas public higher
education and will never be eligible for ORP again, even if subsequently
employed in an ORP-eligible position
- ORP participant leave
public higher education to work in Texas public K-12 education (including
regional education service centers) or a state agency covered by TRS that
does not offer ORP. Because ORP is not available, this employee must
return to TRS. Upon subsequent employment in Texas public higher
education, this individual cannot resume ORP participation, even if he or
she become employed in an ORP-eligible position or had previously vested
under ORP.
Questions about retirement should be directed to the OHR
Benefits area.
Insurance
- State of Texas employees
who are enrolled in the ERS State of Texas Group Benefits Program (GBP) can transfer from one agency
to another without loss of coverage provided there is no break in coverage.
- When you terminate your
employment with one agency, your coverage continues through the end of the
month in which you work your last day or are removed from payroll, whichever
is later. For example, if your last day of
employment is 06/15/2007, your insurance coverage will end at midnight on
06/30/2007.
- If you transfer directly
to another State of Texas employer, your insurance can be reinstated at your
new employer.
- You will be considered
a "rehire" at the new agency.
- You MUST
complete appropriate GBP insurance paperwork to continue your coverage.
- If you DO NOT
complete the required GBP paperwork, and you are a 100% FTE benefits
eligible employee at the new agency, you will be auto enrolled in just
the health and basic life for employee only.
- If you are employed in
a benefits eligible position less than 100% FTE, you must complete paperwork
or your benefits will be waived and you will not be eligible to enroll in
any coverages until Summer Enrollment (EOI may be required and coverage is not guaranteed).
- To continue your
coverage at the new agency, following are some examples of effective dates:
- Terminate employment
with State of Texas Employer 06/15/2007 (Friday)
- Rehire at new
agency 06/18/2007 (Monday)
- Insurance will
continue with prior agency through 06/30/2007
- New agency will
pick up coverage effective 07/01/2007
- Employee must
complete appropriate GBP insurance paperwork as soon as possible to
avoid a break in coverage
- If paperwork is NOT
completed, employee will be automatically enrolled in health and basic life for
employee only
- Terminate employment
with State of Texas Employer 06/15/2007
- Rehire at new
agency 07/15/2007
- Insurance will
continue with prior agency through 06/30/2007
- Because there is a
break in coverage from 06/01/2007 to hire date of 06/15/2007, the employee will have
a 90 day waiting period, and the health coverage will not be effective
until 09/01/2007.
- However, there is
no waiting period for the optional coverages and the employee can
complete paperwork prior to employment or within 30 days with new agency
to enroll in optional coverages.
- To enroll in
optional coverages, employee must complete appropriate GBP insurance
paperwork no later than 30 days after date of hire, or be required to
wait until Summer Enrollment to enroll (EOI may be required and coverage is not guaranteed).
- If paperwork is NOT
completed, the employee will be automatically enrolled in health and basic life for
employee only if full-time, or not enrolled at all if regular part-time.
- You will have a new
window of opportunity with the option of continuing the same coverage that
you had at the prior agency, or adding/dropping any coverage.
- Any salary-driven
benefit premiums will continue to be based on your September 1 salary for
the current fiscal year.
Questions about
insurance should be directed to the OHR Benefits area.
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