4.2 Retirement Systems Membership
Participation in a retirement system is mandatory for all College employees who meet the eligibility requirement. Effective July 1, 2013, all full-time and regular part-time employees scheduled to work 500 or more hours in a fiscal year shall be enrolled in the Bucks County Community College Retirement plan administered under the College’s contract with the Teachers’ Insurance & Annuity Association/College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA/CREF).
Part-time faculty members, temporary, seasonal and contract employees are required to join the Bucks County Community College Retirement Plan if they meet the eligibility requirement. They will be notified of their eligibility by Human Resources. It is the employee’s responsibility to complete the enrollment application and payroll contribution authorization within one month of being notified of eligibility.
Exceptions:
- Employees who are members of the Public School Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS) or the State Employees’ Retirement System (SERS) at employment may continue their participation in those retirement plan systems as College employees.
- New employees employed under a collective bargaining agreement or handbook which permits election among three retirement plans may select among those plans until the collective bargaining unit and/or handbook provides for only one retirement plan. The eligibility requirements for the three retirement programs are outlined below:
- Eligibility for the Public School Employees’ Retirement System is 500 hours worked in a fiscal year.
- Eligibility for the State Employees’ Retirement System is 750 hours worked in a calendar year.
- Eligibility for the Teachers’ Insurance and Annuity Association/College Retirement Equities Fund is 500 hours worked in a fiscal year.
- Part-time faculty members who are receiving PSERS retirement system benefits may join the TIAA-CREF retirement plan immediately upon employment. This exception will end if legislative relief is enacted that allows part-time faculty members to teach without loss of PSERS retirement benefits.
Procedure: Retirement System Eligibility
Fulltime and Regular Part-time employees will be enrolled at their date of hire if their anticipated work schedule satisfies pension eligibility.
The work schedules of part-time employees will be monitored. Supervisors must submit requests for employees to work 500 hours and above on the Request for Approval to Exceed 500 Hours form. Deans Council must approve schedules that will exceed 500 hours in a fiscal year. Approval must be requested on an annual basis. The College retains the right to restrict current and future part-time employees to fewer than 500 hours in a year.
Continuing Education, per diem and contracted employees and part-time faculty will be notified by Human Resources of pension participation requirements and enrolled in a pension plan when they meet eligibility. Pension eligibility is based on total hours worked for all positions held by an employee in a fiscal year.
Procedure: Recordkeeping
- Part-time Faculty
For pension eligibility purposes, 1 credit teaching or load credit equivalent per semester equals 15 hours worked. Therefore, a 3 credit class would be counted as 45 hours worked. Faculty contract limits will pertain.
Part-time faculty working as advising specialists, advisors, counselors, librarians, tutors or music lesson instructors will be credited for work hours based on logs or timesheets, rather than credits.
Part-time faculty with assignments that exceeded 500 hours during fiscal year 2004- 05 will be grandfathered for pension purposes. Faculty schedules will not be restricted in order to circumvent pension eligibility. - Continuing Education, contracted and per diem employees
Continuing Education, contracted and per diem employee hours will be credited for hours worked as recorded on their payroll records.
Procedure: Special Conditions of Eligibility
- Active members of Public School Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS) or State Employees’ Retirement System (SERS)
- Part-time employees who are active PSERS or SERS members at another employer must contribute to PSERS or SERS upon employment at the College. It is the employee’s responsibility to notify the Human Resources Office if they are active PSERS or SERS members.
- Retirees receiving benefits from the Public School Employee Retirement System (PSERS)
- PSERS retirees may be employed by Bucks County Community College only if one of the following conditions apply: employment is due to an emergency or shortage of school personnel; employment is in an extracurricular position under a separate contract; or the employee is eligible for and elects to join an approved alternative pension plan.
- Employment as a part-time employee in the areas of Continuing Education, Workforce Development and Public Safety will be considered extra-curricular, paid under a separate contract and will not impact an employee’s public school retirement benefit.
- In order to provide an approved alternate pension plan, Bucks County Community College will waive the TIAA-CREF plan 1000 hour eligibility requirement for Part- Time Faculty who retired with PSERS benefits. Their eligibility waiver will end if legislative relief is enacted that allows Part-Time Faculty to teach without loss of PSERS retirement benefits.
- Retirees receiving benefits from the State Employee Retirement System (SERS)
- SERS retirees are not eligible to work at Bucks County Community College and receive SERS retirement benefits unless an emergency exists that would create a serious impairment of service.
- Retirees receiving benefits from TIAA-CREF
- TIAA-CREF retirees are eligible to work for Bucks County Community College, but
will be enrolled in a pension plan if eligibility is met.
- TIAA-CREF retirees are eligible to work for Bucks County Community College, but