Q. Executive Order N-3-22 provided flexibility for California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) retirees to fill in some of the gaps of the COVID-19 pandemic-induced staffing shortage (see “Additional Details for the Staffing Shortage Executive Order” in the January 2022 Fiscal Report). With that Executive Order set to expire on March 31, if a CalSTRS retiree is within the 180-day separation window, must he/she stop providing services after that date?
A. The short answer is no. Late February, Executive Order N-4-22 was released, which amends some of the applicable provisions in Executive Order N-3-22. Under this new Executive Order, the 180-calendar day separation-from-service requirement for retirees who have attained normal retirement age (60 or 62 years of age) remains suspended for the entire 2021-22 school year if the retired member returned to work during the period of July 1, 2021, through March 31, 2022, which sounds to be your case. The suspension of the separation-from-service requirement for these retired members sunsets June 30, 2022.
If the retired member’s separation-from-service period extends into the 2022-23 school year and they would like to continue to be exempt from the separation-from-service requirement, governing body approval must be obtained, and the standard forms and board resolution must be submitted to CalSTRS by the employer.
For this topic and others, the CalSTRS Employer Directive on Executive Order N-4-22 contains more details.