34 Tex. Admin. Code § 5.49 - Longevity Pay
(a) Definitions.
The following words and terms, when used in this section, shall have the
following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) Calendar month--The period from the first
day through the last day of January, February, March, April, May, June, July,
August, September, October, November, or December.
(2) Day--The 24 consecutive hour period
beginning at 12:00 midnight and ending at 11:59 p.m.
(3) Full-time state employee--Has the meaning
assigned by Government Code, §
659.041(2).
(4) Hazardous duty position--Has the meaning
assigned by §
5.39(a)(6) of
this title (relating to Hazardous Duty Pay.
(5) Institution of higher education--Has the
meaning assigned by Education Code, §
61.003(8),
but does not include a public junior or community college.
(6) Lifetime service credit--The number of
months that an individual has served in a position listed in Government Code,
§
659.046, during the
individual's lifetime.
(7)
Military--The Armed Forces of the United States, the Texas National Guard, the
Texas State Guard, or a reserve component of the Armed Forces of the United
States.
(8) Retiree--A state
employee who retires from state employment and who receives an annuity based
wholly or partly on service as a state officer or state employee in a public
retirement system, as defined by Government Code, §
802.001(3),
that was credited to the state employee.
(9) State agency--
(A) a board, commission, department, office,
or other entity that is in the executive branch of state government, including
an institution of higher education;
(B) the legislature or a legislative agency;
or
(C) the supreme court, the court
of criminal appeals, a court of appeals, the state bar, or another state
judicial agency.
(10)
State employee--Has the meaning assigned by Government Code, §
659.041(4).
(11) Workday--Any day that is not Saturday,
Sunday, or a state or national holiday under Government Code, §
662.003. The term
includes a state or national holiday on which a state employee is not entitled
to a paid day off from work under Government Code, §
662.005.
(b) Authority. Longevity pay is
governed by Government Code, Chapter 659, Subchapter D; the General
Appropriations Act; and the rules adopted by the comptroller under Government
Code, Chapter 659, Subchapter D.
(c) Verification of prior state employment
periods. A state agency that currently employs a state employee who accrued
lifetime service credit during one or more previous employments shall verify
the amount of that credit.
(d)
Effective service date.
(1) A state
employee's "effective service date" is used to determine the amount of the
employee's lifetime service credit.
(2) "Effective service date" is determined by
completing the following steps:
(A) adding
together all days the employee served in all previous periods of employment
with the state;
(B) counting
backward from the first day of the employee's current continuous employment
with the state using the total number of days calculated in subparagraph (A) of
this paragraph; and
(C) except as
provided in subsection (l) of this section, counting forward the number of
months in which the employee was on leave without pay for any full calendar
month during all periods of employment using the date calculated in
subparagraph (B) of this paragraph.
(3) An example of determining a state
employee's effective service date is as follows: The employee's first day of
employment at your agency is February 10, 2021. The employee had two previous
periods of state employment. The first previous period of employment was from
January 6, 2017 to May 25, 2017, or 140 days. The second previous period of
employment was from October 1, 2018 to December 31, 2020, or 823 days. During
the employee's second previous period of employment, the employee had one
period of leave without pay from March 25, 2019 to April 30, 2019, for a total
of one full calendar month of leave without pay. To determine the employee's
effective service date, first add together the total number of days in the
employee's two previous periods of state employment to arrive at 933 days.
Next, count backward 933 days from February 10, 2021, to arrive at June 24,
2018. Finally, count forward one month (the number of months in which the
employee was on leave without pay for any full calendar month during all
periods of employment) from June 24, 2018 to arrive at July 24, 2018, which is
the employee's effective service date.
(4) An individual's transfer from one state
agency to another shall not interrupt continuity of employment if no workdays
occur between the two employments.
(e) Workday. If an individual is a state
employee for any part of a workday, the individual is considered to be a state
employee for the entire workday for the purpose of longevity pay.
(f) Change in status. A full-time state
employee in paid status on the first workday of the calendar month is entitled
to the full amount of longevity pay for that calendar month even if the
employee terminates state employment after the first workday of that calendar
month.
(g) Employees of
Institutions of Higher Education.
(1) The
determinations required by Government Code, §
659.0411(a) and
(b) must be made publicly available to all
employees under the institution's or board of regent's jurisdiction and must be
made available to the comptroller, upon request by the comptroller.
(2) The determinations required by Government
Code, §
659.0411(a) and
(b) shall not take effect until they have
been made publicly available to all employees under the institution's or board
of regent's jurisdiction.
(3) The
determinations required by Government Code, §
659.0411(b)
must apply to every institution under the board of regent's
jurisdiction.
(h) Return
to work retirees who leave state employment.
(1) A retiree who retired from state
employment on or after June 1, 2005, is not entitled to longevity pay upon
returning to state employment.
(2)
A retiree who retired from state employment prior to June 1, 2005, and did not
return to state employment prior to September 1, 2005, is not entitled to
longevity pay upon returning to state employment.
(3) A retiree who retired from state
employment prior to June 1, 2005, returned to state employment prior to
September 1, 2005, and subsequently leaves state employment, is not entitled to
longevity pay upon returning to state employment.
(i) Public retirement system. "Public
retirement system," as the term is used in Government Code, §
659.042(7)
and subsection (a)(8) of this section, includes the Employees Retirement System
of Texas; Teacher Retirement System; and Optional Retirement Program as
described in Government Code, Chapter 830.
(j) Hazardous duty pay.
(1) A state employee's lifetime service
credit for the purpose of longevity pay shall include any period served in a
hazardous duty position, except as provided in Government Code, §
659.046(f)(2)
or paragraph (2) of this subsection.
(2) A state employee is not entitled to
accrue lifetime service credit for the purpose of longevity pay during the
period the employee serves in a hazardous duty position that entitles the
employee to receive hazardous duty pay. When the employee is no longer serving
in the hazardous duty position, the employee is entitled to accrue the lifetime
service credit for the purpose of longevity pay for the period the employee
previously served in the hazardous duty position.
(3) For the purpose of longevity pay,
lifetime service credit is accrued during the one year that a state employee
serves in a hazardous duty position before becoming eligible or entitled to
receive hazardous duty pay. The amount of longevity pay the employee receives
during that year is based on the credit accrued during that year. But, the
lifetime service credit used to calculate the amount of longevity pay received
by the employee while receiving hazardous duty pay shall not include the one
year waiting period.
(4) If a state
employee received hazardous duty pay based on total state service performed
before May 29, 1987, and held a position that required the performance of
hazardous duty on May 29, 1987, the employee's lifetime service credit for the
purpose of longevity pay shall not include any state service credit the
employee accrued for the purpose of hazardous duty pay before May 29,
1987.
(k) Contract for
less than 12 calendar months. An individual eligible to accrue lifetime service
credit who works for a state agency under a formal written contract for less
than 12 calendar months each year accrues 12 calendar months of credit each
year if the individual is constantly under contract during the calendar months
the individual does not work. The individual is constantly under contract if
the individual's contract for the next work period is entered into before the
end of the existing work period, even though the individual will not work
during the interim period.
(l)
Military service. If an individual leaves a position that accrues lifetime
service credit (or that would have accrued lifetime service credit had the
longevity pay law been in effect when the individual left the position) to
serve in the military and the individual is reemployed with the state after
completing that service in accordance with any applicable federal or state
veterans' reemployment law, the individual accrued lifetime service credit
during that service, even if the individual is on leave without pay during the
individual's period of military service.
Notes
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