Public Act 147 of 2023 working after retirement FAQ

Yes. Report your directly hired retirees under the 9005 class code, and indirectly hired retirees under the 9025 class code.

Continue to submit a DTL4 record for directly hired retired employees. Retired employees hired indirectly do not require a DTL4 record.

Yes. PA 147 of 2023 is in effect until Oct. 10, 2028.

PA 147 of 2023 has specific requirements for retirees who were superintendents when they retired. ORS has identified the employee listed in the email as a former superintendent who has been retired for less than six consecutive months. When you send this information to ORS_Web_Reporting@Michigan.gov, we can evaluate whether the retiree is in compliance with PA 147 of 2023. Your response must be timely because the pension decision must be timely. If a retiree receives a pension payment in error because the noncompliance was not identified timely, the retiree must pay it back to ORS. The retiree faces potential hardship, and the reporting unit and ORS have extra work that could have been avoided.

You can continue to use the current guide for all records dated after July 25, 2022. For adjustments to records dated before that date, use the old version of the Working after retirement — employer guides found in the Reporting Instruction Manual's Appendix B, section B.07.

The most complete information about the impact on retirees and employees considering working after retirement is provided on the Working After You Retire webpage on the ORS Public School Employees’ Retirement System website. You and your employees can review the information there, but it does not impact reporting.

A bona fide termination of employment means that there is a complete severing of the employer-employee relationship. A retiree cannot work in a Michigan public school reporting unit during the month of their retirement effective date, even as a volunteer. The retiree cannot have a promise of reemployment or a contract for future employment in place to work for a Michigan public school reporting unit before they terminate employment and begin collecting a pension.

Ultimately, it’s the retired employee’s responsibility to ensure that they’ve met the bona fide termination requirements. In addition, it isn’t possible for you, the reporting unit, to know with certainty that they’ve met the complete requirements.

Therefore, as the employer, you can refer them to the Working After You Retire webpage on the ORS Public School Employees’ Retirement System website as their first point of contact to determine if they’ve met the bona fide termination requirements.

As the reporting unit, you can see the retired employee’s effective date of retirement on the Member Benefit link of the Employer Reporting website. You can use this date to determine whether they have been retired at least one month, but this is only one part of the requirements for a bona fide termination.

Report the retiree as you would any retiree. A retired employee with a bona fide termination may return to work, either directly or indirectly, with no effect on their pension or insurance premium subsidy unless or until they have earned $15,100 in the current calendar year. If they exceed that amount in the current calendar year, they temporarily forfeit their pension and insurance premium subsidy.

As the employer, refer retired employees to the Working After You Retire page on the ORS Public School Employees’ Retirement System website where they can research the new law and its impact on their pension and insurance premium subsidy.

Refer retired employees to the Working After You Retire webpage on the ORS Public School Employees’ Retirement System website where they can research the new law and its impact on their pension and insurance premium subsidy.

If you are asked to verify a retiree’s date of termination, send a letter stating the retiree’s name and date of termination to:

Michigan Office of Retirement Services
PO Box 30171
Lansing, MI 48909-7671