Written Explanation for Early Contract Completion Required When a Member Retires

Occasionally, teachers will work weekend days or holidays to complete their contracts ahead of schedule so they can retire early. For STRS Ohio purposes, compensation earned for work performed on weekends or holidays for the purpose of early contract completion may not qualify for retirement contributions.

For example, a teacher with a 185-day contract wants to retire June 1. To be eligible for retirement, her last day of employment needs to be May 31. Since the school year doesn’t end until June 3, her employer allows her to work Saturdays during the month of May to complete her contract.

In this example, compensation earned for this work may not qualify for retirement contributions.

To help us determine if compensation earned for weekend or holiday work qualifies for retirement contributions, employers must provide the following information when they submit deposit and service reports for members who have completed their contracts early:

• An explanation of why the member completed the contract early. This reason cannot be for retirement purposes.
• Evidence that other teachers, who are not retiring, also worked weekend days and/or holidays to complete their contracts early.
• The times and days the member worked, as well as an explanation of the work performed.

Please scan and email information to [email protected].

STRS Ohio will review the written documentation on a case-by-case basis to determine whether the compensation qualifies for retirement contributions.

Because this could affect a member’s final average salary calculation, it’s important that you provide us with this information when you submit a deposit and service report for any employee who may be affected.

In addition, STRS Ohio recommends the member discuss their intent to complete their contract early with an STRS Ohio benefits counselor. It’s important for the member to understand the impact compensation earned during weekends or holidays could have on their final average salary if it is disallowed.

If you have recently submitted a deposit and service report for a member who completed a contract early by working weekends or holidays, please notify your retirement reporting representative as soon as possible.