Service Credit

Overview

Service credit is the number of years earned through contributing service or purchased for certain types of past employment and leaves of absence. Service credit is reported as a percentage of 1.00 full year and is granted for service occurring between July 1 and June 30 of each year. It is used to determine a member’s eligibility to retire and to calculate the member’s monthly benefit.

Employer Responsibility

Employers are required to calculate and report service credit for each active member on the annual report submitted to STRS Ohio every August. STRS Ohio does not see this information when payroll reports are transmitted, so it must be entered on the annual report. If a member has a question about service credit earned for any fiscal year, STRS Ohio will refer that individual to the employer, as the employer is responsible for tracking each member’s number of days worked.

When a member chooses to take a benefit from STRS Ohio, either through retirement or by requesting a withdrawal of their account, employers are asked to include the member’s service credit for the fiscal year on the final employer certification.

Full Time Versus Part Time

Besides tracking the number of days worked, employers also need to determine whether individuals in STRS Ohio-covered positions meet the criteria for full time or part time, as defined by STRS Ohio for service credit calculation purposes.

For K–12 employers, a member is considered to be full time when the member’s contract:

  1. Begins and ends on the first and last day of a 365-day year or is based on a school year of at least the minimum hours required by law; AND
  2. Provides compensation equal to 100% of the full-time salary as defined by the employer’s salary schedule for an individual teaching all day, every day.

For college and university employers, a member is considered to be full time when the member’s contract:

  1. Begins and ends on the first and last day of a 365-day year or a two-semester academic year; AND
  2. Provides compensation equal to the rate paid to other educators of the same experience teaching the designated full-time equivalent workload.

Members who do not meet the criteria for being full time are considered to be part time. Therefore, if a full-time contracted individual does not complete 120 days of work, then service credit is calculated using the part-time rule.

An employer’s definition of “full-time service” may differ from the STRS Ohio definition for purposes of granting fringe benefits or other policies and procedures. However, for purposes of calculating STRS Ohio service credit, employers must use the STRS Ohio definition.