Benefit Replacement Pay for Institutions of Higher Education
Eligibility and Changes in Number of Hours Worked
Eligibility for Benefit Replacement Pay
Until Sept. 1, 2005, BRP recipients maintained their eligibility if they left one position and entered another state position within 12 months.
Eligible state employees who left state employment on any date from Sept. 29, 2004, to Aug. 31, 2005, must have returned to work before Sept. 30, 2005, to remain eligible for BRP.
Effective on and after Sept. 1, 2005, eligible state employees who leave state employment for 30 consecutive days or more are ineligible to receive BRP upon reemployment with the state.
Employees hired after Aug. 31, 1995, are not eligible to receive BRP unless they were prior recipients.
Changes in the Number of Hours Employees Are Regularly Scheduled to Work
The amount of BRP that an eligible state employee is entitled to receive is not affected by a change in the number of hours that the employee is regularly scheduled to work.
Therefore, the amount of BRP for an employee who was part time during the pay period that included Oct. 31, 1995, would not have changed if the employee became full time at a future date. Similarly, the amount of BRP for an employee who was full time during the pay period that included Oct. 31, 1995, would not have changed if the employee became part time at a future date. Institutions of higher education generally have substantial discretion to determine the compensation amounts of their employees.
Whenever an institution of higher education decides to change an eligible state employee’s regularly scheduled work hours, the institution generally may negotiate with the employee about a new compensation amount. The negotiations may consider the fact that BRP does not change when the number of regularly scheduled work hours changes. The following two examples illustrate this principle:
Example 1 – Half Time to Full Time:
Assume an employee who was half time during the pay period that included Oct. 31, 1995, moved to full time effective April 1, 1996.
The employee’s half-time annualized compensation rate as of Oct. 31, 1995, was $13,000, exclusive of BRP. Because the employee was a member of the Teacher Retirement System (TRS), the employee was entitled to $812.50 in BRP per year.
The amount of this entitlement did not change when the employee moved to full time. Regardless of the employee’s new compensation rate after the change to full time, the employee’s BRP entitlement remained $812.50.
The employing institution of higher education may have agreed to pay the employee more in non-BRP compensation to make up for the BRP amount that did not change. This extra non-BRP compensation should not be termed or reported as BRP and is not supported by the appropriation allocations discussed elsewhere in this notice.
Example 2 – Full Time to Half Time:
Assume an employee who was full time during the pay period that included Oct. 31, 1995, moved to half time effective April 1, 1996.
The employee’s full-time annualized compensation rate as of Oct. 31, 1995 was $26,000. Because the employee was a member of TRS, the employee was entitled to $1,031.25 in BRP per year.
The amount of this entitlement did not change when the employee moved to half time. Regardless of the employee’s new compensation rate after the change to half time, the employee’s BRP entitlement remained $1,031.25.
The employing institution of higher education may have agreed to pay the employee less in non-BRP compensation to make up for the BRP amount that did not change. The institution is still required to pay $1,031.25 in BRP to the employee, and the appropriation allocations discussed elsewhere in this notice fully support this payment.
In summary, the employee’s salary established by the institution after a change in FTE must include the BRP to which the employee was entitled based on their Oct. 31, 1995, compensation. The institution must document in its records that the BRP is included in the employee’s compensation. The appropriation to support the employee’s BRP remains constant at the amount calculated based on their Oct. 31, 1995, compensation.