Longevity Pay
Longevity Pay for State Judges, Justices and Higher Education Employees

Longevity Pay for State Judges and Justices

Texas judges and justices are eligible for longevity pay if they meet certain requirements.

The monthly amount of longevity pay is the product of 0.05 multiplied by the amount of the judge’s or justice’s monthly state salary.

Longevity is calculated and becomes payable beginning with the month following the month the judge or justice completes 12 years of retirement service credit.

To be eligible to earn longevity, judges and justices must:

• Be paid salary by the state of Texas.
• Be a member of the Judicial Retirement System of Texas Plan One or Plan Two.
  – and –
• Be an active judge as defined in Texas Government Code, Section 74.041.

Effective Jan. 1, 2024, any judge or justice who previously retired from the Judicial Retirement System of Texas Plan 2 has the option to rejoin the retirement system when they resume full-time service as a judicial officer. A judge or justice who makes this election becomes a member of the retirement system and may be eligible for longevity pay if all other eligibility criteria is met. If the previously retired judge or justice does not rejoin the retirement system, then the membership criterion is not met, and the judge or justice is ineligible to receive longevity pay.

Longevity Pay for Institution of Higher Education Employees

All eligibility requirements apply to institutions of higher education. For purposes of institutions of higher education, a full-time state employee is one who is normally scheduled to work at least 40 hours per week in one non-academic position.

However, in some situations the definition of “one non-academic position” can vary, and the institution’s employee may still be eligible for longevity pay.

Each institution and/or board of regents for each system must determine if each non-academic position or appointment will be considered a separate appointment for purposes of determining full-time employment for an employee with multiple appointments in the institution or system. The institution and/or board of regents must:

• Ensure that employees are aware of the determination.
  – and –
• On request, provide written notice of the decision to the Comptroller’s office.

When requested, the institution and/or board must provide written notice of the decision to the Comptroller’s office at:

To submit your written notification electronically, please send a letter on agency letterhead to payroll.policy.mail@cpa.texas.gov.

Determining Full-Time Status of Employees of Institutions of Higher Education:

• If an institution determines that all hours worked in each non-academic position or appointment are to be added together to determine whether the employee is full time or not, an eligible employee may be paid longevity pay if the sum of the scheduled work hours in all non-academic appointments is 40 or more hours.
• If an institution determines that each non-academic appointment is to be considered separately, an eligible employee must be scheduled to work at least 40 hours per week in one non-academic appointment before they can be paid longevity pay.
• If a board of regents for a system determines that non-academic appointments with different institutions in the system that are governed by the same board of regents can be added together to determine whether the employee is full time or not, an eligible employee may be paid longevity pay if the sum of the scheduled work hours in all non-academic appointments is 40 or more hours.
• If the board of regents determines that the non-academic appointments with different institutions in the same system (governed by the same board of regents) must be considered separately, an eligible employee must be scheduled to work at least 40 hours per week in one non-academic appointment with one institution before they can be paid longevity pay.
• If the institutions are not in the same system (governed by the same board of regents), an employee who holds non-academic appointments with two or more institutions must be scheduled to work at least 40 hours in a single non-academic appointment before they can be considered a full-time employee and be paid longevity pay.

Source

Texas Government Code, Chapter 74 (Section 74.041), Chapter 659 and Subchapter D (Sections 659.041 through 659.047) and Chapter 837 (Section 837.103).