An Act To Amend Provisions Limiting the Return to Work after Retirement by Teachers, School Employees and State Employees
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 1632
Committee: Appropriations and Financial Affairs
Sponsors: HILL, MARTIN, NELSON, KATZ, BEAVERS, FREDETTE
Amends: 5 MRSA §17859

Legislative Document 
No. 1632 
S.P.542 
In Senate, December 20,2011 
An Act To Amend Provisions Limiting the Return to Work after 
Retirement by Teachers, School Employees and State Employees 
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council purs]lant to Joint Rule 
203. 
Received by the Secretary of the Senate on December 16,2011. Referred to the Committee 
on Appropriations and Financial Affairs pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed. 
T ~e..t~ Gr. Co./\C'.\tY\ rr. 
JOSEPH O. CARLETON, JR. 
Secretary of the Senate 
Presented by Senator HILL of York. 
Cosponsored by Representative MARTIN of Eagle Lake, Representative NELSON of 
Falmouth and Senator: KATZ of Kennebec, Representatives: BEAVERS of South Berwick, 
FREDETTE of Newport. 
Pnnted on recycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  5 MRSA §17859, as amended by PL 2011, c. 420, Pt. L, §1, is further 
amended to read: 
§17859.  Retiring and returning to work 
1.  Restoration to service.  Any state employee or teacher school administrator who 
has reached normal retirement age and who retires after September 1, 2011 may be 
restored to service for up to 5 years.  The decision to hire a retired state employee or 
retired teacher school administrator under this section is at the discretion of the 
appointing authority.  The retired state employee or retired teacher school administrator 
must have had a bona fide termination of employment in accordance with state and 
federal laws and rules, may not return to employment after retirement with the same 
employer for at least 30 calendar days after the termination of employment and may not 
return to employment before the effective date of the person's retirement.  For the 
purposes of this section, "school administrator" means a superintendent as defined in Title 
20-A, section 1, subsection 39 or a principal as defined in Title 20-A, section 1, 
subsection 21. 
2.  Compensation and benefits.  The compensation and benefits of the retired state 
employee or retired teacher school administrator who returns to service after retirement as 
set out in subsection 1 is governed by this subsection. 
A.  The compensation of the retired state employee or retired teacher school 
administrator who returns to service must be set at 75% of the compensation 
established for the position to be filled, at a step determined by the appointing 
authority. 
B.  The retired state employee or retired teacher school administrator who returns to 
service under this section is not a member and therefore may not accrue additional 
creditable service or change the retired state employee's or retired teacher's school 
administrator's earnable compensation for benefit calculation purposes. 
C.  During the period of reemployment, the retired state employee or retired teacher 
school administrator is not entitled to health insurance, dental insurance or life 
insurance benefits.  The retired state employee or retired teacher school administrator 
is entitled to all other benefits for the reemployment position under collective 
bargaining agreements or civil service laws and rules.  Health insurance benefits must 
be provided under the provisions of section 285, subsection 1-A for retired state 
employees or Title 20-A, section 13451 for retired teachers school administrators and 
life insurance benefits must be provided under the provisions of section 18055. 
3.  Contributions to the Maine Public Employees Retirement System and state 
group health plan.  The portion of the employer contribution that goes to pay the 
retirement system for the unfunded liability and the state group health plan for retiree 
health care must be continued and based on the retired state employee's or retired 
teacher's school administrator's compensation as provided under subsection 2 during the 
reemployment period. 
4.  Notification requirements.  Employers under this section are required to identify 
and report to the retirement system, in the manner specified by the retirement system, 
each individual who is a retiree who becomes an employee of the employer under the 
option provided in this section.  Departments shall also report each retiree who becomes 
an employee to the Bureau of the Budget in a manner specified by the bureau.  The 
employer shall report each such employee whenever and so long as the employee is the 
employer's employee. 
5.  Exclusion.  A retired state employee or retired teacher who is hired as a substitute 
teacher is not subject to the restoration to service 5-year limitation in subsection 1 or the 
compensation limitation in subsection 2, paragraph A. 
SUMMARY 
This bill provides that limitations on conditions of restoration to service after 
retirement enacted in 2011 apply only to school superintendents and principals, not to 
state employees or teachers.