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Employment after retirement

See also HR: Employment After Retirement.

Retirees coming back to teach are hired into the position from which they retired. Note that once a tenured faculty member retires, they forfeit tenure. Any post-retirement employment is considered professional-track, Fixed Term, should be in a JM supervisory organization, and should be funded accordingly.

Note that if the proposed work is for research-related activities, the job in Workday will require assignment of scheduled weekly hours to allow effort certification.

PARs are never used to hire retirees. Instead, the process for Modified Service should be used, described on this page. Contracts are required for retired faculty who are rehired into professional-track positions through Modified Service. 

TRS vs. ORP retirees

The rules for returning to work are different for TRS and ORP retirees, as well as retirees from The University of Texas System or other state institutions and agencies. The retiree is responsible for checking with their retirement program provider about any possible ramifications before returning to service. See HR: Employment After Retirement for more information.

TRS retirees

TRS participants who plan to work in Texas public education after retiring should carefully review all requirements that apply to their situation to ensure that they do not revoke their retirement or lose monthly annuity payments by virtue of working in excess of allowable limits set by TRS. Human Resources strongly encourages TRS retirees to review the TRS Employment After Retirement Brochure (PDF) provided by TRS and to contact TRS directly if considering returning to work.

TRS retirees must have service break of at least one month from Workday retirement date before returning to work and are capped at 50% FTE across all positions.

ORP retirees

Texas ORP retirees may return to work at any time. ORP does not restrict the number of hours a retiree may be appointed.

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Modified Service

Review:

• EVPP: Faculty Retirement, pages 4-5, "Modified Service"

• HOP 2-2420: Modified Service and Phased Retirement for Faculty

The Board of Regents may appoint a faculty member who has retired to modified service. Recommendation for and appointment to modified service shall be made only if it has been determined that there is both justifiable instructional need, and that the individual's service will significantly benefit the university.

A faculty member who wishes to be considered for appointment to Modified Service should submit a request in writing to the department chair during the fiscal year in which they have decided to retire, before the budget is prepared for the following year. Requests for renewals of modified service appointments should be submitted to the chair each successive year. Review HOP 2-2420: Modified Service for prior approval procedures and additional information.

A retired faculty member returning to Modified Service after termination (retirement) must be rehired following the guidance on this page. A faculty retiree in Modified Service must have an active, unexpired contract in Workday.

Criteria for Modified Service appointments

• Without tenure

• No more than 50% time

• Do not exceed one academic year

  • Appointment to modified service may be renewed in writing for successive terms of one academic year if the University determines that it is of significant benefit.

• Must include compensation

• Appointment is for long semesters (fall and/or spring) only.

  • Retired faculty should not be considered for appointment to Modified Service to teach during a summer session. If no other qualified, active faculty member is available, APS may consider an exception.

See HR: Employment After Retirement for additional information.

Modified Service hire process

See detailed Workday instructions at Modified Service process and Faculty Retirement, starting on page 4.

1. Rehire retired faculty member in Workday, keeping in mind any needed service breaks. Reminder: A PAR (Prior Approval Request) is never used for retirees.

   1. Use department chair’s JM sup org. Retiree position will be professional-track and Fixed Term.

   2. Use the same Job Profile faculty member held at the time they retired.

   3. Use costing center for professional-track faculty.

   4. If the proposed work is for research-related activities, assign appropriate Scheduled Weekly Hours to allow effort certification.

   5. DO NOT skip the “Maintain Employee Contract” subprocess, as this is the only indicator in Workday that the employee is on Modified Service.

2. Prepare a contract using the EVPP Modified Service (departmentalized) template and route for signatures.

   1. One-year contracts for 9-month professional-track faculty (including faculty on Modified Service) should always end May 15. (The Workday End Employment Date can be August 15.)

3. Upload contract to Workday business process. See Maintain PTF Faculty Contracts W.I.G. for Workday instructions. For Retired-Active faculty, always use the following contract details:

   1. Reason: Retiree

   2. Contract Type: Faculty Modified Service

See Manage Non-Tenure Track Faculty - Workday Process Overview (WPO).

Renewing or revising a Modified Service appointment

If processing a Change Job to extend the Modified Service contract and/or change the Scheduled Weekly Hours, attach a new signed contract/offer letter to the business process showing the updated information.

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Add or renew contract

1. Review instructions at Maintain PTF Faculty Contracts W.I.G..

2. Go to Worker Profile > Actions > Job Change > Employee Contracts.

3. Click “Add”.

4. Complete Contract Details. For Retired-Active faculty, always use:

   • Reason: Retiree

   • Contract Type: Faculty Modified Service

5. Upload contract.

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Employment of emeriti

Review EVPP: Faculty Retirement Guidance, pages 4-6.

Payments cannot be made in Workday to Emeritus nor Interim Emeritus appointments, as they are Academic Appointments only. If there are no currently active worker positions in Workday, the Emeritus/Interim Emeritus must first be rehired into an active worker position in order to receive payment. This can be done while the faculty member's emeritus request is still pending approval and they are in "Interim Emeritus" status - it is not necessary to wait for the Emeritus appointment to first be approved before initiating the rehire process. Follow the instructions for Modified Service (using revised dates effective 8/16/2024) to rehire the Emeritus or Interim Emeritus by hiring them into a fixed-term job in the appropriate JM supervisory organization, using the same Job Profile they were in at the time of retirement. 

If the proposed employment is in a department different from the Emeritus' home department, use the Workday: Faculty Additional Employment Decision Tree to determine whether to add a Faculty Associate position in the other department. See more at COE: Additional Employment and Allowances.

Note that if the proposed work is for research-related activities, the job in Workday will require assignment of scheduled weekly hours to allow effort certification.

A copy of the signed contract/offer letter must always be uploaded at the contract step to the Workday Hire business process. Use the EVPP departmentalized offer letter template for Non-Tenured Modified Service.

A PAR is never needed for faculty retiree.

See additional information about emeritus faculty at COE: Emeritus Faculty.

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Please send suggested additions to this page and notifications about broken links to COE-FacultyAffairs@austin.utexas.edu.