AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE EMPLOYMENT OF STATE PENSIONERS.

Plain English Breakdown

The official source does not mention specific impacts on state agencies beyond addressing staffing shortages generally.

Changes to State Pensioner Employment Rules

This act changes the rules for state pensioners who want to work again in certain jobs like substitute teaching or temporary positions by removing earnings limits and shortening waiting periods.

What This Bill Does

• Removes the limit on how much money a pensioner can earn from temporary, casual, seasonal, or substitute jobs starting in 2025.
• Reduces the waiting period after leaving state employment to three months for those under age 59.5 years old.
• Allows pensioners to work as substitute teachers at charter schools with the same rules as public school districts.
• Makes sure all pensioners follow a three-month waiting period before working in certain jobs, as required by federal law.
• Fixes small mistakes in existing laws to make them clearer and more consistent.

Who It Names or Affects

• State pensioners who want to work again after retiring
• School districts and charter schools hiring substitute teachers

Terms To Know

Pensioner

A person who receives money from a retirement plan provided by the government or an employer.

Substitute teacher

A teacher hired to fill in for another teacher when they are absent.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify how much it will cost or where funding will come from.
• It is unclear if the changes will fully solve staffing shortages in schools and state agencies.

Official Summary Text

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE EMPLOYMENT OF STATE PENSIONERS.
Current law allows pensioners to be employed in a Governor-appointed position or as a temporary, casual, seasonal, or substitute employee, including as a substitute teacher, but only after a 6-month separation of service period if the pensioner is under age 65 and limits annual earnings by temporary, casual, seasonal, or substitute employees to $50,000 before an individual’s earnings affect the amount of the individual’s pension.

To alleviate staffing shortages in schools and state agencies with 24-hour shifts, this Act removes the earnings limit beginning calendar year 2025, lowers the age when the separation of service period applies to individuals who are under 59 ½ years old, and reduces the required separation of service period to 3 months. This Act also clarifies that the pensioners may be employed as substitute teachers by charter schools under the same requirements as school districts.

To comply with federal law, this Act makes the bona fide 3-month separation period applicable to all pensioners employed under § 5502(a) of Title 29.

This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.