State retirees welcome new law to ease re-employment
As of June 27, retired Kentucky public employees will be able to take advantage of a new law passed during the 2019 General Assembly with little, if any, fanfare.
House Bill 419 allows those who have been retired for at least one year to accept new employment without fear of governmental interference or reprisal. But it’s difficult to determine which is the larger story — the relief of the newly adopted amendments or the possibly near-bankrupting penalties of the regulations as they were written prior. To talk about one means we can’t avoid the other, and to many, both will be news.
When considering reemployment after retirement, three issues arise — waiting out the bona fide separation from service; certifying that no prearranged agreement exists prior to return to state payroll; and obtaining clearance from the Kentucky Retirement Systems before accepting any position anywhere.
HB419 makes two landmark improvements. It requires members to certify at the time of retirement, rather than upon reemployment, that no pre-arranged agreement to return to work exists between the member and any agency participating in the Kentucky Retirement Systems. A second key component says retired members who return to work with a participating agency 12 months after their initial retirement date no longer must notify the KRS of their return to employment. In the past, the retiree was to notify the KRS at any point, even years later, if he or she chose to consider new employment, regardless of the position.
Read more: https://www.state-journal.com/2019/05/27/news-analysis-state-retirees-welcome-new-law-to-ease-re-employment/