The policy below governs retired faculty partial reemployment.
General
Consistent with Washington State law and University policy, the University of Washington (UW) permits retired faculty members to reemploy at the UW up to a maximum of 40% of their academic year base salary. The UW bases the 40% limit on the faculty member’s appointment and academic year base salary at the time of retirement. Faculty members who retire from a 9-month appointment are eligible to earn up to 40% of their 9-month academic year base salary in any given calendar year; and faculty members who retire from a 12-month appointment are eligible to earn up to 40% of their 12-month academic year base salary in any given calendar year. Forty percent represents the maximum amount of annual compensation a retiree can receive from all funding sources and compensation plans. Note that while retirees are eligible to reemploy at up to 40% of their academic year base salary, retirees will not be able to earn more than 40% of that base year salary in any given calendar year in which they reemploy. Retirees must be mindful of this requirement when seeking reemployment in consecutive academic years.
Reemployed retired faculty members are subject to all applicable UW policies and procedures.
The faculty partial reemployment policy serves the dual purpose of providing transitional support to retiring faculty members while at the same time maintaining a corpus of experienced and committed faculty members who are able to continue to support the UW’s instructional and research mission.
Vested Right
In accordance with University policy, the UW has vested in tenured faculty members* the right, beginning at age 62 to be reemployed up to the maximum of 40% of their tenure-backed salary for instructional and/or research purposes for 5 academic years immediately following their retirement. The vested right applies to only the tenure-backed portion of the faculty member’s salary at the time of their retirement.
When a faculty member with a vested right to reemploy retires prior to the end of an academic year (i.e., June 15 separation/termination date for 9-month appointments and June 30 separation/termination date for 12-month appointments), the academic year in which retirement occurs counts as the first year of the 5-year vested right. In such cases, the retiree is eligible to reemploy up to 40% of the time remaining in that academic year while remaining under the 40% employment threshold in any calendar year in which the retiree is reemployed.
A faculty member does not need to elect reemployment in every year of the 5-year reemployment period; however, skipping a year does not extend the 5-year period. Retired faculty must notify their chair/director/campus dean/dean by December 1 of the academic year preceding the academic year they intend to be reemployed. This notification ensures that they may be planned into the curriculum.
When a retiree’s reemployment is funded from state or tuition funds, the assigned duties must be classroom teaching unless the reemploying unit agrees to other instructional assignments. Decisions about teaching load and their equivalent percentages of support are made at the local level, taking into account traditional teaching loads within the particular unit. Arrangements for instructional, research, or other designated duties of reemployed faculty members are made at the discretion of the appointing unit. Program and curricula needs take precedent when making assignments. While efforts are made to accommodate reemployment assignments specifically requested by retirees, they cannot be guaranteed. Nonetheless, by vesting the reemployment commitment in retired tenured faculty members, the University commits to honor, in some scheduled way, the total reemployment opportunity for each year. The retiree has the discretion whether to accept the offered reemployment opportunity that is offered.
Reemployed faculty members are expected to maintain excellence in instructional, research and other designated duties and the University retains the right to discontinue reemployment on evidence of failure to meet those expectations. In addition, reemployment can be voided if the reemploying program is eliminated, or in the event of a financial emergency.
* Please note, the vested right is not allowable under the following Department of Retirement Systems (DRS) retirement plans. While tenured faculty enrolled in these plans may request to reemploy after retirement as described in the Other Reemployment Options section of this policy, they do not maintain a vested right. For questions on DRS plan terms and conditions of reemployment, please contact the UW Benefits Office.
Other Reemployment Options
Faculty members who retire from professorial appointments in the following tracks: without tenure by reason of funding, research, teaching, or clinical practice; or from lecturer appointments, may be reemployed after retirement for instructional, research, or service at the discretion of the appointing unit, using funds appropriately designated and available for the assigned duties.
Faculty members who retire from a 9-month appointment and who have a documented, recurring history of summer quarter compensation may petition to include summer months in the reemployment eligibility calculation. While such faculty may be approved to reemploy for more than 9-months, any applicable vested right remains limited to the 9-month tenure appointment.
Compensation During Reemployment
Reemployed retired faculty members are not eligible for merit-based salary increases. Base salary may only be adjusted when across the board salary increases for all faculty members are authorized by the president. A retired faculty member’s reemployment compensation threshold of 40% is based on the appointment percent and base salary at the time of retirement.
- A faculty member with a full-time, 9-month appointment, no summer employment history, and a $10,000 monthly base salary would be eligible for up to $36,000 in compensation per calendar year (i.e., $90,000 x .40).
- A faculty member with a 50%, 9-month appointment, no summer employment history, and a $10,000 monthly base salary would be eligible for up to $18,000 in compensation per calendar year (i.e., $90,000 x .5 x .4).
A faculty member with a $10,000 monthly base salary on a full-time, 9-month appointment of which 50% is tenure-backed, would be eligible for up to $36,000 in compensation per calendar year, but would only have a vested right to reemploy up to $18,000 in compensation per calendar year (i.e., $90,000 x .5 x .4).