(a) Definitions. The following words and terms, when
used in this section, shall have the following meanings, unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) Calendar month--The period from the first day through
the last day of January, February, March, April, May, June, July,
August, September, October, November, or December.
(2) Day--The 24 consecutive hour period beginning at
12:00 midnight and ending at 11:59 p.m.
(3) Full-time state employee--Has the meaning assigned
by Government Code, §659.041(2).
(4) Hazardous duty position--Has the meaning assigned
by §5.39(a)(6) of this title (relating to Hazardous Duty Pay).
(5) Institution of higher education--Has the meaning
assigned by Education Code, §61.003(8), but does not include
a public junior or community college.
(6) Lifetime service credit--The number of months that
an individual has served in a position listed in Government Code, §659.046,
during the individual's lifetime.
(7) Military--The Armed Forces of the United States,
the Texas National Guard, the Texas State Guard, or a reserve component
of the Armed Forces of the United States.
(8) Retiree--A state employee who retires from state
employment and who receives an annuity based wholly or partly on service
as a state officer or state employee in a public retirement system,
as defined by Government Code, §802.001(3), that was credited
to the state employee.
(9) State agency--
(A) a board, commission, department, office, or other
entity that is in the executive branch of state government, including
an institution of higher education;
(B) the legislature or a legislative agency; or
(C) the supreme court, the court of criminal appeals,
a court of appeals, the state bar, or another state judicial agency.
(10) State employee--Has the meaning assigned by Government
Code, §659.041(4).
(11) Workday--Any day that is not Saturday, Sunday,
or a state or national holiday under Government Code, §662.003.
The term includes a state or national holiday on which a state employee
is not entitled to a paid day off from work under Government Code, §662.005.
(b) Authority. Longevity pay is governed by Government
Code, Chapter 659, Subchapter D; the General Appropriations Act; and
the rules adopted by the comptroller under Government Code, Chapter
659, Subchapter D.
(c) Verification of prior state employment periods.
A state agency that currently employs a state employee who accrued
lifetime service credit during one or more previous employments shall
verify the amount of that credit.
(d) Effective service date.
(1) A state employee's "effective service date" is
used to determine the amount of the employee's lifetime service credit.
(2) "Effective service date" is determined by completing
the following steps:
(A) adding together all days the employee served in
all previous periods of employment with the state;
(B) counting backward from the first day of the employee's
current continuous employment with the state using the total number
of days calculated in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph; and
(C) except as provided in subsection (l) of this section,
counting forward the number of months in which the employee was on
leave without pay for any full calendar month during all periods of
employment using the date calculated in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph.
(3) An example of determining a state employee's effective
service date is as follows: The employee's first day of employment
at your agency is February 10, 2021. The employee had two previous
periods of state employment. The first previous period of employment
was from January 6, 2017 to May 25, 2017, or 140 days. The second
previous period of employment was from October 1, 2018 to December
31, 2020, or 823 days. During the employee's second previous period
of employment, the employee had one period of leave without pay from
March 25, 2019 to April 30, 2019, for a total of one full calendar
month of leave without pay. To determine the employee's effective
service date, first add together the total number of days in the employee's
two previous periods of state employment to arrive at 933 days. Next,
count backward 933 days from February 10, 2021 to arrive at June 24,
2018. Finally, count forward one month (the number of months in which
the employee was on leave without pay for any full calendar month
during all periods of employment) from June 24, 2018 to arrive at
July 24, 2018, which is the employee's effective service date.
(4) An individual's transfer from one state agency
to another shall not interrupt continuity of employment if no workdays
occur between the two employments.
(e) Workday. If an individual is a state employee for
any part of a workday, the individual is considered to be a state
employee for the entire workday for the purpose of longevity pay.
(f) Change in status. A full-time state employee in
paid status on the first workday of the calendar month is entitled
to the full amount of longevity pay for that calendar month even if
the employee terminates state employment after the first workday of
that calendar month.
(g) Employees of Institutions of Higher Education.
(1) The determinations required by Government Code, §659.0411(a)
and (b) must be made publicly available to all employees under the
institution's or board of regent's jurisdiction and must be made available
to the comptroller, upon request by the comptroller.
(2) The determinations required by Government Code, §659.0411(a)
and (b) shall not take effect until they have been made publicly available
to all employees under the institution's or board of regent's jurisdiction.
(3) The determinations required by Government Code, §659.0411(b)
must apply to every institution under the board of regent's jurisdiction.
(h) Return to work retirees who leave state employment.
(1) A retiree who retired from state employment on
or after June 1, 2005, is not entitled to longevity pay upon returning
to state employment.
(2) A retiree who retired from state employment prior
to June 1, 2005, and did not return to state employment prior to September
1, 2005, is not entitled to longevity pay upon returning to state
employment.
(3) A retiree who retired from state employment prior
to June 1, 2005, returned to state employment prior to September 1,
2005, and subsequently leaves state employment, is not entitled to
longevity pay upon returning to state employment.
(i) Public retirement system. "Public retirement system,"
as the term is used in Government Code, §659.042(7) and subsection
(a)(8) of this section, includes the Employees Retirement System of
Texas; Teacher Retirement System; and Optional Retirement Program
as described in Government Code, Chapter 830.
(j) Hazardous duty pay.
(1) A state employee's lifetime service credit for
the purpose of longevity pay shall include any period served in a
hazardous duty position, except as provided in Government Code, §659.046(f)(2)
or paragraph (2) of this subsection.
(2) A state employee is not entitled to accrue lifetime
service credit for the purpose of longevity pay during the period
the employee serves in a hazardous duty position that entitles the
employee to receive hazardous duty pay. When the employee is no longer
serving in the hazardous duty position, the employee is entitled to
accrue the lifetime service credit for the purpose of longevity pay
for the period the employee previously served in the hazardous duty
position.
(3) For the purpose of longevity pay, lifetime service
credit is accrued during the one year that a state employee serves
in a hazardous duty position before becoming eligible or entitled
to receive hazardous duty pay. The amount of longevity pay the employee
receives during that year is based on the credit accrued during that
year. But, the lifetime service credit used to calculate the amount
of longevity pay received by the employee while receiving hazardous
duty pay shall not include the one year waiting period.
(4) If a state employee received hazardous duty pay
based on total state service performed before May 29, 1987, and held
a position that required the performance of hazardous duty on May
29, 1987, the employee's lifetime service credit for the purpose of
longevity pay shall not include any state service credit the employee
accrued for the purpose of hazardous duty pay before May 29, 1987.
Cont'd... |