(a) A service retiree with an effective date of retirement
after January 1, 2021, shall only forfeit the service retiree's monthly
annuity payment based on the service retiree's employment by a Texas
public educational institution during a calendar month if TRS has
previously issued the warnings required by subsections (b) and (c)
of this section to the retiree.
(b) If TRS determines that a service retiree's employment
by a Texas public educational institution does not qualify for an
exception under Subchapter B of this chapter (relating to Employment
after Retirement Exceptions), TRS shall issue a written EAR warning
to the service retiree notifying the retiree of this fact. The EAR
warning under this subsection may address multiple months of the service
retiree's employment.
(c) If TRS determines that a service retiree's employment
by a Texas public educational institution does not qualify for an
exception under Subchapter B of this chapter and that employment occurs
in a month after the month TRS issued to the service retiree the warning
under subsection (b) of this section, then TRS shall issue a second
EAR warning to the service retiree that:
(1) notifies the service retiree of this fact; and
(2) requires the service retiree to pay TRS an amount
equal to the lesser of the total amount of either:
(A) the service retiree's gross monthly annuity payments
for the months addressed by this warning; or
(B) the total gross amount of compensation earned by
the service retiree during the months addressed by this warning as
described by §31.6 of this title (relating to Second EAR Warning
Payments).
(d) The EAR warning under subsection (c) of this section
may address multiple months of the service retiree's employment.
(e) If TRS determines that a service retiree's employment
by a Texas public educational institution does not qualify for an
exception under Subchapter B of this chapter and that employment occurs
in a month after the month TRS issued to the retiree the second EAR
warning under subsection (c) of this section, the service retiree
is not entitled to receive a monthly annuity payment for any such
month and TRS shall collect any annuity payments the service retiree
received to which the service retiree was not entitled.
(f) If TRS determines after issuing an EAR warning
under subsections (b) or (c) of this section that the service retiree's
employment by a Texas public educational institution did not qualify
for an exception under Subchapter B of this chapter and that employment
occurred in a month prior to or during the month TRS issued such a
warning but was not included in the warning, then TRS shall:
(1) issue an EAR warning in accordance with subsection
(b) of this section if the excluded month was the month TRS issued
the EAR warning under that subsection or an earlier month; or
(2) issue an EAR warning and request for payment under
subsection (c) of this section if the excluded month was the month
TRS issued the EAR warning under that subsection or in an earlier
month that was also after the month TRS issued the EAR warning under
subsection (b) of this section.
(g) If a service retiree appeals a TRS determination
regarding the service retiree's employment with a Texas public educational
institution during a month or months that TRS included in an EAR warning
under subsection (b) or (c) of this section, the EAR warning shall
still be considered to have been issued by TRS unless the service
retiree's appeal contests every month addressed by the applicable
warning. If the service retiree contests the TRS determination for
every month included in an EAR warning, that EAR warning shall not
be considered to have been issued during the pendency of the service
retiree's appeal.
(h) If a service retiree prevails on an appeal of every
month included in an EAR warning under subsection (b) or (c) of this
section, then TRS shall rescind the EAR warning. If the service retiree's
appeal does not prevail on any month included in an EAR warning under
subsection (b) or (c) of this section, then the EAR warning shall
be reinstated and TRS shall adjust the amounts owed by the service
retiree to TRS, if any, for months after the issuance of the reinstated
EAR warning in which TRS determined the service retiree's employment
by a Texas public educational institution did not qualify for an exception
to the limits on EAR as provided by Subchapter B of this chapter.
(i) TRS shall consider an EAR warning under this section
to have been issued on the date TRS sends the warning to the service
retiree.
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