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TERI program: a boost for retiring employees by Cindy Abole Public Relations MUSC and state employees eligible for retirement now have an option to provide additional financial security for themselves without leaving the workplace.  It's called the Teacher and Employee Retention Incentive program or TERI, for short. The program was introduced to employees Jan. 1 and is offered as a deferred retirement option program through the South Carolina Retirement System (SCRS). TERI allows SCRS members to work for the next five years as an SCRS retiree, while drawing their salary as a full-time employee. The participant's SCRS benefits will be placed into an escrow account until they complete their years of service.  “This is a win-win situation for both the employee and the State,” said Holly Maben, benefits and retention services coordinator, Human Resource Management.  “It’s a plus for the worker by  giving them a chance to earn and save more for retirement and still be a productive contributor to the workforce.” Participation in TERI does not change an employee's status of employment. Retirees continue to retain their work benefits including health insurance, group life insurance and dental coverage—up to age 65. At the end of the program or upon an employee's termination, the participant can choose to receive their retirement  as an IRA, 401K rollover or lump sum distribution.  As for benefits for the employer, TERI employees are established making it easier for accounting and budget planning. “With TERI, you know that an employee will leave within those five years,” Maben said. Among the many questions asked about the TERI program includes questions that affect annual and sick leave. According to Maben, the program will continue to recognize up to 45 days of unused annual leave for retirement. For sick leave, employees can receive service credit for up to 720 hours of leave. Under the TERI program participants will continue to accumulate both annual and sick leave. TERI follows the heels of another successful program offered to Florida state employees known as the Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP). Established in 1998, Florida state government offers their program for vested employees who've reached retirement age or 30 years of service.  Maben, who has worked with retirement and human resource management for 14 years, usually counsels between 50 to 100 eligible state employees, weekly, who are preparing for retirement. She also leads and conducts employee education forums and seminars on the subject. On Jan. 26, she conducted a successful retirement and social security program featuring a forum of guest speakers who discussed benefits, retirement, insurance and financial planning. She also participates in weekly new employee orientations that focus on pre-retirement sessions and an orientation refresher course for state employees. She plans to organize an overview program on TERI on Feb. 12 and Feb. 26. “This is a progressive move for South Carolina,” Maben said. “It gives the employee an additional leg to stand on when they retire. Having this ‘nest egg,’ a state pension and social security could offer a very diverse life after retirement.” For more information on the TERI program or retirement, contact Maben at 792-4674 or visit the Human Resources Web site, <http://www.musc.edu/hrm/hrmindex.html> or SCRS at 1-800-868-9002. Participation Participation in the TERI program is the voluntary choice of eligible employees. Participants in the TERI program retain the same status and employment rights they held upon entering the program. TERI program participants who were in FTE positions prior to entering the program will usually continue to occupy an FTE position and they retain the same rights to their positions they held prior to entering the program. In addition to occupying FTE positions, TERI program participants may also occupy temporary, temporary grant, or time-limited positions. The program period for participation in the TERI program is a maximum of five years. While program participants retain the same rights to their positions they held prior to entering the program, participation in the TERI program does not guarantee employment for the specified program period. Annual and Sick Leave Up to 45 days of unused annual leave may be paid to a state employee upon retirement and entering the TERI program. Up to 90 days of unused sick leave may be applied to a state employee’s service credit upon retirement and entering the TERI program. The employee's leave balances will be reduced by the amount of annual leave paid out and sick leave used to calculate the employee's retirement benefit. Participants in the TERI program will be eligible to earn and use annual leave and sick leave if they are in positions that are eligible for leave benefits. TERI program participants who are eligible for leave benefits will earn annual leave at the rate consistent with their years of state service for leave accrual purposes. State service while participating in the TERI program will constitute state service for bonus leave accrual purposes. Upon termination of employment, a TERI program participant who has earned annual leave will be eligible to be paid for up to 45 days of unused annual leave and all unused sick leave will be forfeited. Salary, Rights, and Benefits Employees who enter the TERI program gain no new employment rights and are subject to the employment policies and procedures associated with whatever position(s) they occupy during the program period, to include those policies and procedures related to salary, benefits, and grievance rights. Participants in the TERI program retain all rights and benefits they held upon entering the program, including reduction in force rights. If a TERI employee is separated due to a reduction in force and begins receiving his retirement benefits, his participation in the TERI program ends. If he is recalled to a state position, he will be subject to the retirement earnings limitation. Participants in the TERI program are eligible for active state employee health insurance benefits and retiree group life insurance benefits; however, they are not eligible for active employee group life insurance benefits or disability retirement benefits. Break in Service and Termination of Employment When an employee enters the TERI program and receives a lump sum payment for annual leave to determine his average final compensation, he does not experience a break in service. The state human resources director will consider all requests from agencies for break in service extensions for employees, to include TERI program participants. An employee who chooses to enter the TERI program and is paid out for his unused annual leave to determine his average final compensation may still be considered for approval of a break in service extension. A participant in the TERI program in a state agency will be considered to have terminated employment when he experiences a break in service. State agencies have the responsibility to notify the Retirement System when a TERI employee terminates and is paid out for unused annual leave.