Transaction A56 - Temporary Appointment For
Rehired Annuitant, Prior Employee

General Information | Audit Instructions | Audit Messages

Used to appoint or reappoint an annuitant retired from California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) or State Teachers' Retirement System (only if prior STRS is with CSU) who previously held a position at the campus or is an eligible tenured academic year employee participating in the Faculty Early Retirement Program (FERP).

PIMS Coding Matrix

General Information

1. Academic year employees may be re-employed without reinstatement from retirement status within the guidelines of Government Code 21227 (for CalPERS annuitants) or Education Code 23918 (for STRS annuitants). Administrative and nonacademic employees may be re-employed without reinstatement from retirement status within the guidelines of Government Code 21229.

2. Unit 3 annuitants appointed to consecutive year employment (e.g., Temporary Lecturers with a three-year appointment entitlement) that spans consecutive academic years, or is a continuing 12 month appointment, do not need to be separated until the end of the appointment provided the annuitant does not exceed work period limitation set by the Government code under which the annuitant retired. A separation (S31 transaction) is required if the nature of the appointment changes or the annuitant does not work the following year.

3. With the exception of the Unit 3 annuitants described above, all other employees must be separated at the conclusion of each period of employment to ensure their status remains in compliance with CalPERS requirements.

4. FERP participants must be compensated only for those periods in which an appointment is in effect. For example, a FERP participant assigned to work full time for one semester will receive compensation at the full time monthly rate for that semester. It would be inappropriate to pay the FERP participant at a half-time monthly rate for the academic year in this instance.

5. FERP employees who are hired for consecutive academic years and do not need to be separated unless nature of appointment changes (e.g., from half-time AY to a full-time AY for one semester) or, if the participant does not work the following year, a separation (S31 transaction) is required at the end of consecutive AY or 12 month appointments.

6. When a FERP participant terminates employment and will no longer exercise re-employment rights under FERP, after the last S31 transaction is processed, process a 215 transaction effective the beginning of the academic pay period to deleted Item 962. In Item 215, enter the true date the employee resigned from FERP. For example, if the date the employee resigned is effective 8/21/95, S31 effective 7/1/95, the 215 Transaction is effective the first day of the September calendar. If the employees last S31 transaction is the last FERP assignment (no longer eligible for FERP or employee no longer will participate, delete Item 962 on the S31 transaction, do not process a 215 transaction.

7. FERP employment should be at same rank and salary (step) level of participant in the Academic Year or Fiscal Year immediately prior to retirement. Positions may not be split for funding purposes. Item 962, FSA Letter 77-57 identifies FERP participation. Also refer to appropriate article in the bargaining agreement for additional FERP provisions. Appointments in addition to FERP must be made to an additional position. Contact CSU Audits for further information.

8. FERP employees are not to be placed on LWOP (S42 Transaction) when already separated and not going to be reappointed. In order to keep track of a leave, the campus may process a 215 transaction and in Item 215 enter "LWOP FERP Fall/Spring", effective the beginning of the academic fall calendar (or whenever the employee would normally be hired).

9. Pursuant to collective bargaining agreement, one leave of absence from FERP shall be granted for all or part of the period of employment. When it is determined that the FERP participant is not returning from leave of absence, the campus should process a Transaction 215 to delete FERP code Item 962 (7757) and enter "OFF FERP" in Item 215 effective the beginning of the next consecutive period of employment.  Note:  If LWOP is for Family Medical Leave, enter "FML" in Item 215.

10. CalPERS approval is required when an employee wants to rescind his/her retirement. Appointments of this nature require the submission of a PPT, along with a copy of the written authorization from CalPERS, to CSU Audits for processing.

11. When a 12 month employee is to retire as a FERP, an A60 must be processed before the retirement transaction (S70), to change the 12 month classification to an academic classification.  Refer to HR/Benefits 2004-08, page 2, bullet #4.

Audit Instructions

1. For FERP participants, the Duration of Appointment (Item 415) may be keyed as Y1 to Y5, or 12 to 60 months, as appropriate for FERP faculty who are employed at up to 50% of what their time base was in the year prior to retirement. Expiration Date of Appointment (Item 416) must coincide with the information provided in Item 415.

2. Item 430, Probationary Code, is always I for FERP participants, N for all others.

3. Item 450, Prior State Service, is always 3.

4. Item 505, Retirement System Code, is 'N' for FERP participants hired prior to 4/1/1986. For FERP participants hired 4/1/1986 or later, and all other retirees, the code is NM.

5. Item 704B, Management Data Element No. 2, is ARTL12 for Temporary Lecturers with a three-year appointment.

6. Item 716, Sabbatical Leave Eligibility Leave, must be entered for all FERP participants in the form of 99/99, otherwise delete.

Furlough Instructions Effective 7/31/2009 Through Current

7. Eligibility Substantiation is required on all appointments subject to the furlough program.

Audit Messages

TRANSACTION CODE AND/OR ACTION CODE IS INVALID.

There is an Employment History program error. When processing an A56 correction or void (suffix = 'C' or 'V'), Item 450 (code = '3') must be entered on the prompter screen. If this item is not entered, you will receive this message.

EMPLOYEE OUT OF SERVICE.

When updating an employees record and you receive this message, verify the PSN screen. If the employee is out of service with a code C or P, or if the code is S and the position is not at your campus, contact your CSU Audit Representative.

962-01 CLASS CODE INELIGIBLE FOR FERP.

If class code does not equal 2360 or 2399 or 2482 or 2913 or 2914 or 2919 or 2920 or 2926 or 2927, then Item 962 cannot equal 7757.

Last Updated: September 10, 2009