To be legally retired, you must terminate employment, live until the effective date of retirement, and not work as a member of the General Assembly at any time during the first month of retirement.
After you have officially retired and are receiving monthly benefits, before accepting employment with the State of North Carolina, contact the Retirement System to see what effect your employment will have on your retirement benefits.
If you perform work in any capacity for a State of North Carolina employer, you will be subject to the re-employment provisions described below. These provisions may require you to enroll as a contributing member of TSERS, CJRS or LRS. You will be subject to re-employment provisions based on the nature of the particular work you perform for a covered employer, regardless of your job classification or your technical employment status (which may include being assigned to work for a covered employer by a private company such as a temporary staffing agency).
Visit Return to Work Laws for current annual allowance, FAQs and other information.
If you return to service as a member of the General Assembly, your benefits will be suspended, and you will again become a contributing member of LRS in the month in which you are restored to service.
Upon your subsequent retirement, your retirement benefit will be calculated as follows:
- If you return to service and earn three years of membership service after returning to service, your retirement benefit will be based on your total creditable service before and after your period of retirement and your highest annual compensation earned.
- If you return to service and earn less than three years of membership service after returning to service, your retirement benefit will be equal to the retirement allowance you were receiving prior to returning to service, plus the retirement allowance that results from service earned since being restored to service.
If you retired under LRS before September 1, 2005, and become a teacher or state employee eligible for membership in TSERS or CJRS, your benefit from LRS will not be suspended.
If you retire under LRS on or after September 1, 2005, your LRS benefit will be suspended if you enter covered employment under TSERS or CJRS. Upon termination of covered employment, your LRS benefit will be restored.
Overpayments
An overpayment of benefits means you have received a larger benefit than you were entitled to receive. Statutory provisions require us to recover overpayments. This includes, but is not limited to, the following methods of recovery:
- Deductions from a monthly benefit
- Monthly payment remittal
- Lump-sum payments
- Repayment from the NC Department of Revenue through the interception of tax refunds or potential lottery winnings
- Deductions from an active payroll check.
This page was last modified on 04/03/2025