You must complete separation from active service with no intent or agreement, express or implied, to return to service and begin receiving monthly retirement benefits. 

During the six months immediately following your retirement date, to avoid a financial penalty, you cannot work for a TSERS employer in any capacity, except as one of the following: 

• Serving as an unpaid bona fide volunteer in a local school administrative unit; •
• Serving as an unpaid bona fide volunteer guardian ad litem in the guardian ad litem program; 
• Serving on an authority, board, commission, committee, council, or other body of the state or of one or more counties, cities, local school administrative units, community colleges, constituent institutions of The University of North Carolina, or other political subdivisions or public corporations in the state, that is authorized to function as legislative, policymaking, quasi-judicial, administrative, or advisory body in a position that does not require membership in the retirement system; 
• Volunteering in a position normally designated as an unpaid bona fide volunteer position.

In order for your retirement to be effective, you must perform no work for a TSERS employer including part-time, temporary, substitute or contractor work at any time during the six months immediately following the effective date. If you return to work before the required six-month break in a position that requires contributions to TSERS, then your retirement will be canceled and you will be required to repay the retirement payment and health plan benefits you received. If you return to work for a TSERS employer before the required six-month break in a position that does not require contributions to TSERS, then you will be required to pay an amount that is calculated based on one of the following conditions: 

• You will be deemed to have retired the month after the month you performed services for the TSERS employer and repay all retirement benefits received until that date; or 
• You will be required to make a lump sum payment to TSERS equal to three times the compensation earned during the six-month period immediately following the effective date of your retirement. 
• You will be required to pay the lesser of these two amounts as determined by the Retirement System.

After the required six-month break, you may return to work in a position that requires membership in TSERS. Your retirement benefit will be suspended on the first day of the month following the month of your reemployment, and you will again become a contributing TSERS member in the month in which you are restored to membership service. (Your TSERS retirement benefit will also be suspended if you return to membership service under CJRS.)

If you return to service and contribute to TSERS for at least three additional years, at the time you end your second period of employment, you can choose one of the following options for your benefit: 

• You can combine your service from your first and second periods of employment to create one monthly retirement benefit. You can change the retirement payment plan and/or beneficiary you selected at the time of your original retirement. If you selected Option 4 for your first retirement, we must actuarially adjust benefits when you retire again.
• You can reinstate your first retirement account and withdraw your contributions only from your second account.

If you return to service and contribute to TSERS for less than three additional years, at the time you end your second period of employment, your first retirement benefit will be reinstated. You can choose one of the following options for your second retirement account: 

• You can apply to receive a second monthly benefit based on your second period of employment. 
• You can leave your second account open following the year of retirement, provided you have not reached the age for a Required Minimum Distribution.

After the required six-month break, if you return to work with a TSERS employer in a position that is not eligible for TSERS membership, your earnings will be restricted to the greater of the following: 

• $40,980 (2024 amount) 
• 50 percent of your gross 12-month pre-retirement salary (excluding termination payments) 

The dollar figure is adjusted annually according to the Consumer Price Index. These earnings restrictions apply for the 12 months immediately following your retirement and for each calendar year.

If you exceed your earnings limitations, your retirement benefit will be suspended on the first day of the month following the month in which you exceeded the limit for the remainder of the calendar year.

Your retirement payment will start again on January 1 of the year after your benefit is suspended. If your earnings exceed the allowable amount in the month of December, your benefit will not be suspended. 

When your retirement benefit is restored, your health coverage under the Retirement Systems will be reinstated on the first of the month following the month your retirement benefit is restored.

If you are in receipt of a monthly disability benefit from TSERS, and accept public or private employment, contact our office for information on provisions that apply to you.

Before you accept reemployment with a TSERS employer, ask your new employer whether the employment will affect your health plan coverage, and if the reemployment will cause: 

• Your State Health Plan coverage under the Retirement Systems to be suspended. 
• You to qualify for State Health Plan active group coverage and whether you will qualify for the state’s contribution toward your coverage.

If you are a TSERS retiree who is re-employed under CJRS, a CJRS retiree re-employed under TSERS, or an LRS retiree re-employed under TSERS, return-to-work laws may require a suspension of benefits or may limit the amount you can earn without penalty. Please contact the North Carolina Retirement Systems for information on provisions that apply to you.