One of the requirements for employment eligible for TRS membership is that employment must be for one-half time or more of the required standard workload for the same or similar full-time position.
To determine if someone meets the requirement, the first step is to determine if there is an FTE for the position. For most positions, this will fall between 30-40 hours per week. However, there are many positions that may have no FTE, meaning there are no full-time employees that work in the same or similar position. For these employees, the minimum number of hours required per week that will qualify the position for TRS membership is 15 hours per week. This requirement applies to all positions, except an adjunct faculty position.
The next requirement is length of time in the position. If the position is expected to last four and one-half months or more, it meets the second requirement of TRS membership eligibility. If a position has no set end date, it is considered to be “indefinite,” such as an employee filling in the position until another employee is found, which may fulfill the four and one-half month-or-more requirement.
Additionally, for an employee with no FTE to be considered ineligible, they must be expected to work less than 15 hours per week. This is similar to employees with an FTE of 30. Please make sure to review each employee for eligibility at the time of hire or if there are any position changes throughout the year. If an employee is combining multiple positions at the same employer that have no FTE, then the combined expected hours would need to remain under 15 hours per week to be ineligible. If the combined hours are 15 hours or more, then they would be meeting the TRS requirement of working one-half time of the FTE. If you are unsure if an employee should be TRS eligible, please reach out to your RE coach for assistance and provide as much detail of their weekly hours as possible so that their eligibility can be determined.