Working After Retirement

When a retired member who is receiving a pension from OPTrust is employed or re-employed by an employer who contributes to the OPSEU Pension Plan (the Plan) for any of its employees, there may be an impact on their pension from the Plan.

Rejoining the Plan

Depending on the retired member's age and terms of employment, membership in the Plan may be mandatory, optional, or not permitted. If the retired member rejoins the Plan, their pension stops immediately, and they will resume making contributions. When the member’s employment ends, their pension will be recalculated to include the additional pension service they have accrued. If the retired member originally retired with an early reduced pension, their recalculated pension will be actuarially adjusted to take into account any pension payments already made.

Without rejoining the Plan

If the retired member is employed by an employer who contributes to the Plan and they do not rejoin the Plan, their pension is subject to an earnings ceiling each calendar quarter. The maximum quarterly re-employment earnings, which is set by OPTrust when the member first retires, is determined by subtracting the retired member’s gross quarterly pension amount from three times their final monthly salary payable. If the earnings reported by the employer in any calendar quarter after retirement is more than their maximum, OPTrust will recover the overpayment by reducing the retired member’s pension over the next quarter by the amount of earnings that exceeds their maximum.

Reporting Employment Earnings for a Retired Member

It is the retired member’s responsibility to inform their employer that they are receiving a pension from OPTrust. The employer is then responsible for completing the Retired Member Quarterly Employment Earnings Report (OPTrust 1008) every calendar quarter and forwarding it to OPTrust. These responsibilities apply whether the retired member is newly employed, re-employed, or still employed after starting their pension due to turning 71 years of age. Please refer to Procedures – Reporting Employment Earnings for a Retired Member for more information.