Senate Bill 105 proposes amendments to the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) regarding the rehiring of jailers and protective occupation annuitants. Currently, individuals who receive a retirement or disability annuity from the WRS must suspend their annuity if they are hired by a participating employer and are expected to work at least two-thirds of full-time hours. The bill introduces an exception to this rule, allowing annuitants who retired from a participating employer to be rehired without suspending their annuity, provided they did not have a prior agreement to return to work at the time of retirement, choose not to become a participating employee upon rehire, and either retired as a protective occupation participant or as a county jailer who opted out of that designation.

The bill also amends several sections of the statutes to include new provisions regarding the treatment of county jailers who opt out of protective occupation status, ensuring they are treated similarly to those who do not opt out. Specifically, it creates a new section (40.26 (7)) that outlines conditions under which a participant can apply for an annuity or lump sum payment after a specified period of termination from employment, without being subject to the usual suspension rules. The changes aim to provide more flexibility for certain retired employees while maintaining the integrity of the retirement system.

Statutes affected:
Bill Text: 40.22(1), 40.22, 40.22(2m)(intro.), 40.22(2r)(intro.), 40.22(3)(intro.)