Email from Mum Martens, Director of Human Resources

On Thursday, November 13, Mum Martens sent out the following email: Dear Colleagues,

Although you may have already received a communication concerning the College's decision to no longer hire annuitants, we believe that you should have an explanation of the background for the decision.

As you know, in 2013 the General Assembly passed a SURS Return to Work law that provides new policies and procedures for SURS annuitants who continue to work at SURS institutions. One provision of this Act enacts financial penalties for colleges and universities that continue to employ “affected annuitants” whose salaries exceed a predetermined limit.

In August, 2013, when the Act took effect, Oakton, in contrast to a number of peer community colleges, initially decided to take steps to allow us to continue to employ annuitants while limiting the College’s exposure to financial penalties. We made this decision because we value annuitants’ expertise and their knowledge of our culture and our students. We instituted a monitoring system to limit the assignments of annuitants in an effort to avert financial penalties imposed by SURS. Regrettably, despite these substantial efforts, SURS has notified us that we will likely be subject to significant financial penalties based upon our continued employment of affected annuitants.

Because of the challenges in maintaining this monitoring system and our concerns about SURS' administration and enforcement of the Act, we have decided to discontinue employment of all SURS annuitants effective July 1, 2015. After July 1, 2015, only the President has the authority to make an exception.

You may also know that there is pending legislation to amend the Return to Work Act. The SURS website provides information on this, as, of course, does a web search for "SURS Return to Work Legislation." We would like to thank you for the service that you have continued to provide after your declared retirement.

Sincerely,

Mum Martens

Human Resources

On Sunday, November 16 AFA President Barbara Dayton sent the following reply:

Dear Ms Martens,

I would like to raise several points with regard to your e-mail of Nov. 13, 2014 announcing the college’s decision not to rehire SURS annuitants after July 1, 2015.

Presumably this policy has been issued on behalf of the Board of Trustees, but you give the President the authority to over-rule the policy by making an exception. You offer no guidelines as to when this may occur. Are you suggesting that each annuitant appear before the President to plead his case?

Of the potential 80 annuitants, only 3 exceeded the limit imposed by SURS while teaching their assigned Oakton classes. They have already been notified that their service will be terminated at the end of the semester. Many annuitants entered into retirement with the understanding that they would be allowed to continue to teach. Had it not been for this understanding, many would not have retired when they did. Your action to discontinue hiring annuitants that earn less than 40% of their pre-retirement salary is arbitrary and capricious. It discriminates against the majority of annuitants who complied with the legislation because it was too much of a challenge for Oakton to develop an effective monitoring system?

The decision to penalize SURS annuitants has apparently been made before SURS has formally assessed a penalty. You use the words “LIKELY to be subject to significantly penalties…” In other words, the decision has not yet occurred, but you are precipitously taking action in advance. In addition, once SURS has actually assessed a penalty, will Oakton not confirm the validity of the claim before actually paying it?

Finally you mention the amendment to the Return to Work Law pending in the Legislature. Given Oakton’s decision not to hire ANY annuitants, passage of this amendment will be moot. Will Oakton reconsider its decision if the amendment is passed? The original purpose of the bill was to limit the salaries of highly paid workers who returned to work after their retirement. Its unintended consequence was to limit the salaries of the lowest level workers. Your decision now makes it impossible for these lowest level workers to be employed at all. Who can live on an annuity of $500 a month?

These are just a few of the issues raised in your e-mail that I find troublesome.

The AFA will take any formal/legal action at its disposal to prevent this new policy from going into effect.

Sincerely,

Barbara Dayton, President AFA