Chapter ETF 10

ETF 10.01 Note Note: The term “minimum retirement age” currently is not used in ch. 40, Stats. or ETF administrative rules. The term is defined in this rule (CR 09-057) to be consistent with s. 40.23 (1) (a) (intro.), Stats., which describes the earliest age at which a retirement annuity may be taken.

ETF 10.01(3p) (3p) “Monthly compensation” means, for purposes of s. 40.19 (4) (g), Stats.:

ETF 10.01(3p)(a) (a) Where the compensation is paid on a weekly basis, the amount computed by multiplying the employee’s basic weekly pay rate by 4.3333.

ETF 10.01(3p)(b) (b) Where the compensation is paid on a biweekly basis, the amount computed by multiplying the employee’s basic biweekly pay rate by 2.1666.

ETF 10.01(3r) (3r) “Public school” means, for purposes of s. 15.165 (3) (a) 1., Stats., a cooperative educational service agency established under ch. 116, Stats., a county children with disabilities education board established under s. 115.817, Stats., and any school supported wholly or in part by public funds which is under the control and management of the state of Wisconsin or any subdivision of the state of Wisconsin and which is empowered by law to employ teachers; but does not mean the University of Wisconsin System, any school in the city of Milwaukee, a state agency or a vocational, technical and adult education district.

ETF 10.01(3s) (3s) “Qualified domestic relations order” or “QDRO” means a court order to divide a participant’s Wisconsin retirement system account or annuity which is determined by the department to satisfy all the criteria of s. 40.02 (48m), Stats., and s. ETF 20.35.

ETF 10.01(3t) (3t) “Reinstate,” for purposes of s. 40.25 (5) (a), Stats., means to restore a discharged employee to the previously held position, or a like position, with the participating employer, at the same pay and benefit level to which the employee would have been entitled if the employment had not been interrupted by the discharge. The court order, arbitration award or compromise settlement must direct that the disputed termination be expunged and the employee made whole with respect to all wages and benefits that the employee would have received if continuously employed by the participating employer under the conditions in effect prior to the disputed termination, except that the court order, arbitration award or compromise settlement may direct that back wages paid for the period of discharge be reduced by amounts earned from other sources and may identify a period of disciplinary suspension for which wages and benefits are not paid.

ETF 10.01(3w) (3w) “Salary index” means, for purposes of s. 40.26, Stats., for years prior to 1982, 5%.

ETF 10.01(4) (4) “School system” includes, for life insurance purposes, any public entity whose primary purpose is education.

ETF 10.01(4m) (4m) “School year” means, for purposes of s. 40.02 (3), Stats., the period beginning July 1 and ending the following June 30.

ETF 10.01(5) (5) “Student” means, for insurance purposes, a person, who is enrolled in an institution which provides a schedule of courses or classes and, whose principal activity is the procurement of an education. Full-time student status shall be defined by the institution in which the student is enrolled and shall include any usual vacation period if the child was a full-time student at the end of the previous term.

ETF 10.01(6) (6) “Summer vacation” means the time between the end of the regular school term of the school system in which the employee was last employed and the beginning of the next regular school term of that system.

ETF 10.01(6m) (6m) “Surviving Spouse” means the spouse to whom the deceased was married at the time of death. For purposes of determining a beneficiary under s. 40.02 (8) (a) 2., Stats., a judgment, order or decree of divorce, legal separation or annulment of the marriage terminates the marital relationship.

ETF 10.01 Note Note: 2007 Wis. Act 131 deleted the terms “widow or widower” from s. 40.08 (8) (a) 2., Stats., and replaced them with the term “surviving spouse.” This rule (CR 09-057) provides a definition for “surviving spouse.” The Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) has allowed courts to order the division of WRS benefits in the property division associated with a legal separation because a legal separation is a termination of the marriage, at least for property division purposes. This treatment of the beneficiary definition is in conformity with that interpretation.

ETF 10.01(7) (7) “Three continuous years of creditable service” for purposes of s. 40.285, Stats., and s. ETF 20.17 means an uninterrupted period of at least 3 complete, non-overlapping annual earnings periods during each of which the participant earned some creditable current service. A period of continuous creditable service is considered interrupted if the participating employee is terminated from employment covered by the Wisconsin retirement system for a period of more than 90 calendar days. Service associated with contributions which have been debited to fund a benefit may not be applied toward continuous creditable service.

ETF 10.01 History History: Cr. Register, February, 1983, No. 326, eff. 3-1-83.; r. and recr. (intro.), am. (2) (intro.), cr. (3m), Register, June, 1983, No. 330, eff. 7-1-83; cr. (3w), Register, December, 1983, No. 336, eff. 1-1-84; cr. (3h) and (3s), Register, March, 1984, No. 339, eff. 4-1-84; am. (1), Register, April, 1984, No. 340, eff. 5-1-84; emerg. cr. (4m), eff. 1-1-85; cr. (4m), Register, March, 1985, No. 351, eff. 4-1-85; cr. (2m), Register, October, 1985, No. 358, eff. 11-1-85; cr. (1m), Register, May, 1986, No. 365, eff. 6-1-86; am. (1m) (a), Register, August, 1986, No. 368, eff. 9-1-86; r. (1) and (3), Register, September, 1986, No. 369, eff. 10-1-86; r. and recr. (2), Register, January, 1987, No. 373, eff. 2-1-87; cr. (3p), Register, March, 1987, No. 375, eff. 4-1-87; cr. (3), Register, June, 1992, No. 438, eff. 7-1-92; cr. (1g), Register, September, 1992, No. 441, eff. 10-1-92; cr. (3d), Register, October, 1992, No. 442, eff. 11-1-92; cr. (7), Register, June, 1995, No. 474, eff. 7-1-95; cr. (3i), Register, December, 1996, No. 492, eff. 1-1-97; cr. (3t), Register, July, 1997, No. 499, eff. 8-1-97; cr. (8) and (9), (1h) renum. from ETF 11.02 (1), Register, July, 1999, No. 523, eff. 8-1-99; corrections in (3s) made under s. 13.93 (2m) (b) 6. and 7., Stats., Register, July, 1999, No. 523; CR 00-022: cr. (1k), Register July 2001, No. 547 eff. 8-1-01; correction in (7) made under s. 13.93 (2m) (b) 7., Stats., Register July 2005 No. 595; corrections in (3d) made under s. 13.93 (2m) (b) 7., Stats., Register September 2006 No. 609; CR 07-062: am. (7) Register June 2008 No. 630, eff. 7-1-08; CR 09-057: cr. (3o) and (6m) Register May 2010 No. 653, eff. 6-1-10; EmR0938: emerg. cr. (1r), r. and recr. (2), am. (3m), r. (9), eff. 1-1-10; CR 10-004: cr. (1L) and (1r), r. and recr. (2), am. (3m), r. (9) Register July 2010 No. 655, eff. 8-1-10; CR 11-040: am. (2) (b) 2., 3. Register July 2012 No. 679, eff. 8-1-12; CR 13-004: am. (3i) Register August 2013 No. 692, eff. 9-1-13; CR 12-054: am. (3i) Register October 2013 No. 694, eff. 11-1-13; correction in (7) made under s. 13.92 (4) (b) 7., Stats., Register October 2013 No. 694; CR 14-055: cr. (3e), am. (3i) Register May 2015 No. 713, eff. 6-1-15; CR 16-034: am. (2) (a) (intro.), r. (2) (a) 1., 2. Register April 2017 No. 736, eff. 5-1-17; cons. (a) (intro.) and 3. and renum. to (a) under ss. 13.92 (4) (b) 1. and 35.17, Stats., Register April 2017 No. 736; CR 19-126: am. (1k), (1L), (2) (a), (b) (intro.), cr. (2g), am. (3m), renum. (3s), (8) to (3r), (3s) and, as renumbered, am. (3s) Register May 2021 No. 785, eff. 6-1-21; CR 23-023: am. (3d) Register May 2024 No. 821, eff. 6-1-24.

ETF 10.03 ETF 10.03 Creditable service.

ETF 10.03(1) (1) For annual earnings periods beginning on or after January 1, 1985, each participating employer shall determine and report service in hours for each participating employee in the manner prescribed in this section. Earnings which are paid to a teacher, as defined in s. 40.02 (55), Stats., an educational support personnel employee, as defined in s. 40.02 (22m), Stats., or a technical college educational support personnel employee, as defined in s. 40.02 (55g), Stats., who has contracted to receive such payments on either a 9 or 10 month contract basis, and which are paid after the beginning of a school year, as defined in s. ETF 10.01 (4m), for services rendered in the preceding school year, are deemed to be received by the employee on June 30 of the preceding school year for purposes of reporting service to the department.

ETF 10.03(2) (2) The full-time equivalent of one day of service is 8 hours. If an employer has established workdays of other than 8 hours as full-time employment for some or all of its employees, the number of hours to be reported within a reporting period is determined by the participating employer by dividing the number of hours for which earnings are paid to the employee in the reporting period by the number of hours which would have been worked in that reporting period by a regular full-time employee of that employer in the same kind of employment and multiplying the result by 40 times the number of weeks and fractions of a week in the reporting period.

ETF 10.03(3) (3) For purposes of s. 40.02 (17), Stats., the full-time equivalent of one year of creditable service for a teacher, as defined in s. 40.02 (55), Stats., who is not an executive participating employee, as defined in s. 40.02 (30), Stats., is 1,320 hours and for all other participating employees the full-time equivalent of one year of creditable service is 1,904 hours.

ETF 10.03(4) (4) When a participating employee receives earnings from the same participating employer for employment in more than one of the categories under s. 40.23 (2) (b), Stats., then the following tests shall be applied by the participating employer when service and earnings are reported:

ETF 10.03(4)(a) (a) If employment in each of the categories meets the requirements of s. 40.22, Stats., by itself then the earnings and service shall be reported separately for each category.

ETF 10.03(4)(b) (b) If employment in any one category meets the requirements of s. 40.22, Stats., and all other employment does not, then earnings and service shall be added to and reported under the one category which meets the eligibility requirements of s. 40.22, Stats.

ETF 10.03(4)(c) (c) If employment in more than one category meets the qualifying requirements of s. 40.22, Stats., and all other employment does not, then earnings and service for employment in those categories which do not meet the qualifying requirements of s. 40.22, Stats., shall be added to and reported under:

ETF 10.03(4)(c)1. 1. That qualifying category in which the greatest number of hours is worked, or

ETF 10.03(4)(c)2. 2. The lowest numbered subdivision under sub. (5) (b) if the greatest number of hours worked is equal in 2 or more qualifying categories.

ETF 10.03(4)(d) (d) If employment in none of the categories meets the requirements of s. 40.22, Stats., separately, but those requirements are met when the employment is added together then earnings and service shall be added to and reported under:

ETF 10.03(4)(d)1. 1. That category in which the greatest number of hours is worked, or

ETF 10.03(4)(d)2. 2. The lowest numbered subd. under sub. (5) (b) if the greatest number of hours worked is equal in 2 or more categories.

ETF 10.03(5) (5) 

ETF 10.03(5)(a) (a) Fractions of an hour shall be rounded to the nearest hour prior to crediting and if the fraction is one-half hour then the hours credited shall be rounded up to the next whole number.

ETF 10.03(5)(b) (b) If the total number of hours reported for an employee within an annual earnings period exceeds the applicable number specified in sub. (3) service shall be allocated and credited in the following sequence:

ETF 10.03(5)(b)1. 1. Service as a protective occupation participant not subject to Titles II and XVIII of the federal social security act whose formula rate is determined under s. 40.23 (2m) (e) 4., Stats.

ETF 10.03(5)(b)2. 2. Service as a protective occupation participant subject to Titles II and XVIII of the federal social security act whose formula rate is determined under s. 40.23 (2m) (e) 3., Stats.

ETF 10.03(5)(b)3. 3. Service as an executive participating employee whose formula rate is determined under s. 40.23 (2m) (e) 2., Stats.

ETF 10.03(5)(b)4. 4. Service as an elected official whose formula rate is determined under s. 40.23 (2m) (e) 2., Stats.

ETF 10.03(5)(b)5. 5. Service as a teacher whose formula rate is determined under s. 40.23 (2m) (e) 1., Stats.

ETF 10.03(5)(b)6. 6. Service of a type not covered under subds. 1. to 5.

ETF 10.03(5)(c) (c) The earnings shall be reported and credited in full without regard to any allocation of creditable service under par. (b).

ETF 10.03(6) (6) 

ETF 10.03(6)(a) (a) For local elected officials who are participating employees, but serving in positions not considered full-time by the local unit of government, the amount of service shall be determined and reported by the employer as follows:

ETF 10.03(6)(a)1. 1. For employment which is essentially ministerial in nature, the number of hours reported shall be the actual number of hours for which the employee is paid if a regular work schedule has been established. If there is no regular work schedule, the number of hours reported may not be greater than the quotient derived from dividing the compensation paid during the reporting period by 2 times the minimum hourly wage rate established by the federal fair labor standards act for non-agricultural employment.

ETF 10.03(6)(a)2. 2. For members of governing bodies or other policy-making groups, the number of hours reported shall be the number of hours in actual attendance at meetings of the governing body, the policy-making group or any sub-group thereof and a reasonable amount of time spent in preparation for such meetings, but in no event shall the number of hours determined to have been spent in preparation time exceed twice the number of hours actually spent at the meetings.

ETF 10.03(6)(b) (b) In applying the standards set forth in par. (a), it is the responsibility of the local unit of government to maintain the necessary documentation to justify the reasonableness of the basis used in reporting service for local elected officials.

ETF 10.03(6)(c) (c) The department may consider other factors in granting creditable service to local elected officials where circumstances warrant and when satisfactory supporting information is provided.

ETF 10.03(7) (7) 

ETF 10.03(7)(a) (a) If a participating employee receives earnings for on-call, standby, extracurricular or other service which is incidental to the primary employment, earnings shall be reported and contributions paid on those earnings pursuant to s. 40.05, Stats. The number of hours determined by the employer and reported pursuant to this subsection shall be the quotient derived from dividing the compensation paid for such service during the annual earnings period by the participating employee’s current basic pay rate.

ETF 10.03(7)(b) (b) The employer shall maintain the necessary documentation to justify the basis upon which service is reported in applying the standards set forth in par. (a).

ETF 10.03(7)(c) (c) In no event shall the number of hours under par. (a), combined with the hours under the primary employment, exceed creditable service of one year during the entire calendar year.

ETF 10.03 Note Note: This rule requires a form which is available at no charge to reporting officials required to use them. The form can be obtained by writing to: department of employee trust funds, P.O. Box 7931, Madison, WI 53707-7931, or by calling: [phone] or toll free at [phone].

ETF 10.03 History History: Emerg. cr. eff. 1-1-85; cr. Register, March, 1985, No. 351, eff. 4-1-85; cr. (7), Register, August, 1986, No. 368, eff. 9-1-86; CR 14-055: am. (1) Register May 2015 No. 713, eff. 6-1-15.

ETF 10.05 ETF 10.05 Creditable service for Milwaukee teachers. Creditable service for Milwaukee teachers shall be granted for teaching services performed for governmental agencies other than the city of Milwaukee pursuant to ss. 42.70 (2) (s), 42.78 (1) (a), 42.81 and 42.91, 1979 Stats., only if the requirements in subs. (1) to (6) are satisfied:

ETF 10.05(1) (1) The teacher was a member, as defined in s. 42.70 (2) (k), 1979 Stats., of the former Milwaukee teachers retirement fund on August 31, 1958, has not received a separation benefit since that date and the teaching service for which creditable service is requested was prior to September 1, 1958.

ETF 10.05(2) (2) The participant has 10 or more years of teaching service in the city of Milwaukee and the outside teaching credit granted, when added to the participant’s separate, combined and formula teaching service in the city of Milwaukee, does not exceed 35 years for benefit computation purposes. If at the time of a benefit computation the total service exceeds 35 years, any payment made previously for outside teaching service including interest which cannot be used shall be transferred to the additional contributions of that participant.

ETF 10.05(3) (3) The participant applies in writing for the outside teaching credit giving pertinent details on when, where and for whom the outside teaching service was performed.

ETF 10.05(4) (4) The outside teaching service is verified by the school district, successor school district or public retirement plan.

ETF 10.05(5) (5) The applicable public retirement plan certifies to the department that the participant is not entitled to any benefit, absolute, contingent or otherwise, from that retirement plan as a result of the teaching service.

ETF 10.05(6) (6) The participant makes the contributions which would have been required if the service to be credited had been subject to s. 42.80, 1979 Stats., at the time the teacher became a member, as defined in s. 42.70 (2) (k), 1979 Stats., of the former Milwaukee teachers retirement fund, or if later, at the time the teacher returned to covered Milwaukee teaching after the period of outside teaching. The amount due shall be increased with interest at the effective rate, as defined in s. 40.02 (23), Stats., as though the contributions were in the fund on September 1, 1959.

ETF 10.05 History History: Cr. Register, June, 1983, No. 330, eff. 7-1-83; am. (2), Register, September, 1983, No. 333, eff. 10-1-83; correction in (1) and (6) made under s. 13.93 (2m) (b) 7., Stats., Register, July, 1994, No. 463.

ETF 10.07 ETF 10.07 Leave of absence.

ETF 10.07(1) (1) A person on a paid leave of absence from a position in which the person was a participating employee shall continue to qualify as a participating employee.

ETF 10.07(2) (2) Service shall be determined and reported by the employer in the following manner:

ETF 10.07(2)(a) (a) If the compensation paid during the leave of absence is less than the earnings paid during the participant’s immediately preceding service with that employer in a time period of the same length as the leave, then the service shall be computed by dividing the compensation paid during the leave by the earnings paid in that preceding period and multiplying the result by the service reported for that preceding period.

ETF 10.07(2)(b) (b) If the compensation paid during the leave of absence is equal to or greater than the earnings paid during the participant’s immediately preceding service with that employer in a time period of the same length as the leave, then the service reported shall be the same as in that preceding period.

ETF 10.07(3) (3) Compensation paid during a paid leave of absence shall be treated the same as earnings for purposes of ch. 40, Stats.

ETF 10.07 Note Note: This rule requires a form which is available at no charge to reporting officials required to use them. The form can be obtained by writing to: department of employee trust funds, P.O. Box 7931, Madison, WI 53707-7931, or by calling: [phone] or toll free at [phone].

ETF 10.07 History History: Cr. Register, March, 1985, No. 351, eff. 4-1-85.

ETF 10.08 ETF 10.08 Separation from employment.

ETF 10.08(1) (1) Scope.

ETF 10.08(1)(a) (a) This section defines separation of employment under s. 40.23 (1) (a) 1., Stats., for purposes of establishing eligibility to receive benefits from the Wisconsin retirement system, including separation benefits, lump sum benefits and retirement annuity benefits as provided by ss. 40.23, 40.24 and 40.25, Stats. For purposes of the Wisconsin retirement system, the terms “separation from employment” and “termination” are used interchangeably. An otherwise valid termination may become void and without effect as the result of reinstatement of the employee under s. 40.25 (5), Stats., and s. ETF 10.01 (3t), or because the employee received remedial payments deemed to be earnings under s. ETF 20.12 for a period in question, or if the employee failed to meet the minimum break in service requirements as a rehired annuitant under s. ETF 20.02 and s. 40.26 (5), Stats., and shall thereby be treated as employed during that period.

ETF 10.08(1)(b) (b) The effective date of disability annuity benefits shall be determined as provided by ss. 40.23 (1) (b) and (bm) and 40.63 (8) (intro.) and (f), Stats.

ETF 10.08(2) (2) Termination of employment.

ETF 10.08(2)(a) (a) Intent to terminate. No person may receive any retirement annuity, separation benefit or lump-sum payment from the Wisconsin retirement system without first terminating from his or her current participating employment with all participating employers. Whether the termination is a voluntary termination by the employee or an involuntary termination by the employer, the employer and employee shall act with the good-faith intent of ending the employee-employer relationship.

ETF 10.08(2)(b) (b) Required conditions. Termination from participating employment occurs when all of the following conditions are met:

ETF 10.08(2)(b)1. 1. The employee ceases to render compensable personal services to or on behalf of the employer, and the employer has no further rights to any future services from the employee for which the employee [has received or] will receive compensation. This paragraph does not apply to services rendered as a part-time elected official after the effective date of a participant’s waiver of [WRS coverage for] part-time elected service under s. 40.23 (1) (am), Stats.

ETF 10.08 Note Note: Missing language is shown in brackets.

ETF 10.08(2)(b)2. 2. If the employee’s termination is voluntary, the employee and employer comply with the employer’s policies for voluntary termination, including the filing of a letter of resignation.

ETF 10.08(2)(b)3. 3. As of the end of the day that participating employment terminates, the employee has no rights to any future compensable employment that meets the qualifications for inclusion under the Wisconsin retirement system provided under s. 40.22, Stats. A right to future compensable employment includes, but is not limited to, a contract for future employment with any participating employer, or having already been elected as of the termination date to a term of public office meeting the qualifications for participating employment, which term commences on or after the date of termination of employment, other than a term of public office as a part-time elected official for which the participant has waived WRS coverage under the provisions of s. 40.23 (1) (am), Stats.

ETF 10.08(2)(b)4. 4. Except as provided in s. ETF 50.30 (4), upon termination of employment the participant is treated consistently with the status of a former employee. This includes, but is not limited to the terminated employee no longer being eligible for benefits available only to active employees. Examples of such benefits may include health insurance, life insurance, income continuation insurance coverage, making deferred compensation or tax sheltered annuity contributions, worker’s compensation coverage, internal grievance, promotion or transfer rights, or rights available to active employees under a collective bargaining agreement. This subdivision shall not apply to benefits that may be available to the employer’s retired employees, such as severance pay, post-retirement insurance coverage and/or employer payment of premiums, or post-retirement benefits or other rights provided through collective bargaining or other retirement agreements. However, agreements made after the termination date for future compensable services to be rendered by the employee would not be precluded under subd. 3.

ETF 10.08(2)(b)5. 5. Immediately upon termination of employment, the participant has no authority to act as a representative of the employer in any capacity or to exercise any authority or control over other employees of the employer, and the employer has no responsibility or liability for any actions of the terminated employee. This subdivision shall not apply to employees of any WRS participating employer who provide services for which they have not and will not receive compensation of any kind, including but not limited to payment at some other time or compensatory paid leave.

ETF 10.08 Note Example: Emeritus professors could render services for the university after termination on the condition that they do not receive any form of compensation, including employer contributions to IRC s. 403 (b) accounts.

ETF 10.08(2)(b)6. 6. As of the termination of employment the employer has paid to the employee any accumulated benefits that similarly situated employees of that employer customarily receive upon termination of employment, including but not limited to accumulated vacation, compensatory time and sick leave, and the employee has no entitlement to any such remaining benefits.

ETF 10.08(2)(c) (c) Rehired annuitants. In order to receive a benefit under s. 40.23 or 40.25, Stats., a person terminated from participating employment shall remain terminated from all employment meeting the qualifications for inclusion under s. 40.22, Stats., throughout a period beginning with the date of termination from all participating employment and ending on the latest of the following dates:

ETF 10.08(2)(c)1. 1. The day after the date which would be the effective date of the annuity as determined in accordance with s. 40.23 (1) (b) and (bm), Stats., as applicable to the annuity in question.

ETF 10.08(2)(c)3. 3. The seventy-sixth day after termination of employment in accordance with this section.

ETF 10.08(2)(d) (d) Terminated annuities. For purposes of determining whether employment meets the qualifications under s. 40.22, Stats., the exclusion of s. 40.22 (2) (L), Stats., does not apply unless the person has met all qualifications for entitlement to an annuity, including termination from participating employment for the period specified in par. (c) 1. and 3. Payment of an annuity or other benefits in error does not qualify a person as an annuitant for purposes of s. 40.22 (2) (L), Stats.

ETF 10.08 Note Note: Refer to s. ETF 20.02 (2) on rehired annuitants.

ETF 10.08(3) (3) Determining the date of termination.

ETF 10.08(3)(a) (a) The employer shall make the initial determination that an employee has terminated from employment under this section. Except as provided under par. (b), (c) or (d) the date of termination shall be the earliest of the dates determined under all the following applicable subdivisions: