General

• If the days are reduced for the current school year, will CalSTRS require a Change of Base form for each member?

  No, the Report of Change of Base Assignment form is not required by CalSTRS because it is not applicable for furloughs.

• As a result of furloughs, what would be the negative effect on a member’s service credit?

  If the reported earnable remains the same, and the earnings are less than the earnable, the negative impact to the member would be less than a full year of service credit.

• Can a member apply unused personal days to make up for furlough days?

  Again this is a local bargaining issue. However, the application of the furlough must apply to members of a class of employees.

• If a district chose not to reduce the number of days for a class of employees and the employees’ earnings are reduced for days not worked, is it permissible for a member to buy back the days not worked and gain a full year of service credit?
  
  

  No, buying back the days not worked is not permissible.

  Employees can purchase “air time”. “Air time” is considered nonqualified service credit and may not be used to qualify for:

  • Career factor
  • Longevity bonus
  • One-year final compensation

  Please refer to CalSTRS publication Purchase Additional Service Credit for additional information.

Service Credit

• If the district reduces the number of working days to 175.5 days, and reduces the annual salary schedule that is currently based on 177 days to reflect an annual salary at 175.5 days, will there be an effect on service credit?
  
  

  No, the service credit would not be affected.

• Can extra duty pay make up the reduction of days in order for the member to earn a full year of service credit?

  Yes, but if the year is used in the calculation of final compensation, it may affect the member’s final compensation. The employer determines how to report the earnable and earnings for each member.

  Regular service credit is calculated by dividing the member’s earnings in a school year by the compensation earnable (contract pay rate) for that year. Compensation earnable is the amount a member could earn in a school year for credible service if they fulfilled the full contract.

  Extra duty pay may need to be reported as special compensation. Reporting service as regular or special compensation is determined by the employer. Special compensation is included in final compensation using a different calculation and added to the earnable in the final compensation calculation.

  An example of how service credit is calculated is illustrated below:

  Example:

  Earnings/Earnable (contract rate) = Service Credit
  Earnings of $25,000 divided by earnable of $50,000 = .500 Service Credit

  Final compensation is calculated as illustrated below:

  • Earnings/Service Credit + CC6 (special compensation) = Final Compensation
  • Capped at Highest Pay Rate: Multiple pay rates reported and the earnings divided by the service credit totals are more than the highest pay rate multiplied by the number of payments at that rate, CalSTRS would use the highest pay rate as the annual compensation earnable.
  • .900 Rule: Member is working multiple positions with at least .900 in service credit for the year at the highest pay rate, the final compensation will be determined as if all service credit for that year has been earned at that highest rate.
• For final compensation purposes, can members who retire at the end of the fiscal year still designate the highest year of service if they worked 25 years or more, or the 3 highest non-consecutive years for less than 25 years of service credit?
  
  

  CalSTRS automatically calculates the highest years for final compensation for both three year and one year final compensation scenarios going back to the last 15 years of earnings. If the member desires to use a salary year prior to the last 15 years, then the member will need to designate the year formally in writing.

  Nonconsecutive final compensation is used for members who receive a salary reduction. The employer must indicate such an agreement on the Express Benefit Report; form SR-0554E in Section 3.

  If the employer has paid for this benefit to be provided, CalSTRS will use the three highest nonconsecutive years to determine the highest final compensation available.

Reporting Days Worked

• Should an employer report the reduction of a number of days for a class of employees?

  If the number of work days is reduced, the pay rate should be reduced and actual earnings reported.

• If a class of employees has a base of 175 days (minimum K-12), and one of the districts is discussing a two-day furlough, is 173 base days acceptable?
  
  

  Yes, it would be acceptable if the base hours are over 1,050.

  Education Code Section 22138.5 states the minimum standard must be 175 days, or 1,050 hours.

  For example, if the work day is greater than six hours and the minimum number of base hours is six and one half hours, then the total number of hours would equal 1,124.5. This would be acceptable because it is greater than 1,050 hours.

• According to one employer, their plan was to reduce the salary for all teachers to the minimum standard of 175 days, and any extra days they worked would be reported to DBS. What is the impact on members if all employees are on a 175 day schedule and extra pay goes to DBS?

  The impact on members is that anything worked in addition to their contracts would be credited to DBS. However, their final compensation would be based on what they earned for the 175 day contract.

  Please note different classes of employees have different minimum standards in regards to base days.

• If furloughs were directed for specific months only, what is the best method to report them?
  
  

  The following examples ensure the members receive a full year of service credit while being furloughed:

  Example #1
  No furlough days were instituted at the beginning of the school year. Starting in January, furloughs were instituted by the employer;

  • One day in January
  • No days in February
  • One day in March
  • No days in April
  • One day in May
  • Two days in June

  If this member worked full time minus the instituted furlough days for the remainder of the fiscal year, had no additional dock, and with a daily rate of $316.67, the lines should be reported as follows:

  1 57 5890.100 3 5890.10 0800 1 471.21 E 0901 0930 0.1000 A
  1 57 5890.100 3 5890.10 0800 1 471.21 E 1001 1031 0.1000 A
  1 57 5890.100 3 5890.10 0800 1 471.21 E 1101 1130 0.1000 A
  1 57 5890.100 3 5890.10 0800 1 471.21 E 1201 1231 0.1000 A
  1 57 5573.43  3 5573.43 0800 1 445.87 E 0101 0131 0.1000 (1 day furlough)
  1 57 5890.10  3 5890.10 0800 1 471.21 E 0201 0228 0.1000 (0 days furlough)
  1 57 5573.43  3 5573.43 0800 1 445.87 E 0301 0331 0.1000 (1 day furlough)
  1 57 5890.10  3 5890.10 0800 1 471.21 E 0401 0430 0.1000 (0 days furlough)
  1 57 5573.43  3 5573.43 0800 1 445.87 E 0501 0531 0.1000 (1 day furlough)
  1 57 5256.76  3 5256.76 0800 1 420.54 E 0601 0630 0.1000 (2 days furlough)

  Example #2
  A district is furloughing one day in April and one day in May. Using the daily rate of $250.00, the lines should be reported as follows:

  1 57 6000.00 3 6000.00 0800 1 480.00 E 0801 0831 0.1000
  1 57 6000.00 3 6000.00 0800 1 480.00 E 0901 0930 0.1000
  1 57 6000.00 3 6000.00 0800 1 480.00 E 1001 1031 0.1000
  1 57 6000.00 3 6000.00 0800 1 480.00 E 1101 1130 0.1000
  1 57 6000.00 3 6000.00 0800 1 480.00 E 1201 1231 0.1000
  1 57 6000.00 3 6000.00 0800 1 480.00 E 0101 0131 0.1000
  1 57 6000.00 3 6000.00 0800 1 480.00 E 0201 0228 0.1000
  1 57 6000.00 3 6000.00 0800 1 480.00 E 0301 0331 0.1000
  1 57 5750.00 3 5750.00 0800 1 480.00 E 0401 0430 0.1000 (1 day furlough)
  1 57 5750.00 3 5750.00 0800 1 480.00 E 0501 0531 0.1000 (1 day furlough)

• If furloughs were directed for specific months only, and the employer used the reduction in earnings method, how should the lines be reported?

  The lines should be reported as follows:
  (Please note, if this method is used when reporting a furlough situation, the member will receive less than a full year of service credit, but will retain the higher earnable).

  Example #3:
  Using the daily rate of $500.00, the lines should be reported as follows:

  1 57 7000.00 3 7000.00 0800 1 560.00 E 0801 0831 0.1000
  1 57 7000.00 3 7000.00 0800 1 560.00 E 0901 0931 0.1000
  1 57 7000.00 3 7000.00 0800 1 560.00 E 1101 1130 0.1000
  1 57 7000.00 3 7000.00 0800 1 560.00 E 1201 1231 0.1000
  1 57 7000.00 3 7000.00 0800 1 560.00 E 0101 0131 0.1000
  1 57 7000.00 3 7000.00 0800 1 560.00 E 0201 0228 0.1000
  1 57 7000.00 3 7000.00 0800 1 560.00 E 0301 0331 0.1000
  1 57 7000.00 3 6500.00 0800 1 520.00 E 0401 0430 0.9280 (1 day furlough)
  1 57 7000.00 3 6500.00 0800 1 520.00 E 0501 0531 0.9280 (1 day furlough)

• What are the base days for nurses and speech pathologists?
  
  

  Education Code Section 22138.5 defines minimum standards. The minimum base days for nurses and speech pathologists are 175 days or 1,050 hours.