What Happens If I Go Part-Time?

First, be sure that you really are considered part-time.  While the vast majority of members are considered full-time at either 40 or 37.5 hours per week, there are some employees who work less, and are still considered full-time.

• Nurses at Cambridge Hospital are full-time at 36 hours per week.
• Paraprofessionals and Teacher Aides are considered full time at 30 hours per week.
• Parent Liaisons in the School Dept. are full time at 25 hours per week.
• Traffic Supervisors are full time at 10 hours per week.

Employees in these positions earn retirement benefits in the same way as employees in positions that work 40 hours per week.  There are no adjustments made to their retirement calculation.

However, if a person working in a position that is normally budgeted at 40 hours per week begins working only 20 hours per week, the person will be considered part time, and this will have an effect on the retirement benefit.

Remember that when calculating a retirement benefit, we consider three factors.  They are the member’s age, the member’s years of creditable service and the member’s average salary.  Working in a part-time position has no effect on age.  It has a significant effect on service time, and it has a small effect on salary.

The effect on service time is simple.  Creditable service for part time employees is pro-rated, based on the number of hours worked each year, divided by the number of hours worked by a full-time employee in the same position.  If a member in 40-hour position begins working 20 hours per week, that person will earn only six months of creditable service each year, for as long as they are working part time.

The effect on salary is more subtle.  At the time of retirement, average salary is calculated based on the three highest consecutive years of creditable service.  For a full-time employee, this is equivalent to 36 calendar months.  For a part-time employee, it may be necessary to consider additional calendar years in order to include 36 months of creditable service.

This example shows two employees.  Both receive 2% COLAs each year.  One works full time and the other half time.

The full time employee is able to retire with an average salary that is somewhat higher than the half time employee, but it’s not a dramatic difference.

The link below displays a spreadsheet showing the full effect on a hypothetical employee who switches to a part time position six years prior to retirement, considering the effect of both the lower salary and fewer years of service.

If you have questions about part time work, please feel free to call our office to discuss it.  We can prepare benefit estimates showing the effect of various work schedules on your retirement allowance.