Volunteering for PEERS-Covered Employers

Volunteering Can Count Toward your Work Hours Limit

You can volunteer at PEERS-covered employers after retirement for an unlimited amount of time with no effect on your benefits if:

• You are not a paid employee for the same employer for any duties.
• You do not receive a salary, including health insurance benefits, from the same employer.

But if you perform paid work and also volunteer after retirement at the same PEERS-covered employer, and the volunteering and working are essentially performing the same function, the time spent on volunteer work is not considered volunteering and counts toward the 550-hour limit. If the volunteering and working duties are substantially different, only the paid hours count toward the 550-hour limit.

Volunteering Can Make You Ineligible to Retire

Retirement incentives or separation agreements sometimes require volunteer work. If a retirement incentive requires you to volunteer in any capacity after retirement in return for salary, including employer-paid health insurance, this is not considered volunteering by PEERS and can cause you to be ineligible to receive PEERS benefits. Please contact us for more information.