Working After Retirement

If you have retired from a Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) employer and are collecting an annuity, there are restrictions on the amount of hours you can work when you return to work at a WRS employer. If you have retired on or after July 2, 2013, you are restricted to working less than 880 hours within a 12 month rolling period of time.

If you are returning to the same employer, you must have a 75 day break in service before you return to work at the same employer. Please refer to ETF's Information for Rehired Annuitants resource to learn how returning to work after retiring could affect your annuity.

Commonly Asked Questions

Is it 880 hours in a school year?

No, the first 12 months is measured from your first pay check date to 12 months later. At that time MMSD looks at your hours worked to see if you are under 880 hours. If you are under 880 hours, then your calendar becomes a rolling 12 months. This means that the newest pay check hours are added to the total and the oldest are subtracted.

As an example, you are a sub teacher and your first day worked was 11/20/2025. The first pay check would be 01/2/2026. The report would total your hours paid from check dates 01/02/25 - 11/30/25 (12/1/25). After the first 12 months, the calendar becomes a rolling calendar. With the check dated 01/02/26, the hours from the check dated 01/02/25 fall off and the newest hours are added to the total. With the next check dated 01/30/26, the hours from the check dated 02/01/25 fall off and this is how the calendar becomes a rolling calendar, etc. Here is an illustration:

Check Dates
01/02/2025 - Hours on Check 80
01/31/2025 - Hours on Check 56
02/28/2025 - Hours on Check 116
04/01/2025 - Hours on Check 56
05/01/2025 - Hours on Check 83.2
05/31/2025 - Hours on Check 80
06/25/2025 - Hours on Check 60
10/01/2025 - Hours on Check 16
10/31/2025 - Hours on Check 39.2
12/01/2025 - Hours on Check 72.8

Estimated 01/02/2026 - Hours on Check 92
Total from 01-02-2025 to 11-30-2025 is 659.2 Hours
Total from 02-01-2025 to 01/02/2026 is 671.2 Hours

When do my hours start over at zero after I've returned to work?

In addition to working as a sub SEA, I also coach an athletic team and may start working for MSCR. Do all of those hours count?

If I work for MMSD and another school district are my hours added together and reported to ETF?

How do I know how many hours I worked?

Each re-hired annuitant is responsible for tracking their hours. If you are paid hourly (Sub SEA, LTE, MSCR, or your time is on UKG ) the hours are on your pay stub. If you are paid in quantities of days (Teacher, Sub Teacher, anyone paid on the monthly payroll) your day is based on 8 hours for WRS purposes. To see what you have been paid, visit our Check Detail tool.

Please contact Joe Kis at jkis@madison.k12.wi.us or at (608) 663-5380 if you have further questions or would like to know how many hours MMSD has for you.