Working after Georgia teacher retirement: what TRS says about private-sector jobs, your first month, part-time limits and SB 150

1. Private-sector jobs and TRS

The Teachers Retirement System of Georgia (TRS) lists the jobs a service retiree can take on page 23 of its Member’s Guide (06/26), the newest TRS-wide document. One line on that list speaks to private-sector work. Here it is, with the conditions that go with it. If you plan any paid work in the month your retirement takes effect, ask TRS first (section 3).

TRS’s Member’s Guide (06/26) says, for service retirees: “The following employment options are available while continuing to receive your monthly retirement benefit.” Its list of full-time options includes “Employment in the Private Sector (Not contracted with a TRS covered employer)”. That condition matters. If a private company you work for does business with a TRS-covered employer (TRS’s reporting employers include local boards of education, charter schools, colleges and universities, technical colleges, libraries, RESAs and certain state agencies), TRS limits what you may earn there in “a position which would normally be held by a teacher as determined by the Board of Trustees” to half of the average annual compensation used to calculate your retirement benefit or your final salary at retirement, whichever is greater, and the contract or an online employment verification must reach TRS before the work starts. This covers employees of such a company, not only independent contractors, and the guide adds: “For employment with any private entity (e.g., partnership, corporation, temp agency, etc.) as a teacher, documentation of your duties and responsibilities with the entity and the retiree’s relationship with the TRS covered employer must be submitted to TRS for evaluation.” (TRS’s older web page states the cap without the teacher-position wording.) If you are a TRS disability retiree, different rules apply. TRS says: “ALL employment, including self-employment, must be reported to TRS prior to accepting the employment.” Its page for employers adds: “Report all employment to TRS; this includes all positions covered and not covered under TRS.” TRS’s Member’s Guide says: “Georgia law places strict salary limitations on disability retirees.” It adds: “TRS will monitor your employment and income on a regular basis and, if necessary, reduce or discontinue your monthly benefit”. TRS asks: “Before accepting any post-retirement employment as a TRS disability retiree, contact the TRS office for detailed guidance and instructions.” Confirm your own situation with TRS (800-352-0650 or 404-352-6500) before you start.

Which employers TRS covers. TRS’s page on membership says: “TRS reporting employers include local boards of education, charter schools, universities and colleges, technical colleges, Board of Regents, county and regional libraries, RESA’s, and certain State of Georgia agencies.” It adds: “Temporary, less than half-time, and private school employees are not eligible for TRS membership.” The guide’s list of full-time options also includes private school teaching and teaching in a state other than Georgia.

About SpecialEdResource. SpecialEdResource hires special education teachers who live in Georgia as part-time W-2 employees for live, one-on-one online tutoring, one student at a time. Its hiring site states the license requirement this way: “Special education certification and a current teaching license from any US state.” If your license has expired or is inactive, you can still apply, as long as you’ll renew it before you start. Our Georgia teaching certificate guide covers GaPSC renewal and the Retired Educator certificate. Whether a particular job falls under TRS’s cap is for TRS to decide, from the documentation it asks for.

2. When a company does business with a TRS-covered employer

TRS’s Member’s Guide (06/26) says: “If you are engaged in an independent contracting relationship, or employed by a private entity doing business, with a TRS covered employer in a position which would normally be held by a teacher as determined by the Board of Trustees, your compensation is limited to ½ of the average annual compensation used to calculate your retirement benefit or your final salary at the time of your retirement, whichever is greater.”

TRS’s older web page on contractual employment says it without the teacher-position words: “If you are engaged in an independent contracting relationship, or employed by a private entity doing business with a TRS covered employer your compensation is limited to one half of the average annual compensation used to calculate your retirement benefit or your final salary at the time of your retirement, whichever is greater.” That page adds: “A copy of the independent contract or an online employment verification must be submitted to TRS prior to the effective date of the contract.” The guide puts the paperwork on the employer: “The hiring employer, must submit an online verification of the independent contract agreement or a copy of the independent contract to TRS prior to the effective date of the contract.”

In plain words, as we read these sentences:

• It is a yearly pay limit, not a ban. The limit is half of the average annual compensation TRS used to calculate your benefit, or your final salary at retirement, whichever is greater. TRS publishes no dollar figure; its page for employers says: “Upon receipt of an employment verification, TRS will calculate the salary limit for the rehired retiree.”
• Employees count, not only contractors. Both texts name a person “employed by a private entity doing business” with a TRS-covered employer. We found no current TRS text that leaves out W-2 employees of such a company.
• Teacher positions, as TRS decides. The newer guide limits the cap to “a position which would normally be held by a teacher as determined by the Board of Trustees”. We found no TRS Board rule that defines that phrase: in the TRS chapter of Georgia’s official rules (Subject 513-5-1), the only rule we found on retirees’ work is one on finding out whether disability retirees are employed.
• The scope is not spelled out. No TRS text we found says whether the cap covers all your work for such a company or only the work tied to its business with the TRS-covered employer. The guide asks for documentation of your duties and of “the retiree’s relationship with the TRS covered employer”, to be “submitted to TRS for evaluation”.
• Paperwork before the work starts. TRS’s pages for TRS-covered employers give different deadlines. Its page for employers hiring retirees says: “All employment of a TRS retiree must be reported to TRS prior to employment.” Its page on verifying retirees says: “No later than the date of employment, employers hiring TRS retirees under the above conditions must verify eligibility via the online verification application”. Its list of employer duties says: “Submitting employment verifications for all rehired retirees within 30 days of employment.” For a contract, TRS’s contractual-employment page says the paperwork must reach TRS “prior to the effective date of the contract”. The safe course is to have it done before the work starts.

TRS checks. TRS says: “TRS reviews all retiree employment on a monthly basis, just as it does all active members.” and “TRS performs detailed audits of TRS retirees’ employment records from both the Department of Audits and the Department of Labor.”

Confirm your own situation with TRS (800-352-0650 or 404-352-6500) before you start.

3. Your first month of retirement, and no agreement to come back

Start any paid work, tutoring included, the month after your retirement takes effect, or ask TRS first: TRS’s web page says paid service “for any employer” during the calendar month of the effective date of retirement voids the retirement application, while its 06/26 Member’s Guide says “for any TRS-covered employer”. TRS’s example: “If your retirement date is July 1st, you can begin working no earlier than August 1st.”

In full, TRS’s web page says: “Any return to employment or rendering of any paid service, including service as an independent contractor, for any employer during the calendar month of the effective date of retirement shall render the severance invalid and void the application for retirement.” TRS adds: “Georgia law requires a break-in-service of at least 1 month.” Its page for employers says: “Before returning to work in any capacity in a TRS-covered position, TRS retirees must have a ‘break-in-service’ of at least one month” (for example, “he or she cannot begin work in a public school system until August 1, at the earliest”). Because TRS’s documents disagree, and we did not read the current text of the law, this guide does not say whether a private job in that month is allowed: start the month after your retirement takes effect, or ask TRS first.

No agreement to come back. TRS says “The employee cannot verbally or in writing agree to work after retirement with a TRS reporting entity before the termination date” of your current job, and “If the retiree accepts employment and works under a pre-arranged agreement, the retiree’s retirement application is nullified”. TRS’s example: if the employment ends on May 25 and retirement begins on June 1, “the retiree can discuss employment opportunities with a TRS reporting entity as of June 1”. TRS’s guide adds that employers certify that no agreement exists for you to return, including as an independent contractor. TRS’s Return to Work Agreement form, which the retiree signs, words that certification for any TRS employer.

If you retired on disability, read section 6 too. Confirm your own situation with TRS (800-352-0650 or 404-352-6500) before you start.

4. Going back part time to a TRS-covered employer: the 49% rule and monthly hour limits for July 2026 to June 2027

This section is about service retirees who work for a TRS-covered employer, such as a Georgia public school system. TRS’s Working After Retirement page opens: “If you plan to work in a position covered by TRS after you retire, it is important that you read the following information”. The first-month rule comes first (section 3).

Part-time work for a TRS-covered employer: TRS says “A TRS retiree who retired on service retirement may return to work in a less than half-time basis for a TRS covered employer.” “The compensation cannot exceed 49% of the full time monthly salary.” and “Retirees cannot work more than 49% of the schedule for the position.” For hourly work, TRS publishes a schedule of the maximum hours you may work each month; for its fiscal year 2027 (July 2026 to June 2027) the monthly maximums run from 75 to 91 hours, 992 hours in all. TRS’s Member’s Guide (06/26) adds a yearly limit: “Your compensation is limited to less than one half of the average annual compensation used to calculate your retirement benefit or your final salary at the time of your retirement, whichever is greater.”

TRS’s Member’s Guide says a service retiree “may return to work as a teacher on a less than half-time basis.”

TRS says: “TRS provides a schedule of the maximum hours that retirees can work for each month during the fiscal year as an hourly employee.” As we read it, the schedule is part of TRS’s rule for hourly part-time work for a TRS-covered employer; the page does not say whether it reaches any other work.

Temporary full-time work. TRS’s Full Time Employment page says: “Retirees may work in any temporary, full-time position for three calendar months in a fiscal year and continue receiving monthly benefit payments.” The Member’s Guide adds: “The full-time position must be paid at the normal compensation within your salary limit.”

Through a company. Work for a TRS-covered employer still counts when it comes through a company: TRS says “All employment, whether directly or indirectly (i.e. independent contractor, private temporary company, etc.) with a TRS employer is subject to salary and service limitations”, and “Any employment with a temporary agency for a TRS-covered employer must be reported to TRS by the employer.”

Confirm your own situation with TRS (800-352-0650 or 404-352-6500) before you start.

5. SB 150 (2026): full-time special education teaching for 30-year retirees

SB 150 is a separate route back to full-time teaching in a Georgia public school, not a rule about private employers. From July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2030, a Georgia public school system may hire a TRS retiree who has at least 30 years of creditable service in a full-time capacity as a certified teacher of pre-kindergarten through grade 12, has been retired for at least 12 months and was not restored to service as a teacher in that time, as a full-time pre-K–12 classroom teacher in a qualifying subject; special education is one of the statewide qualifying subjects (reading, writing and English language arts also need a dyslexia or reading endorsement). The retiree keeps the retirement benefit, earns no new service credit, and the school system pays both the employer and employee contributions to TRS. The Act also says: “It shall be the duty of each beneficiary to notify an employer of his or her status as a beneficiary prior to accepting employment with such employer.” TRS adds: “The retiree must not have been in a terminated or suspended status during the 12 months prior to the hire date.” and “TRS requires retirees to teach for a minimum of 50% of the full-time schedule in a qualifying subject area in the classroom.” GaPSC’s Retired Educator certificate is not enough for such a job: TRS says “it cannot be used for positions that require professional certification.” The Act says “This Act shall become effective on July 1, 2026, only if it is determined to have been concurrently funded”; TRS’s Member’s Guide and SB 150 page describe it as effective July 1, 2026, and we found no document that states the funding determination itself.

Special education is a statewide subject. TRS’s SB 150 page lists each school system’s “Fiscal Year 2027 Critical Need Subjects”, from the vacancy data employers reported in June 2026, and says: “For employers who are not included on the list, critical needs are limited to the statewide approved subject areas.” The statewide subjects are: “CTAE, Math, Science, Special Education, English Language Arts, Reading, and Writing.”

The Retired Educator certificate. The Georgia Professional Standards Commission’s Rule 505-2-.44 says: “Retired Educator certificate holders may not serve in any position requiring GaPSC educator certification.” It adds: “Retired educators who are hired in positions requiring certification must meet requirements to renew their expired professional certificates.” Our Georgia teaching certificate guide has the details.

Before SB 150. TRS says: “As mandated in Georgia law, House Bill 385 (HB 385) sunsets on June 30, 2026.” Its SB 150 page says SB 150 “extends and modifies the previous provisions under House Bill 385 (HB 385)”. Older TRS pages that describe HB 385’s rule are out of date (section 8).

Confirm your own situation with TRS (800-352-0650 or 404-352-6500) before you start.

6. If you retired on disability

If you are a TRS disability retiree, different rules apply. TRS says: “ALL employment, including self-employment, must be reported to TRS prior to accepting the employment.” Its page for employers adds: “Report all employment to TRS; this includes all positions covered and not covered under TRS.” TRS’s Member’s Guide says: “Georgia law places strict salary limitations on disability retirees.” It adds: “TRS will monitor your employment and income on a regular basis and, if necessary, reduce or discontinue your monthly benefit”. TRS asks: “Before accepting any post-retirement employment as a TRS disability retiree, contact the TRS office for detailed guidance and instructions.”

The same page for employers also says: “If income from another job(s) plus the TRS benefit is more than the pay received during retirement, then the TRS benefit may be reduced.” We found no dollar figure for these limits in TRS’s published documents, so this guide gives none. Ask TRS before you accept any job, tutoring included. Confirm your own situation with TRS (800-352-0650 or 404-352-6500) before you start.

7. Substitute teaching for a Georgia board of education

Substitute teaching for a Georgia board of education: TRS says “If you retired on a service retirement, you may engage in unlimited substitute classroom teaching in Georgia without suspension or reduction of your retirement benefits from TRS provided you are compensated as a substitute teacher at the daily rate of pay.” TRS’s guide lists it as “Board of Education only” work.

• The first month. A board of education is a TRS reporting employer, so both of TRS’s wordings reach it: start the month after your retirement takes effect (section 3).
• Before you retire. No agreement to come back as a substitute with a TRS reporting entity before your current job ends (section 3).
• Paid at the daily rate. TRS’s sentence covers substitute teaching paid “at the daily rate of pay”. For other part-time work for a school system, the 49% rule and the hour limits apply (section 4).
• Placed by a company. Work for a school system that comes through a company or a temporary agency is still work for a TRS-covered employer: TRS says “Any employment with a temporary agency for a TRS-covered employer must be reported to TRS by the employer.” See section 4.
• At a private school. Private school teaching is on TRS’s list of full-time options, and private school employees cannot be TRS members (section 1).

Confirm your own situation with TRS (800-352-0650 or 404-352-6500) before you start.

8. Which TRS documents are current

In 2026, SB 150 (signed May 5, 2026) set out the public-school route in section 5; TRS says it “extends and modifies the previous provisions under House Bill 385 (HB 385)”. We found no 2026 change to TRS’s private-sector, contract, first-month or 49% rules. When this guide’s facts were read on Oct. 15, 2026, these were the documents behind it:

Document	Date it shows	Status for working after retirement
TRS Member’s Guide	Back cover 06/26	The newest TRS-wide text, with the SB 150 route. Its wording differs from TRS’s web pages in three places: the private-sector line, the first-month wording and the teacher-position words in the cap. Its Social Security passage is out of date (below).
TRS web pages: Working After Retirement and Allowable Employment	None printed (TRS sitemap: August 29, 2024)	Older than the guide; the same rules in other words.
TRS web page: Full Time Employment	None printed (TRS sitemap: August 29, 2024)	Out of date in part: for going back as a full-time classroom teacher, it still points to HB 385’s FAQ and marks its chart “HB 385*”.
TRS web page: SB 150 Employment	None printed (TRS sitemap: August 6, 2026)	Current, with the fiscal year 2027 critical-need subjects.
TRS web page: Schedule of Max Hours	None printed (TRS sitemap: April 15, 2026)	Current: the FY2027 monthly hours.
TRS Working After Retirement Chart (PDF)	Created August 2024	Out of date: it describes HB 385.
TRS Legislative Update, March 2026 (PDF)	March 2026	Out of date on SB 150: it describes an earlier version of the bill (through June 30, 2034, with 25 years of service), not the law as passed.
SB 150, LC 56 0700S, as passed	PDF created April 1, 2026; TRS says it was signed May 5, 2026	The Act’s text as passed. We did not read an enrolled copy.
TRS Return to Work Agreement (form)	Form code 10/12	An older form, still posted; its retirement-month sentence says “for any employer”.
TRS web page: Social Security (retirees)	None printed (TRS sitemap: August 29, 2024)	Out of date on the windfall elimination provision and the government pension offset, which were repealed (below).

Social Security. TRS’s Member’s Guide (06/26) still says: “Receiving a pension from TRS may reduce your Social Security benefits.” Its retiree Social Security page says the same in other words. That is out of date: the Social Security Fairness Act (Public Law 118-273, approved January 5, 2025) repealed the windfall elimination provision and the government pension offset, for “monthly insurance benefits payable under title II of the Social Security Act for months after December 2023.” TRS’s sentence on its own benefit is current: “Your TRS retirement benefit is not reduced, or affected in any way, by a benefit you are eligible to receive from the Social Security Administration (SSA).” Our Social Security guide covers the rest.