FAQs - Last day of employment
General rule: Your “last day of employment” is typically the last day for which you are paid, not necessarily the last day you are physically in the building or the end of the fiscal year. Your TRA benefit typically begins the following day.
No. Your last day of employment should be the last day you earn pay.
- Exception: Principals and administrators with contracts through June 30 must use that date if they are paid their full contracted salary for the year.
Only if your birthday is actually your last day of paid employment.
- Note: You must be at least age 55 to be eligible for benefits.
Your last day is the last day you are paid. If you work on a Friday, but return on Monday to clean your room without pay, your last day remains Friday.
It depends on your pay structure.
- If you are paid for the full duration of your contract, use the contract end date.
- If your pay stops before your contract ends, use the last day you earned pay.
Your last day is the effective date of your resignation, provided you are considered employed until that date.
Specific scenarios
Your last day of employment is the last day you worked for pay, not the last day you were on the substitute list.
If a snow day changes your last day of paid service, you must revise your TRA retirement application with the updated date.
The date of the paid workshop becomes your last day of employment.
This depends on when you sign the contract and when you submit your TRA retirement application.
- No change: If you sign the summer contract AFTER your last day AND AFTER you submit your TRA retirement application.
- Date moves: If you sign the summer contract BEFORE your last day OR BEFORE you submit your TRA retirement application, your last day moves to the final day of the summer contract.
- Example: If your last day is June 10 and, on June 15, you sign a contract to teach until August 15, but you wait to submit your application until June 15 or later, your last day changes to August 15.
Layoffs and leaves
Your last day is your layoff date, not the day your severance payments end.
- Example: If you were laid off March 30 and receive two weeks of severance, your last day is March 30.
You do not have to wait for the leave to end. You may submit your resignation to the district designating a last day of employment at any point during the leave.
- Important: Any payments for purchasing service credit for that leave must be made to TRA before your benefit effective date.
Return-to-work agreements (age 62+)
Yes. You and your district must formally agree on a last day of employment and a subsequent reemployment date. These dates must be submitted to TRA via the Return-to-Work Agreement form.
