If a faculty member has retired under the 18/20 retirement system, they must wait  five years  from their retirement date to do any paid work for IU.    

Other faculty must have a bona fide break between their retirement and working for IU. This means at a minimum:  

• At least 30 days between the last day worked as an employee and beginning work as hourly or adjunct. 
• No pre-arranged commitment or written understanding that they will teach or do hourly work. 

This is a federal requirement, not an IU one, and cannot be waived. Violating it may mean penalties for accessing retirement funds or benefits if there is no bona fide retirement.  

What faculty retirees can do:  

• Teach classes as an adjunct faculty member, for per-course payments (AC2 status).
• Do teaching-related projects, for a per-project payment (AC2 status).
• Do other work, as an HR  temporary hourly employee. Units will need to develop a contract with an agreed hourly rate, and the faculty member will need to clock in and out to record time used. IU policy regarding the Affordable Care Act does not allow for faculty (retired or otherwise) to be paid on a salary basis for less than 75% effort, except for phased retirement.   

Warning! Do not assume that a retiree can shift to being paid as an independent contractor.  

If an ‘independent contractor’ payment (payment via BUY.IU) is envisioned, please be aware that this must be approved by University Tax via an Independent Contractor Questionnaire submission.  Payment via payroll (employee) does not require separate approval from University Tax. 

Please secure an appropriate, approved, understanding of their employment and pay status before they do any work!

Reviewed and Revised: 5/6/2022

For questions about retirement in general or AC2 status, contact IUPUI Faculty Affairs (ude[dot]iupui[at]rhdaca)

For questions about independent contractor status, contact University Tax Services.

For questions about hourly employee status, contact RH UI.