A retirement system ineligible is an employee who performs services in a position
under a retirement system but who is personally ineligible for membership in that
system because of a personal disqualification (e.g., age, length of service, number
of hours worked, or date of hiring). One reason that an individual may be disqualified
from retirement system membership is that they are already receiving or entitled to
a pension from the retirement system. SSA determines whether a rehired annuitant is
a retirement system ineligible.
In order for a State's Section 218 Agreement to cover retirement system ineligibles,
there must be language in the State’s Section 218 Agreement (either in the original
Agreement or by a subsequent Modification) which permits the extension of Social Security
coverage to retirement system ineligibles.
A handful of States never amended their Section 218 Agreements to permit Section 218
coverage of retirement system ineligibles. Within those States, retirement system
ineligibles are not covered under Section 218, and no additional analysis is required.
Consider the applicability of the mandatory Social Security under Section 210 and
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rules instead (see SL 30001.396).
Where the State’s Section 218 Agreement permits coverage of retirement system ineligibles,
further consideration is needed to determine the rehired annuitant’s Section 218 coverage
status. Ask whether the rehired annuitant’s employer, upon rehire, has Section 218
coverage that extends such coverage to ineligibles of the retirement system, including
ineligibles in the position into which the rehired annuitant is rehired.
For a general discussion of retirement system ineligibles, see SL 30001.340.