Break in Service

If I want to take a break from working right after retirement and not do the backdrop at that moment, how long can that break be before I decide to go back to work in a MOSERS-covered position? Or can that be done? And will that be considered backdrop then?

Per MOSERS board rule, a break in service is being off payroll for an entire calendar month. It looks like you have three options.

1. If you retire and return to work in a benefit-eligible* position, your monthly retirement payment will stop as soon as we are notified that you are re-employed. Once you have worked for at least 12 continuous months in your new benefit-eligible position, you will begin accruing additional retirement benefits. Once you re-retire, your benefits will be recalculated and your benefit payments will resume. You are not allowed to elect BackDROP after you have first retired. In other words, you will not be eligible for BackDROP if you return to state employment after having already retired from the state.
2. If you retire and return to work in any position not covered by MOSERS or MPERS (including work for the state in a non-benefit-eligible position), you may continue receiving your MOSERS pension benefits and earn as much as you wish. Such employment will have no effect on your MOSERS benefit.
3. If you leave state employment but don’t retire and then, after a break in service, return to state employment in a benefit-eligible position, you may become eligible for and elect BackDROP.

Visit our website for a list of state agencies who employ workers in MOSERS-benefit-eligible positions. Be sure to discuss your situation with the human resources staff at the agency where you are considering employment. They will be able to tell you whether or not the position is eligible for benefits.

You may contact a MOSERS benefit counselor to get more information about your individual situation and options.

*A benefit-eligible position is one that normally require at least 1,040 hours of work per year, is permanent in nature, and is covered by MOSERS or the MoDOT and Patrol Employees’ Retirement System (MPERS). Your employer, not MOSERS, determines if you are working in a benefit-eligible position.