1. (a) Employment of a person by a TRS covered employer for one-half or more of the standard full-time work load at a rate comparable to the rate of compensation for other persons employed in similar positions is regular, full-time service eligible for membership.
2. (b) Any employee of a public state-supported educational institution in Texas shall be considered to meet the requirements of subsection (a) of this section if his or her customary employment is for 20 hours or more for each week and for four and one-half months or more.
3. (c) Membership eligibility for positions requiring a varied work schedule is based on the average of the number of hours worked per week in a calendar month and the average number of hours worked must equal or exceed one-half of the hours required for a similar full-time position.
4. (d) For purposes of subsection (a) of this section, full-time service is employment that is usually 40 clock hours per week. If the TRS-covered employer has established a lesser requirement for full-time employment for specified positions that is not substantially less than 40 hours per week, full-time service includes employment in those positions. In no event may full-time employment require less than 30 hours per week.

5. (e) Beginning on the first day of the 2011-2012 school year and thereafter:

   1. (1) If there is no equivalent full-time position of a given position, the minimum number of hours required per week that will qualify the position for TRS membership is 15.
   2. (2) The requirement in this subsection applies to all positions, including bus drivers.

6. (f) For school years prior to the 2011-2012 school year:

   1. (1) If there is no equivalent full-time position of a given non-certified position, the minimum number of hours required per week that will qualify the position for TRS membership is 15.
   2. (2) If there is no equivalent full-time position of a given certified position, the minimum number of hours required per week that will qualify the position for TRS membership is 20.
   3. (3) Persons regularly employed as bus drivers for routes approved by the Transportation Department of the Texas Education Agency are eligible for membership. A person will be considered regularly employed as a bus driver if his or her customary employment requires driving at least one such route per day.
7. (g) For purposes of subsection (a) of this section, regular employment is employment that is expected to continue for four and one-half months or more. Employment with an institution of higher education (including community and junior colleges) is regular employment if it is expected to continue for more than one full semester or continues for more than one full semester in the same school year. Employment that is expected to continue for less than four and one-half months or for no more than one full semester in a school year is temporary employment and is not eligible for membership.
8. (h) For purposes of subsection (a) of this section, a rate of compensation is comparable to other persons employed in similar positions if the rate of compensation is within the range of pay established by the Board of Trustees for other similarly situated employees or is the customary rate of pay for persons employed by that employer in similar positions.
9. (i) For purposes of this section, employment in institutions of higher education (including community and junior colleges) measured or expressed in terms of the number of courses; semester or course hours/credits; instructional units; or other units of time representing class or instructional time must be converted to clock hours and counted as a minimum of two clock hours for each clock hour of instruction or time in the classroom or lab in order to reflect instructional time as well as preparation, grading, and other time typically associated with one hour of instruction. If the employer has established a greater amount of preparation time for each hour in the classroom or lab, the employer's standard will be used to determine the number of clock hours scheduled for work.

Source Note:The provisions of this §25.1 adopted to be effective January 1, 1976; amended to be effective June 1, 1995, 20 TexReg 3733; amended to be effective June 15, 1999, 24 TexReg 4454; amended to be effective March 12, 2003, 28 TexReg 2093; amended to be effective October 25, 2006, 31 TexReg 8728; amended to be effective March 8, 2007, 32 TexReg 1078; amended to be effective April 1, 2011, 36 TexReg 1828; amended to be effective June 3, 2013, 38 TexReg 3652.