You automatically become a member of the Educational Retirement Board (ERB) plan when you begin employment with any entity covered by the Educational Retirement Act (ERA). Links to the ERA and regulations adopted by the ERB can be found at "Educational Retirement Act."
Upon your employment, the ERB creates an individual account for you. You must complete a Beneficiary Designation form (ERB Form 42) before a notary and return it to the ERB in order to activate your retirement account. Contributions toward your retirement are deducted from your earnings each pay period and credited to your ERB account.
Membership in the ERB is a condition of employment. Employees covered under the ERB are referred to as "members," and employers are referred to as "local administrative units or LAUs." In the member handbook, they are also referred to as "ERB Employers."
If you are a short-term substitute teacher, and intern or student teacher, or work 25% or less of a full-time equivalent (FTE) position, you are not eligible to participate in the ERB. A short-term substitute teacher is a substitute who works less than six continuous weeks in a single substitute teaching assignment.
Individuals who work more than 0.25 of FTE (25% of FTE) for the following entities are covered by the ERB's retirement programs:
- Public schools (including public charter schools, ie: chartered by the local school board or the New Mexico Secretary of Education)
- Universities
- Junior and community colleges
- Public technical and vocational institutions
- New Mexico School for the Deaf
- New Mexico School for the Visually Handicapped
- Regional educational cooperatives
- New Mexico Activities Association
- Certain employees at state agencies that provide an educational program (ie: Department of Corrections, Public Education Department, Department of Health, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, Educational Retirement Board). This applies only if the employee filling a position is required to be a certified educator. Other employees at these agencies participate in the Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) plan.
The ERB Annual Report, click here to see annual report, includes a list of all participating employers.
Some college and university positions qualify for ERB's Alternative Retirement Plan (ARP). Click here for more information.
