Ohio Code 145.016 – Credit for contributing service
Contributing service shall be allowed in accordance with the following:
Terms Used In Ohio Code 145.016
- Contributing service: means both of the following:
(1) All service credited to a member of the system since January 1, 1935, for which contributions are made as required by sections 145. See Ohio Code 145.01
- Earnable salary: includes the following:
(a) Payments made by the employer in lieu of salary, wages, or other earnings for sick leave, personal leave, or vacation used by the contributor;
(b) Payments made by the employer for the conversion of sick leave, personal leave, and vacation leave accrued, but not used if the payment is made during the year in which the leave is accrued, except that payments made pursuant to section 124. See Ohio Code 145.01
- Member: includes a PERS retirant who becomes a member under division (C) of section 145. See Ohio Code 145.01
(A) For service not later than December 31, 2013, credit for any contributing service shall be allowed as follows:
(1) For each month for which the member‘s earnable salary is two hundred fifty dollars or more, allow one month’s credit;
(2) For each month for which the member’s earnable salary is less than two hundred fifty dollars, allow a fraction of a month’s credit with a numerator of the earnable salary during the month and a denominator of two hundred fifty dollars, except that if the member’s annual earnable salary is less than six hundred dollars, the member’s credit shall not be reduced below twenty per cent of a year for a calendar year of employment during which the member worked each month.
Division (A)(2) of this section shall not reduce any credit earned before January 1, 1985.
(B) For service on or after January 1, 2014, credit for any contributing service shall be allowed in accordance with the following:
(1) For each month in which the member’s earnable salary equals or exceeds the amount specified in division (B)(1)(a) or (b) of this section, as appropriate, allow one month’s credit:
(a) For service on or after January 1, 2014, but not later than December 31, 2014, six hundred dollars;
(b) For each calendar year thereafter, the sum of the following:
(i) The prior year’s amount;
(ii) The prior year’s amount multiplied by the average percentage increase, if any, made to compensation under section 505.24 of the Revised Code, if that increase became effective in the prior year.
(2) For each month that the member’s earnable salary is less than the appropriate amount specified in division (B)(1) of this section, allow a fraction of a month’s credit with a numerator of the earnable salary during the month and a denominator of the amount specified in division (B)(1)(a) or (b) of this section, as appropriate.
Division (B) of this section shall not reduce any credit earned before January 1, 2014.
(C)(1) Except as provided in division (C)(2) of this section, for the purpose of satisfying the service credit requirement and determining eligibility for benefits under sections 145.196, 145.32, 145.33, 145.331, 145.332, 145.35, 145.335, 145.36, and 145.361 of the Revised Code, “five or more years of total service credit” means five or more years of contributing service for which credit is allowed under division (A) or (B) of this section.
(2)(a) A member who, as of March 22, 2019, has sixty or more calendar months of contributions and has attained sixty years of age shall be considered to have five or more years of total service credit for the purpose of satisfying the service credit requirement and determining eligibility for benefits under sections 145.196, 145.32, 145.33, 145.331, 145.332, 145.35, 145.335, 145.36, and 145.361 of the Revised Code.
(b) A member who, as of March 22, 2019, has sixty or more calendar months of contributions and is receiving a benefit under section 145.35, 145.36, or 145.361 of the Revised Code shall be considered to have five or more years of total service credit for the purpose of satisfying the service credit requirement and determining eligibility for benefits under section 145.196, 145.32, 145.33, 145.331, 145.332, or 145.335 of the Revised Code.
(D) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, an elected official who prior to January 1, 1980, was granted a full year of credit for each year of service as an elected official shall be considered to have earned a full year of credit for each year of service regardless of whether the service was full-time or part-time. The public employees retirement board has no authority to reduce the credit.
Last updated August 15, 2023 at 1:17 PM