§ 5054. Creditable service

(a) An employee who becomes a member on July 1, 1975 shall receive credit for all prior service as an employee since the employee’s most recent date of hire with his or her present employer, up to a maximum of 20 years. Any other person who becomes a member shall receive credited service for the three year period prior to joining.

(b) All service of a member since he or she last became a member on account of which contributions are made shall be credited service.

(c) The Retirement Board shall fix and determine by rule how much service in any year is equivalent to one year of service, but in no case shall it allow credit for a period of absence without pay of more than a month‘s duration, nor shall more than one year of service be creditable for all service in one fiscal year. Service rendered as an employee for the full normal working time in any year shall be equivalent to one year’s service, but in no case shall less than the minimum number of hours established under subdivision 5051(10) of this title be regarded as full normal working time.

(d) Any employee whose continuous service is broken and is later rehired, shall be considered as a new employee without any credit for service previously rendered.

(e) The Retirement Board may enter into a prior service purchase agreement with any municipality which has participated in another funded retirement system to enter the Vermont Municipal Employees’ Retirement System and transfer assets from its predecessor system into the Vermont Municipal Employees’ System representing the liabilities for continuous service accrued prior to the participation effective date. Assets received by the municipality from the predecessor system shall be transferred to the Vermont Municipal Employees’ Retirement System in a lump sum. Liabilities not covered by the lump sum deposit shall be contributed by the municipal employer as an additional employer contribution rate determined in accordance with the provisions of subdivision 5064(c)(6) of this title.

(f) The Board may enter into a prior service purchase agreement with any member who has participated in a public retirement system other than this System. A member who desires to purchase creditable service for service with a public retirement system outside this System must make application to the Board to purchase such creditable service. Upon approval by the Board, a member who desires to purchase additional creditable service must deposit in the Fund, a lump sum equal to the accrued liability (based on the assumptions and methodology adopted by the Board) for such additional creditable service. In lieu of a single payment, a member may, subject to the approval of the Board, contribute in installments of equal monthly payments (over a period not to exceed 60 months) the actuarial equivalent value (based on assumptions adopted by the Board) of the lump sum payment described in this section. Any member who terminates prior to completing all required installment payments as approved by the Board shall receive pro rata credit for service purchased before the member’s date of termination, but if so elected at the time of termination, the member may pay as much in a single sum as is necessary to provide full credit at this time. The payments made by the member pursuant to this subsection shall be treated for all purposes as member contributions. No application may be accepted for purchase of credit for prior service in a public retirement system if at the time of application the member has a vested right to retirement benefits in such public retirement system.

(g) The Board may enter into a prior service purchase agreement with any Group B member who has participated in Group A, a Group C member who has participated in Group A or B for service in that group, a Group D member who has participated in Group A, B, or C for service in one of those groups, or an employer on behalf of a member as described in this subsection. The purchase made by a member shall follow the procedure set forth in subsection (f) of this section. The purchase made by an employer on behalf of a member shall be paid in equal annual installments over a specified period as determined by the Board.

(h) Credit shall be granted for any period of approved absence from service due to any class of military service approved by the Retirement Board, provided the employee returns to service in the municipality within 90 days after having become discharged or separated from such military service, as if such service had been service as an employee of the municipality. The earnable compensation of the employee at the time of entering such military service shall be deemed to be the earnable compensation for the period of such service.

(i) Credit shall also be granted for any period of absence from service in connection with an approved workers’ compensation claim as a result of a work-related injury, provided the employee provides evidence of the period covered by the approved workers’ compensation claim upon return to active service. The earnable compensation of the employee at the time of entering the period of the absence from service resulting from an approved workers’ compensation claim or the wages plus all other wage replacement compensation received while on the approved period of absence, whichever provides for the highest total compensation, shall be deemed to be the earnable compensation for the period of such service. The total compensation under this subsection shall not exceed what the earnable compensation would have been had the member not been injured. (Added 1973, No. 251 (Adj. Sess.), § 3. 1974; amended 1983, No. 128 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; 1987, No. 39, § 3; 1987, No. 183 (Adj. Sess.), § 21, eff. May 7, 1988; 1989, No. 11, § 7; 1991, No. 233 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 3, 4; 1999, No. 61, § 2; 2001, No. 29, § 8; 2007, No. 13, § 39; 2015, No. 114 (Adj. Sess.), § 8.)