Vermont Statutes Title 3 Sec. 460
Terms Used In Vermont Statutes Title 3 Sec. 460
- Average final compensation: shall mean :
- Board: shall mean the board provided for in section 471 of this title to administer the Retirement System. See
- Creditable service: shall mean service for which credit is allowed under section 458 of this title, plus service transferred under section 495 of this title. See
- Department: shall mean any department, institution, or agency of this State government. See
- Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
- Employee: includes deputy State's Attorneys, victim advocates employed by a State's Attorney pursuant to 13 V. See
- following: when used by way of reference to a section of the law shall mean the next preceding or following section. See
- Group G member: means the following employees who are first employed in the positions listed in this subdivision (F) on or after July 1, 2023, or who are members of the System as of June 30, 2022 and make an irrevocable election to prospectively join Group G on or before June 30, 2023, pursuant to the terms set by the Board: facility employees of the Department of Corrections, as Department of Corrections employees who provide direct security and treatment services to offenders under supervision in the community, as employees of a facility for justice-involved youth, or as Vermont State Hospital employees or as employees of its successor in interest, who provide direct patient care. See
- Medical Board: shall mean the board of physicians provided for in section 471 of this title. See
- Member: means any employee included in the membership of the Retirement System under section 457 of this title. See
- Service: shall mean service as an employee for which compensation is paid by the State. See
- Social Security benefit: shall mean the amount of the member's primary insurance benefit or disability insurance benefit under Title II of the Social Security Act and such other benefit or benefits as may be payable on the member's account under said title, computed on the basis of such act as in effect at the time of retirement and limited to the portion of such benefit or benefits that is attributable to service for which the member receives credit under section 458 of this title, to which a member or other person on his or her account is or would upon proper application be entitled, irrespective of earnings the member or members may be receiving in excess of any limit on earnings for full entitlement to such benefit or benefits. See
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States may apply to the District of Columbia and any territory and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See
§ 460. Ordinary disability retirement
(a) Upon the application of a member or of the member’s department head not later than 90 days, or longer for cause shown, after the date the member may have separated from service, any Group A, Group C, Group D, Group F, or Group G member who has had five or more years of creditable service may be retired by the retirement board on an ordinary disability retirement allowance, not less than 30 nor more than 90 days after filing such application; provided the member is not eligible for accidental disability retirement; provided the member has requested application prior to death; and provided that the Medical Board, after a medical examination of such member, shall certify that the member is mentally or physically incapacitated for the further performance of duty, that such incapacity has existed since the time of the member’s separation from service and is likely to be permanent, and that he or she should be retired. The Retirement Board may consider, or may ask the Medical Board or a certified vocational rehabilitation counselor to consider whether the individual is disabled from performing other types of suitable work. However, if disability is denied because the individual is found to be suitable for other work, the member shall be advised at the time of denial of the following provisions that shall apply:
(1) the individual will retain the individual’s existing retirement accrual status;
(2) the State shall provide any necessary retraining;
(3) there shall be no loss in pay;
(4) involuntary geographical moves beyond normal commuting distance are not permitted; and
(5) before any individual who is reassigned to another position rather than retired on disability may be terminated for performance reasons, the individual must first be reconsidered for disability retirement by the Retirement Board.
(b)(1) Upon ordinary disability retirement, a Group A, Group D, Group F, or Group G member shall receive a normal retirement allowance equal to the normal retirement benefit accrued to the effective date of the disability retirement; provided, however, that such allowance shall not be less than 25 percent of the member’s average final compensation at the time of the member’s disability retirement.
(2) Employees who are not eligible for representation by the Vermont State Employees’ Association, including managerial, confidential, elected, and appointed officials, judicial, legislative, and exempt employees, who are employed on February 1, 1997, and whose application for the State’s long-term disability plan is denied solely because of a preexisting condition, shall, if they are otherwise eligible for ordinary disability retirement, be entitled to a retirement allowance that, when added to Social Security and/or other disability payments, equals 66 2/3 percent of the employee‘s final average compensation at the time of the disability retirement.
(c) Notwithstanding subsection (b) of this section, a Group C member, upon ordinary disability retirement, shall receive an additional allowance that will, when added to his or her Social Security benefit, be equal to 10 percent of his or her average final compensation for each dependent child, not in excess of three, who has not attained age 18 or, if a dependent student, has not attained age 23.
(d) Notwithstanding subsection (b) or (c) of this section, a member may not receive more than 50 percent of his or her average final compensation at the time of his or her disability retirement. (Added 1971, No. 231 (Adj. Sess.), § 4; amended 1981, No. 41, § 10; 1989, No. 67, § 18; 1989, No. 277 (Adj. Sess.), § 17m, eff. Jan. 1, 1991; 1991, No. 64, § 2, eff. June 18, 1991; 1993, No. 33, § 4; 1997, No. 2, § 75, eff. Feb. 12, 1997; 1997, No. 89 (Adj. Sess.), § 6; 2003, No. 38, § 1; 2007, No. 13, § 3; 2021, No. 114 (Adj. Sess.), § 7, eff. July 1, 2022.)