(1) A plan 1 member who is employed by a school district or districts, an educational service district, the Washington center for deaf and hard of hearing youth, the state school for the blind, institutions of higher education, or community colleges:

Washington Code 41.40.010

employed: means a person who is providing services for compensation to an employer, unless the person is free from the employer's direction and control over the performance of work. See Washington Code 41.40.010

Member: means any employee included in the membership of the retirement system, as provided for in RCW 41. See Washington Code 41.40.010

Retirement: means withdrawal from active service with a retirement allowance as provided by this chapter. See Washington Code 41.40.010

Service credit month: means a month or an accumulation of months of service credit which is equal to one. See Washington Code 41.40.010

(a) Shall receive a service credit month for each month of the period from September through August of the following year if he or she is employed in an eligible position, earns compensation earnable for six hundred thirty hours or more during that period, and is employed during nine months of that period, except that a member may not receive credit for any period prior to the member’s employment in an eligible position;

(b) If a member in an eligible position does not meet the requirements of (a) of this subsection, the member is entitled to a service credit month for each month of the period he or she earns earnable compensation for seventy or more hours; and the member is entitled to a one-quarter service credit month for those calendar months during which he or she earned compensation for less than seventy hours.

(2) Except for any period prior to the member’s employment in an eligible position, a plan 2 or plan 3 member who is employed by a school district or districts, an educational service district, the state school for the blind, the Washington center for deaf and hard of hearing youth, institutions of higher education, or community colleges:

(a) Shall receive a service credit month for each month of the period from September through August of the following year if he or she is employed in an eligible position, earns compensation earnable for eight hundred ten hours or more during that period, and is employed during nine months of that period;

(b) If a member in an eligible position for each month of the period from September through August of the following year does not meet the hours requirements of (a) of this subsection, the member is entitled to one-half service credit month for each month of the period if he or she earns earnable compensation for at least six hundred thirty hours but less than eight hundred ten hours during that period, and is employed nine months of that period;

(c) In all other instances, a member in an eligible position is entitled to service credit months as follows:

(i) One service credit month for each month in which compensation is earned for ninety or more hours;

(ii) One-half service credit month for each month in which compensation is earned for at least seventy hours but less than ninety hours; and

(iii) One-quarter service credit month for each month in which compensation is earned for less than seventy hours;

(d) After August 31, 2000, school districts and educational service districts will no longer be employers for the public employees’ retirement system plan 2 or plan 3.

(3) The department shall adopt rules implementing this section.

Findings—Intent—2009 c 381: See note following RCW 72.40.015.

Effective date—1998 c 341: See RCW 41.35.901.

Findings—Effective dates—1991 c 343: See notes following RCW 41.50.005.

Intent—1991 c 35: See note following RCW 41.26.005.

Findings—Intent—Reservation—Effective date—Construction—1990 c 274: See notes following RCW 41.32.010.