N.Y. RSS Law § 609 — New York Code / Act RSS / Article 15 / Section 609
Credit for service
Status: in_force

§ 609. Credit for service. a. Part-time service.\n  1. A member who works less than full time, which for the purposes of\nthis section shall mean less than thirty hours a week, shall receive\nretirement credit for such service in accordance with the following\nprovisions:\n  (i) a member employed on an hourly basis who works for five hundred or\nmore hours a year and who is on the payroll for a minimum of five months\nin the year shall receive credit on a prorated basis, but in no event\nshall less than six hours constitute a full day's retirement credit;\n  (ii) a member employed on a per diem basis who works at least sixty\ndays in a year and who is on the payroll for a minimum of five months in\nthe year shall receive retirement credit on a day-for-day basis, but in\nno event shall less than six hours constitute a full day's retirement\ncredit;\n  (iii) if the annual salary of a member paid on a basis other than per\ndiem or per hour would be less than the product of the state's minimum\nwage during such period and two thousand hours, the presumption shall be\nthat such a member is a part-time employee and any retirement credit\ngranted shall be prorated; provided, however, such a member shall not\nreceive greater credit than a member working on a per diem basis.\n  2. Except for retirement credit for military service as specified in\nsubdivision c of this section, a member shall not receive retirement\ncredit for any day that he is not on the payroll of the state, a\npolitical subdivision thereof, or a participating employer.\nNotwithstanding any other provisions of this section, with respect to\nmembers of the New York state employees' retirement system, teachers as\ndefined in section one hundred thirty-six of the civil service law,\nemployed full time for the school year, shall be deemed on the payroll\nof the state, for twelve months in crediting retirement service credit\nfor service rendered. For the purposes of this paragraph the comptroller\nshall define school year by regulation.\n  2-a. Except for retirement credit for military service as specified in\nsubdivision c of this section, a member shall not receive retirement\ncredit for any day that he is not on the payroll of the state, a\npolitical subdivision thereof, or a participating employer.\nNotwithstanding any other provision of this section to the contrary,\nwith respect to members of the New York state and local employees'\nretirement system, a member who is employed by a community college as\ndefined in section six thousand three hundred one of the education law\nor who is employed by any unit of the state university of New York as\ndefined in section three hundred fifty of the education law, and who is\nin the classified service as that term is defined in section forty of\nthe civil service law, and who is employed for the full academic year,\nfull academic year shall mean the fall and spring semesters during which\nacademic courses are offered, shall be deemed to be on the payroll of\nsuch community college or state university for twelve months in\ncrediting retirement service credit for service rendered.\n  2-b. Except for retirement credit for military service as specified in\nsubdivision c of this section, a member shall not receive retirement\ncredit for any day that he is not on the payroll of the state, a\npolitical subdivision thereof, or a participating employer.\nNotwithstanding any other provision of this section to the contrary, a\nmember of the New York state and local employees' retirement system who\nis employed by a community college as defined in section six thousand\nthree hundred one of the education law or who is employed by any unit of\nthe state university of New York as defined in section three hundred\nfifty of the education law, and who is in the unclassified service of\nthe civil service as defined in subdivisions (h) and (i) of section\nthirty-five of the civil service law, and who is employed for the full\nacademic year, full academic year shall mean the fall and spring\nsemesters during which academic courses are offered, shall be deemed to\nbe on the payroll of such community college or state university for\ntwelve months in crediting retirement service credit for service\nrendered.\n  3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for the purposes of\nretirement service credit, retirement contribution and final average\nsalary of members of the New York state and local employees' retirement\nsystem, a member who has been granted service credit for a period of\ntime for which he or she received compensation or wages shall not lose\nsuch credit by virtue of the fact that the employer has subsequently\nbeen reimbursed by a workers' compensation carrier with respect to all\nor a portion of the compensation or wages paid for such period.\n  4. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for the purposes of\nretirement credit, retirement contribution and final average salary\nunder this chapter, the compensation of a member of the New York city\nemployees' retirement system who is either (i) a Triborough bridge and\ntunnel member as defined in section six hundred four-c of this article\nas added by chapter four hundred seventy-two of the laws of nineteen\nhundred ninety-five or as defined in section six hundred four-c of this\narticle as added by chapter ninety-six of the laws of nineteen hundred\nninety-five or to whom article sixteen of this chapter is applicable, or\n(ii) a New York city transit authority member as defined in section six\nhundred four-b of this article, for the period during which he or she\nreceives a workers' compensation benefit shall be deemed to be the full\ncompensation or salary such employee would have earned or been entitled\nto receive had he or she not received the workers' compensation benefit.\nDuring the period of time a member receives payment of such workers'\ncompensation benefit, such member shall be deemed on the payroll in full\nstatus for the aforementioned purposes.\n  b. Previous service.\n  1. A member shall be eligible to obtain retirement credit hereunder\nfor previous service with a public employer if retirement credit had\npreviously been granted for such service or if such service which would\nhave been creditable in one of the public retirement systems of the\nstate, as defined in subdivision twenty-three of section five hundred\none of this chapter, at the time such service was rendered, if the\nindividual had been a member of such retirement system and the member\nhas rendered a minimum of two years of credited service after July\nfirst, nineteen hundred seventy-six or after last rejoining a public\nretirement system, if later; provided, however, retirement credit may be\ngranted for service which predates the date of entry into the retirement\nsystem if such service is otherwise creditable and the member satisfied\nthe minimum service requirements set forth in this subdivision and was\nrendered by an employee of a public employer during which employment he\nwas ineligible to join a public retirement system provided that such\npublic employer was participating in a public retirement system of the\nstate at the time of such employment, or is so participating at the time\nthat such credit for such previous service is being sought.\n  2. Previous service credit shall not be granted unless such member\napplies therefor and repays the amount refunded by a public retirement\nsystem of the state for service rendered after July first, nineteen\nhundred seventy-six together with interest through the date of repayment\nat the rate of five percent per annum compounded annually and three\npercent of the wages earned for service prior to that date together with\ninterest from July first, nineteen hundred seventy-six through the date\nof payment at the rate of five percent per annum compounded annually and\nthree percent of the wages earned for service which predates the date of\nentry into the retirement system together with interest at the rate of\nfive percent per annum compounded annually from the date of such service\nuntil the date of payment. Anything in this paragraph to the contrary\nnotwithstanding, in order to obtain credit for previous service, members\nwho first join the New York state teachers' retirement system on or\nafter January first, two thousand ten shall pay three and one-half\npercent of wages earned for service which predates the date of entry\ninto the retirement system together with interest at the rate of five\npercent per annum compounded annually from the date of such service\nuntil the date of payment. Anything in this paragraph to the contrary\nnotwithstanding, in order to obtain credit for previous service, members\nwho first join a public retirement system of the state on or after April\nfirst, two thousand twelve shall pay six percent of wages earned for\nservice which predates the date of entry into the retirement system\ntogether with interest at the rate of five percent per annum compounded\nannually from the date of such service until the date of payment.\n  * b-1. Employer pick-up of contributions in respect of previous\nservice.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any member of the\nNew York city teachers' retirement system eligible to purchase credit\nfor previous service with a public employer pursuant to subdivision b of\nthis section, may elect to purchase any or all of such service by\nexecuting a periodic payroll deduction agreement. Such agreement shall\nset forth the amount of previous service being purchased, the estimated\ntotal cost of such service credit, and the number of payroll periods in\nwhich such periodic payments shall be made. Such agreement shall be\nirrevocable, shall not be subject to amendment or modification in any\nmanner, and shall expire only upon completion of payroll deductions\nrequired therein. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any member who has\nentered into such a payroll deduction agreement and who terminates\nemployment prior to completion of the payments required therein shall be\ncredited with any service as to which such member shall have paid the\ncontributions required under the terms of such agreement.\n  * NB Effective until notice of ruling by Internal Revenue Service per\nch. 627/2007 §22\n  * b-1. Employer pick-up of contributions in respect of previous\nservice or military service. Notwithstanding any other provision of law,\nany member of the New York city teachers' retirement system, the New\nYork state teachers' retirement system, the New York city employees'\nretirement system, the New York city board of education retirement\nsystem, the New York state and local employees' retirement system, the\nNew York state and local police and fire retirement system and the New\nYork city fire department pension fund eligible to purchase credit for\nprevious service with a public employer pursuant to subdivision b of\nthis section or to purchase credit for military service pursuant to\narticle twenty of this chapter, may elect to purchase any or all of such\nservice by executing a periodic payroll deduction agreement where and to\nthe extent such elections are permitted by the member's retirement\nsystem by rule or regulation. Such agreement shall set forth the amount\nof previous service or military service being purchased, the estimated\ntotal cost of such service credit, and the number of payroll periods in\nwhich such periodic payments shall be made. Such agreement shall be\nirrevocable, shall not be subject to amendment or modification in any\nmanner, and shall expire only upon completion of payroll deductions\nrequired therein. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any member who has\nentered into such a payroll deduction agreement and who terminates\nemployment prior to completion of the payments required therein shall be\ncredited with any service as to which such member shall have paid the\ncontributions required under the terms of such agreement.\n  * NB Takes effect upon notice of ruling by Internal Revenue Service\nper ch. 627/2007 §22 -- expires per ch. 691/2004 §8\n  c. Creditable service. Other than previous service, a member shall\nonly be eligible to obtain credit for active service with a\nparticipating employer; provided, however, military service with the\nfederal government may be credited pursuant to section two hundred\nforty-three of the military law up to a maximum of four years.\n  d. To facilitate administration of the provisions of this section the\nhead of a retirement system may make interpretations of the provisions\nof this section which are consistent with the intent of this section,\nbut such interpretations shall not take effect unless publicly\npromulgated.\n  f. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any member of the New\nYork state and local employees' retirement system who is subject to the\nprovisions of this article and who is employed by a school district, a\nboard of cooperative educational services, a vocational education and\nextension board, an institution for the instruction of the deaf and of\nthe blind as enumerated in section four thousand two hundred one of the\neducation law, or a school district as enumerated in section one of\nchapter five hundred sixty-six of the laws of nineteen hundred\nsixty-seven as amended to date, shall have their service credit for\nservice rendered on or after January first, nineteen hundred ninety\ndetermined by dividing the number of days worked in a school year by one\nhundred eighty. For the purpose of this section a school year will begin\non July first and end the following June thirtieth. No more than one\nyear of service may be credited during any such fiscal year. Credit for\nservice rendered before January first, nineteen hundred ninety shall be\ndetermined in the same manner if a person eligible for such benefit\nshall file the appropriate application with the state comptroller on or\nbefore August second, nineteen hundred ninety-six and, within five years\nof filing such application, make payment for all costs necessary to\nfinance the receipt of such service credit.\n  g. The provisions of paragraph one of subdivision a of this section\nshall not apply to members of the New York city employees' retirement\nsystem or the New York city board of education retirement system who are\nsubject to the provisions of this article. The crediting of service for\nsuch members of such retirement systems shall be governed by the\napplicable provisions of subdivision c of section 13-638.4 of the\nadministrative code of the city of New York, and other applicable\nprovisions of such code and of the rules and regulations of such board\nof education retirement system.\n  h. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, a New\nYork city revised plan member shall not receive service credit for any\nundocumented sick leave that may be credited toward terminal leave.\n