NY Ret & SS L § 501 (2021)
2021 New York Laws RSS - Retirement and Social Security Article 14 - Coordinated-Escalator Retirement Plan 501 - Definitions.

§  501.  Definitions.  The following words and phrases as used in this article shall have the following meanings unless a different meaning  is plainly required by the context.   1. "Active service" shall mean service while being paid on the payroll of a participating employer.   2.  "Cost-of-living  index"  shall  mean the consumer price index (all items--United States city  averages)  published  by  the  United  States bureau of labor statistics.   3.  "Credited  service" shall mean all service which has been credited to a member pursuant to section  five  hundred  thirteen  or  which  was credited  to  such  member  in  a  public retirement system of the state before such member became subject to this article and which is allowable as previous service pursuant to section five hundred thirteen.   4. "Creditable service" is service which qualifies to  be  counted  as credited service pursuant to section five hundred thirteen.   5.  "Early  retirement  age"  shall  mean  age fifty-five, for general members, and the age on which a member completes or would have completed twenty  years  of  service,  for  police/fire  members,  New  York  city uniformed  correction/sanitation  revised  plan members and investigator revised plan members.   6. "Elective member" shall mean a member who is  not  subject  to  the provisions of this article on a mandatory basis.   7.  "Eligible  beneficiary"  for  the purposes of section five hundred nine of this article shall mean the  following  persons  or  classes  of persons  in  the  order  set  forth:  (a) a surviving spouse who has not renounced  survivorship  rights  in  a   separation   agreement,   until remarriage,  (b) surviving children until age twenty-five, (c) dependent parents, determined under regulations promulgated  by  the  comptroller, (d)  any  other person who qualified as a dependent on the final federal income tax return of  the  member  or  the  return  filed  in  the  year immediately  preceding  the  year  of  death,  until such person reaches twenty-one years of age, (e) with respect to members  of  the  New  York city  employees' retirement system (other than a New York city uniformed correction/sanitation revised plan member  or  an  investigator  revised plan member) and the board of education retirement system of the city of New York, a person whom the member shall have nominated in the form of a written  designation,  duly  acknowledged and filed with the head of the retirement system for the purpose of section five hundred eight of  this article. In the event that a class of eligible beneficiaries consists of more  than  one  person,  benefits  shall  be  divided equally among the persons in such class. For the purposes of section five hundred eight of this article the term "eligible beneficiary" shall mean such  person  as the member shall have nominated to receive the benefits provided in this article.  To  be  effective,  such a nomination must be in the form of a written designation, duly acknowledged and filed with the  head  of  the retirement   system  for  this  specific  purpose.  In  the  event  such designated beneficiary does not survive him, or if he shall not have  so designated a beneficiary, such benefits shall be payable to the deceased member's estate or as provided in section one thousand three hundred ten of the surrogate's court procedure act and (f) notwithstanding any other provisions  of  law, "eligible beneficiary" of a New York city uniformed sanitation revised plan member for the purposes of section five  hundred nine  of  this  article  shall  mean the following persons or classes of persons in the order set forth: (i)  a  surviving  spouse  who  has  not renounced  survivorship rights in a separation agreement, (ii) surviving children until age  twenty-five,  (iii)  dependent  parents,  determined under  regulations  promulgated  by  the  comptroller and (iv) any other person who qualified as a dependent on  the  final  federal  income  tax  return  of  the  member  or  the  return  filed  in the year immediately preceding the year of death, until such person reaches twenty-one  years of age.   8.  "Excess  contributions" shall mean any contributions (and interest thereon) made by a member prior to  becoming  subject  to  this  article which,  if not withdrawn, would have been used to purchase an additional annuity at retirement had the member continued in the plan of  which  he was a member before becoming subject to this article.   9.  "Federal  social  security program" shall mean the federal old age and survivor's assistance program under the federal social security act.   10. "Federal social security primary insurance amount" shall mean  the primary  insurance  amount  as defined in section 215 (a) (1) (A) of the federal social security act.   11. "Federal social security benefit computation period" shall mean  a member's benefit computation years as determined pursuant to section 215 (b) of the federal social security act.   12.  "General member" shall mean a member subject to the provisions of this article who is not a police/fire member, a New York city  uniformed correction/sanitation  revised  plan  member  or an investigator revised plan member.   13. "Head of the retirement system" shall mean the  comptroller,  with respect  to  the  state  employees'  retirement system and the state and local police and fire retirement system, and the retirement board of the other public retirement systems of the state.   14. "In service" shall mean any period during which a member is on the payroll of a public employer, in the service upon  which  membership  is based,  and any period during which the member was not on the payroll if he or she; (a) was on the payroll and paid within  the  previous  twelve months,  (b) had not been gainfully employed since ceasing to be on such payroll, (c) had credit for at least  one  year  of  continuous  service since last entering or reentering the service of the public employer and (d) was not eligible for or receiving a service retirement or disability benefit.   15.  "Mandatory  retirement  age"  shall mean age seventy, for general members, and age sixty-two, for police/fire members.   16. "Member" shall mean any person included in  the  membership  of  a public  retirement  system  of  this  state  as provided in section five hundred of this article.   17. "Normal retirement  age"  shall  be  age  sixty-two,  for  general members, and the age at which a member completes or would have completed twenty-two  years  of  service,  for  police/fire members, New York city uniformed correction/sanitation revised plan  members  and  investigator revised plan members.   18.  "Participating  employer"  shall  mean  a  public employer who is participating in a public retirement system of the state.   19. "Primary  social  security  retirement  benefit"  shall  mean  the benefit  payable to a covered employee, at age sixty-two or later, under the federal social security program, exclusive of any  family  benefits, calculated as provided in subdivision c of section five hundred eleven.   20.  "Primary  social  security  disability  benefit"  shall  mean the benefit payable to a disabled covered employee under the federal  social security  program,  exclusive  of  any  family  benefits,  calculated as provided in subdivision c of section five hundred eleven.   21. "Police/fire member" shall mean a member subject to the provisions of this article who, if employed in the same capacity on June thirtieth, nineteen hundred seventy-six, would have been eligible for membership in the New York state and local police and fire retirement system, the  New York  city  police  pension  fund  or  the New York city fire department  pension fund, or for participation in the uniformed transit police force plan or housing police force  plan  in  the  New  York  city  employees' retirement system.   22.  "Public  employer"  shall  mean  an  employer  who is eligible to participate in a public retirement system of the state.   23. "Public retirement system of the state" shall mean  the  New  York state  employees' retirement system, New York state and local police and fire retirement system, New York state teacher's retirement system,  New York   city  employees'  retirement  system,  New  York  city  teacher's retirement system, New York city police pension fund, New York city fire department pension fund  and  the  New  York  city  board  of  education retirement system.   24.  (a) "Wages" shall mean regular compensation earned by and paid to a member by a public employer, except that for members  who  first  join the  state  and  local  employees' retirement system on or after January first, two thousand ten, overtime  compensation  paid  in  any  year  in excess  of  the  overtime ceiling, as defined by this subdivision, shall not be included in the definition of wages.  (b) "Overtime compensation" shall mean, for purposes of this  section, compensation paid under any law or policy under which employees are paid at  a  rate greater than their standard rate for additional hours worked beyond those required, including compensation  paid  under  section  one hundred  thirty-four  of the civil service law and section ninety of the general municipal law.  (c)(i) The "overtime ceiling" shall mean fifteen thousand dollars  per annum  on  January  first,  two  thousand ten, and shall be increased by three percent each year thereafter, provided, however, that for  members who  first  become  members  of  the New York state and local employees' retirement  system  on  or  after  April  first,  two  thousand  twelve, "overtime  ceiling"  shall  mean  fifteen  thousand dollars per annum on April first, two thousand twelve,  and  shall  be  increased  each  year thereafter by a percentage to be determined annually by reference to the consumer price index (all urban consumers, CPI-U, U.S. city average, all items,  1982-84=100),  published  by  the  United States bureau of labor statistics, for each applicable calendar  year.  Said  percentage  shall equal  the  annual  inflation  as  determined  from  the increase in the consumer price index in the one  year  period  ending  on  the  December thirty-first  preceding the overtime ceiling adjustment effective on the ensuing April first.  (ii) Commencing January first, two thousand eighteen,  and  each  year thereafter,  the  overtime  ceiling  percentage shall be increased by an amount equal to the annual inflation as determined from the increase  in the  consumer price index in the one year period ending on the September thirtieth prior to the overtime  ceiling  adjustment  effective  on  the ensuing January first.  (d)  For  the purpose of calculation a member's primary federal social security retirement or disability benefit, wages shall, in any  calendar year,  be  limited  to  the portion of the member's wages which would be subject to tax under section three thousand one  hundred  twenty-one  of the  internal  revenue  code  of  nineteen  hundred  fifty-four,  or any predecessor or successor provision relating thereto, if such member  was employed by a private employer.  (e)  For  members  who  first become members of the New York state and local employees' retirement system on or after  the  effective  date  of chapter eighteen of the laws of two thousand twelve, the following items shall not be included in the definition of wages: (a) wages in excess of the  annual  salary  paid  to  the governor pursuant to section three of article four of the  state  constitution,  (b)  lump  sum  payments  for  deferred compensation, sick leave, accumulated vacation or other credits for time not worked, (c) any form of termination pay, (d) any additional compensation  paid in anticipation of retirement, and (e) in the case of employees  who  receive  wages  from three or more employers in a twelve month period, the wages paid by the third and each successive employer.  (f) For New York city enhanced plan members who receive  the  ordinary disability  benefit  provided  for  in  subdivision  c-1 of section five hundred six  of  this  article  or  the  accidental  disability  benefit provided for in paragraph three of subdivision c of section five hundred seven  of this article, the following items shall not be included in the definition of wages: (a) lump sum payments  for  deferred  compensation, sick  leave,  accumulated vacation or other credits for time not worked, (b) any form of termination pay, (c) any additional compensation paid in anticipation of retirement, and (d) in the case of employees who receive wages from three or more employers in a twelve month period,  the  wages paid by the third and each successive employer.   25.  "New  York  city  uniformed  correction/sanitation  revised  plan member" shall mean a member who becomes subject  to  the  provisions  of this  article on or after April first, two thousand twelve, and who is a member of either the uniformed force of the New York city department  of correction  or  the  uniformed  force of the New York city department of sanitation.   26. "New York city police/fire  revised  plan  member"  shall  mean  a police/fire member who becomes subject to the provisions of this article on  or  after  April  first, two thousand twelve, and who is a member of either the New York city police pension fund or the New York  city  fire department pension fund.   27.  "Investigator  revised  plan  member"  shall mean an investigator member of the New York city employees' retirement system who is a police officer as defined  in  paragraph  (g)  of  subdivision  thirty-four  of section  1.20  of the criminal procedure law, and who becomes subject to the provisions of this article on or after  April  first,  two  thousand twelve.   28.  "New  York  city  enhanced plan member" shall mean (a) a New York city  police/fire  revised  plan  member  who  becomes  subject  to  the provisions  of  this  article  on  or after June fifteenth, two thousand sixteen and who is a member of the New York city fire department pension fund, (b) a police/fire member who is a member of the New York city fire department pension fund and  who  makes  an  election,  which  shall  be irrevocable and shall be duly executed and filed with the administrative head  of  such  pension fund no later than one hundred twenty days after the effective date of this subdivision, to be subject to the  provisions of  this  article  related to New York city enhanced plan members, (c) a New York city police/fire revised plan member who became subject to  the provisions  of this article before June fifteenth, two thousand sixteen, who is a member of the New York city fire department pension  fund,  and who  makes  an  election,  which  shall be irrevocable and shall be duly executed and filed with the administrative head of such pension fund  no later  than  one  hundred  twenty  days after the effective date of this subdivision, to be subject to the provisions of this article related  to New  York  city  enhanced  plan members, (d) a New York city police/fire revised plan member who  becomes  subject  to  the  provisions  of  this article  on  or  after  April first, two thousand seventeen and who is a member of the New York city  police  pension  fund,  (e)  a  police/fire member  who is a member of the New York city police pension fund and who makes an election, which shall be irrevocable and shall be duly executed and filed with the administrative head of such  pension  fund  no  later than  one hundred twenty days after the effective date of the chapter of  the laws of two thousand seventeen which amended this subdivision, to be subject to the provisions of this  article  related  to  New  York  city enhanced  plan  members, or (f) a New York city police/fire revised plan member who became subject to the provisions of this article before April first,  two  thousand  seventeen,  who  is a member of the New York city police  pension  fund,  and  who  makes  an  election,  which  shall  be irrevocable and shall be duly executed and filed with the administrative head  of  such  pension fund no later than one hundred twenty days after the effective date of the chapter of the laws of two thousand  seventeen which  amended this subdivision, to be subject to the provisions of this article related to New York city enhanced plan members.