2023 New York Laws › RSS - Retirement and Social Security › Article 20 - Credit for Military Service Rendered During Periods of Military Conflict › 1000 - Military Service Credit.

§  1000.  Military  service  credit.  Notwithstanding  any  law to the
  contrary, a member of a  public  retirement  system  of  the  state,  as
  defined  in subdivision twenty-three of section five hundred one of this
  chapter,  shall  be  eligible  for  credit  for  military   service   as
  hereinafter provided:
1.  A member, upon application to such retirement system, may obtain a
  total not to exceed three years of service credit for up to three  years
  of  military  duty, as defined in section two hundred forty-three of the
  military law, if the  member  (a)  was  honorably  discharged  from  the
  military, or (b) has a qualifying condition, as defined in section three
  hundred  fifty  of the executive law, and has received a discharge other
  than bad conduct  or  dishonorable  from  such  service,  or  (c)  is  a
  discharged  LGBT  veteran,  as defined in section three hundred fifty of
  the executive law, and has received a discharge other than  bad  conduct
  or dishonorable from such service.
2.  A  member  must  have at least five years of credited service (not
  including service granted hereunder) to be eligible  to  receive  credit
  under this section.
3.  To  obtain such credit, a member shall pay such retirement system,
  for deposit in the fund used to accumulate employer contributions, a sum
  equal to the product of the number of years of  military  service  being
  claimed  and  three  percent of such member's compensation earned during
  the twelve months of credited service  immediately  preceding  the  date
  that the member made application for credit pursuant to this section. If
  permitted by rule or regulation of the applicable retirement system, the
  member may pay such member costs by payroll deduction for a period which
  shall  not  exceed  the  time  period of military service to be credited
  pursuant to this section. In the event the member  leaves  the  employer
  payroll  prior  to  completion  of  payment, he or she shall forward all
  remaining required payments to the appropriate retirement  system  prior
  to  the  effective date of retirement. If the full amount of such member
  costs is not paid to the appropriate  retirement  system  prior  to  the
  member's   retirement,   the   amount   of  service  credited  shall  be
  proportional  to  the  total  amount  of  the  payments  made  prior  to
  retirement.
4. In no event shall the credit granted pursuant to this section, when
  added  to credit granted for military service with any retirement system
  of this state pursuant to this or any other provision of law,  exceed  a
  total of three years.
5.  To  be  eligible to receive credit for military service under this
  section, a member must make  application  for  such  credit  before  the
  effective date of retirement.
6.  All  costs  for  service  credited  to  a  member pursuant to this
  section, other than the member costs set forth in subdivision  three  of
  this  section,  shall  be  paid  by  the  state  and all employers which
  participate in the retirement system in which  such  member  is  granted
  credit.
7.  A  member  who  has  purchased military service credit pursuant to
  section two hundred forty-four-a of the military law shall  be  entitled
  to  a refund of the difference between the amount paid by the member for
  such purchase and the amount that would be payable if service  had  been
  purchased pursuant to this section.
8.  Notwithstanding  any other provision of law, in the event of death
  prior to retirement, amounts paid by the  member  for  the  purchase  of
  military service credit pursuant to this section shall be refunded, with
  interest, to the extent the military service purchased with such amounts
  does  not  produce  a greater death benefit than would have been payable
  had the member not purchased such credit.
Notwithstanding  any  other  provision  of  law,  in  the   event   of
  retirement,  amounts  paid  by  the  member for the purchase of military
  service  credit  pursuant  to  this  section  shall  be  refunded,  with
  interest, to the extent the military service purchased with such amounts
  does  not  produce  a  greater retirement allowance than would have been
  payable had the member not purchased such credit.
9. Anything to the contrary  in  subdivision  three  of  this  section
  notwithstanding,  to  obtain  such  credit,  a  member who first joins a
  public retirement system of the state  on  or  after  April  first,  two
  thousand  twelve  shall  pay  such retirement system, for deposit in the
  fund used to accumulate employer  contributions,  a  sum  equal  to  the
  product of the number of years of military service being claimed and six
  percent of such member's compensation earned during the twelve months of
  credited  service  immediately  preceding  the date that the member made
  application for credit pursuant to this section.