2023 Vermont Statutes › Title 3 - Executive › Chapter 16 - Vermont Employees' Retirement System › § 462. Reexamination of disability beneficiary

§ 462. Reexamination of disability beneficiary
(a) Once each year during the first five years following the retirement of a member on a disability retirement allowance, and once in every three year period thereafter, the Retirement Board may, and upon the member’s application shall, require any disability beneficiary who has not reached his or her normal retirement date to undergo a medical examination, by the Medical Board or by a physician or physicians designated by the Medical Board, such examination to be made at the place of residence of such beneficiary or other place mutually agreed upon. Should any disability beneficiary who has not reached his or her normal retirement date refuse to submit to such medical examination, the beneficiary’s allowance may be discontinued until his or her withdrawal of such refusal, and should the beneficiary’s refusal continue for one year, all the beneficiary’s rights in and to his or her pension may be revoked by the Retirement Board.
(b) Should the Medical Board report and certify to the Retirement Board that any disability beneficiary has a residual functional capacity that might enable the beneficiary to return to work, and should the Retirement Board reasonably conclude that the beneficiary is engaged in or is, as a result of specific findings made by a certified vocational counselor, able to engage in a gainful occupation paying more than the difference between the beneficiary’s retirement allowance and his or her average final compensation at retirement, the beneficiary’s pension shall be reduced to an amount that, together with his or her annuity and the amount earnable by him or her, shall equal the beneficiary’s average final compensation at retirement, adjusted for inflation each year following retirement on the same basis as for beneficiaries as provided in section 470 of this title provided that:
(1) The Retirement Board shall provide written notice and an opportunity to be heard to the beneficiary prior to any reduction of the beneficiary’s pension under this subsection (b).
(2) If the beneficiary has engaged in a gainful occupation subsequent to receiving disability retirement, the Retirement Board in its discretion may reject in whole or in part a vocational assessment of the beneficiary’s ability to engage in a more gainful occupation and may rely in whole or in part on evidence of the beneficiary’s actual earnings in determining the amount earnable by the beneficiary. In addition, if the Retirement Board’s determination is based in whole or in part on a vocational assessment of ability to engage in a gainful occupation, the beneficiary shall be notified of his or her entitlement to the same reemployment rights as are available to State employees under the existing collective bargaining agreement entered into between the State and the applicable bargaining representative, or extension of such contractual benefits. Such rights shall commence as of the date of the determination and shall be based upon the reemployment rights the beneficiary would have had at the time he or she retired from State service. The reduction of pension amount will be held in abeyance until the reemployment rights have expired. In the event that the beneficiary is subsequently reemployed by the State, the beneficiary’s retirement allowance shall cease, effective on the date when reemployment commences. In the event that the beneficiary is not subsequently reemployed by the State, the reduction of the beneficiary’s pension shall commence the month following the month in which the beneficiary’s reemployment rights expired.
(3) In the event that a beneficiary’s pension has been reduced and should the beneficiary’s earning capability later change, his or her pension may be further modified; provided that no reemployment rights shall be afforded to the beneficiary in connection with any later change and provided further that the new pension amount, together with the amount earnable by him or her, shall not exceed the beneficiary’s average final compensation at retirement, adjusted for inflation.
(4) As used in this subsection, “retirement allowance” shall mean the allowance payable without modification as provided in section 468 of this title.
(c) Every recipient of disability benefits who has not reached his or her normal retirement date shall, annually on a date determined by the Retirement Board, file with the State Treasurer a statement certifying, under penalty of perjury and in such form as the Retirement Board shall prescribe, the full amount of his or her earnings from earned income during the preceding calendar year. The State Treasurer may request, and the beneficiary shall provide within 60 days after such request, additional financial information and records pertinent to the beneficiary’s earned income. The beneficiary’s statement and accompanying forms and schedules and any other financial information and records provided by the beneficiary to the State Treasurer shall be confidential. In the event that a beneficiary fails to submit the certification or any required or requested financial information or records pertinent to the beneficiary’s earned income, the beneficiary’s retirement allowance shall be suspended until all such information and records have been submitted, and in the event that the failure continues for one year, all the beneficiary’s rights in and to his or her pension and any pending reemployment rights under this section may be revoked by the Board. Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, if the beneficiary’s earned income for the preceding year exceeded the difference between the beneficiary’s retirement allowance and his or her average final compensation at retirement as adjusted for inflation each year following retirement, the beneficiary shall refund the portion of the preceding year’s retirement allowance that is equal to the amount of the reduction specified in subsection (b) of this section, and the refund amount may be offset against the beneficiary’s monthly pension benefits. Prior to suspension or revocation of the beneficiary’s retirement allowance, reemployment rights, or inception of any offset under this subsection, the Retirement Board shall provide the beneficiary with written notice and an opportunity to be heard. (Added 1971, No. 231 (Adj. Sess.), § 4; amended 2003, No. 38, § 3; 2015, No. 18, § 11; 2015, No. 114 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 2017, No. 165 (Adj. Sess.), § 3.)