Missouri Code of State Regulations › Title 16 - RETIREMENT SYSTEMS › Division 10 - The Public School Retirement System of Missouri › Chapter 6 - The Public Education Employee Retirement System of Missouri › Section 16 CSR 10-6.055 - Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 14, July 15, 2024
PURPOSE: This rule explains how the Uniformed Services
				  Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) applies to the retirement
				  system.
(1) The following provisions
				shall apply when a member of the retirement system is reemployed by an employer
				included in the system pursuant to the Uniformed Services Employment and
				Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) and its successors:
(A) When a member applies to purchase USERRA
				leave, the system will require written confirmation from the member's employer
				of the period covered and the salary that would apply, which will be included
				on the Application to Purchase Leave (application) to be submitted by the
				member;
(B) A period covered by
				USERRA will not be a break in service for purpose of termination of membership
				and will count toward vesting and retirement eligibility, but not toward
				benefit calculation unless the member elects to pay required contributions as
				provided in this regulation;
(C) A
				member may elect, within five (5) years of reemployment, to pay the system the
				employee contributions the member would have made, using the contribution rates
				and salary that would have applied during the period, as required by
				USERRA;
(D) Where the member has
				elected to pay employee contributions under USERRA, the employer reemploying
				the member is required under federal and state law to pay the contributions the
				employer would have paid, using the contribution rates and salary that would
				have applied during the period and interest on the contributions at the
				"purchase rate" (see
				16 CSR
				10-6.045(2) ), with interest
				beginning to accrue the first day of the month following the month in which the
				member submits an application to the system;
(E) The employer shall pay the employer
				contributions and interest no later than the end of the school year following
				the year in which the employee files an election to make the employee
				contributions. Any employer contributions that are paid to the system, but for
				which the corresponding employee contributions are never paid, shall be
				credited back to the employer, plus interest at the assumed rate of return on
				invested funds of the system when the member retires, dies, or terminates
				membership with the system;
(F)
				Payment of employee contributions may be made without interest;
(G) Payment of employee contributions must be
				completed prior to the member's retirement, termination of membership with the
				retirement system, or death. If the member fails to complete payment of the
				employee contributions during the period allowed, proportional credit shall be
				allowed based on the ratio between the amount due for the entire period and the
				total amount of the payments made and to the nearest one-one-hundred thousandth
				(0.00001) of one (1) year;
(H) The
				maximum creditable service that may be purchased pursuant to USERRA is five (5)
				years per membership; and
(I) An
				application to purchase USERRA leave may not be filed after the member's
				retirement, termination of membership in the system, or death.