New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 17 - TREASURY - GENERAL › Chapter 3 - TEACHERS' PENSION AND ANNUITY FUND › Subchapter 3 - INSURANCE AND DEATH BENEFITS › Section 17:3-3.2 - Computation of insurance benefits

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) A 10-month
				member will be credited with three months' participation if the member is
				enrolled in the contributory insurance program in September.
(b) A member's insurance death benefit shall
				be based upon the base salary that is attributable to the 12 months or 26
				biweekly pay periods immediately preceding the member's death upon which
				contributions to the annuity savings fund were made.
(c) For the purpose of calculating the
				member's insurance death benefit, months or pay periods in which no salary was
				paid shall not be used in the calculation.
(d) Full salary credit will be given for the
				monthly or biweekly pay period in which a member dies, if the member was paid
				salary to date of death and the salary paid was sufficient to permit a full
				normal monthly or biweekly pension and insurance contribution deduction,
				provided such deduction was made by the employer.
(e) If a member dies during the first year
				following the member's date of enrollment, or if the member has contributed
				pension contributions for less than a year although the member's enrollment has
				been in effect for more than a year, the contributory insurance benefit shall
				be two times the member's annual base salary on which the member contributed or
				would have contributed immediately prior to death. The noncontributory
				insurance benefit shall be 1 1/2 times the actual base salary upon which
				contributions to the Annuity Savings Fund were due from the date of enrollment
				to the date of death.
(f) Where
				post-death audits establish that the insurance benefits were underpaid, an
				additional check shall be sent to the beneficiary for the value of the
				underpayment. Should any change or error in the records result in any member
				receiving from the pension fund more than he or she would have been entitled to
				receive had the records been correct, the Board of Trustees shall correct such
				error, as best as practicable, and shall adjust the payments payable to the
				member's designated beneficiary or estate, pursuant to
				N.J.A.C.
				17:1-2.10.
(g) Refunds of a deceased member's pension
				contributions will be made to the member's designated beneficiary or the
				employer after written confirmation is received from the employer setting forth
				the reason for the refund of pension contributions to either the beneficiary or
				to the employer.
(h) Members who
				prove their insurability for the group life insurance benefits shall have their
				insurance benefit calculated on the basis of the salary upon which pension
				contributions were based during their last year (10 or 12 months) of service
				prior to death, regardless of their effective date of insurance
				coverage.
(i) In computing the
				salary upon which pension contributions were based during a member's last year
				of service, in the case of a 12-month employee reported 12 months a year on a
				biweekly basis, a total of 26 biweekly pays will be used, including any
				retroactive salary payments made within the prescribed period. The total salary
				will be adjusted by multiplying the total by the factors supplied by the
				actuary; such adjustment will compensate for biweekly payroll
				schedules.
(j) In computing (i)
				above in the case of employees reported on a 10-month basis, the total biweekly
				pays will include those pay periods in the third quarter of each year in which
				a member does not receive salary. The adjustment as specified in (i) above
				shall not be made.
(k) If a member
				was reported on a biweekly basis or any combination of 10 and 12-month contract
				years, the last year's salary prior to death shall be determined on a
				proportional basis.