New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 17 - TREASURY - GENERAL › Chapter 3 - TEACHERS' PENSION AND ANNUITY FUND › Subchapter 5 - PURCHASES AND ELIGIBLE SERVICE › Section 17:3-5.5 - Optional purchases of eligible service

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) A
				shared-cost purchase is one in which the member pays only the employee's share
				and not the employer's share of the purchase. A member may purchase all or a
				portion of such eligible service. A shared-cost purchase shall be calculated on
				the basis of the actuarial purchase factor established for the member's age at
				the time of the purchase request times the higher of either the member's
				current annual base salary or highest fiscal year base salary. The following
				types of purchases are shared-cost purchases:
1. Former membership credit in a New Jersey
				State-administered retirement system;
2. Former service with any employer which was
				not certified for membership but which would have qualified on an optional or a
				compulsory basis at the time the service was rendered;
3. Continuous temporary service without
				interruption or substitute service as a teacher immediately preceding
				enrollment is eligible for purchase provided the following conditions are met:
i. Continuous temporary service without
				interruption must be employment without a break in service. For an employer
				that reports on a monthly basis, a break in service is defined as no salary
				earned by an employee during a month. For an employer that reports on a
				biweekly basis, a break in service is defined as no salary earned by an
				employee during a biweekly pay period.
ii. Substitute service is eligible for
				purchase provided the employment immediately precedes enrollment in TPAF.
				Immediately preceding enrollment is defined as employment rendered the month or
				biweekly pay period, prior to the date of enrollment. The period(s) of
				substitute service that a member can request to purchase must meet the
				following criteria:
(1) A year of substitute
				service wherein a 10-month employee worked an average of 10 days per month and
				an aggregate of 100 days during a regular work year. A 12-month employee is
				required to have worked an average of 10 days per month and an aggregate of 120
				days per year.
(2) Substitute
				service for a period of less than one year immediately preceding enrollment is
				eligible for purchase provided the member worked a minimum average of 10 days
				per month for each month of substitute service.
(3) When more than one year of substitute
				service is requested for purchase, each year of substitute service rendered
				prior to enrollment is reviewed and each year is required to meet the criteria
				set forth under the provisions of (a)3ii(1) above;
4. Leaves of absence without pay:
i. The period of the leave for personal
				reasons which does not exceed 93 days. Childcare is considered leave for
				personal reasons;
ii. The period of
				the leave up to two years for personal illness. The Division may require proof
				that the illness existed for the length of the leave;
iii. Maternity leave may consist of a
				personal illness component and a personal reasons component, for childcare.
				Members who apply to purchase any period of a maternity leave as personal
				illness, must provide certification from their physician, verifying that the
				member was disabled during the requested purchase period, due to pregnancy or
				childbirth. Absent physician certification, three months is the maximum
				allowable period of purchase for maternity leave for personal reasons;
				and
iv. A leave of absence shall be
				deemed to have ended upon resignation, termination, or return to covered
				payroll;
5. Eligible
				out-of-State public employment, or employment in schools within and outside the
				United States operated by a department of the United States Government for the
				instruction of the children of United States Government employees, up to a
				total purchase of 10 years. Pursuant to
				18A:66-39(b) 
				this service cannot be used to qualify for an ordinary disability
				retirement;
6. Service established
				under a local municipal or county retirement system within the State of New
				Jersey; and
7. Non-concurrent PERS
				service if a dual member of TPAF and PERS pursuant to
				P.L.
				2001, c. 6
				(18A:66-15.1 ). All or a portion
				of non-concurrent service in the PERS from an expired or withdrawn account may
				be purchased.