Washington Administrative Code › Title 415 - Retirement Systems, Department of › Chapter 415-104 - Law enforcement officers' and firefighters' retirement system › LEOFF PLAN 2 › Section 415-104-373 - Paid leave is LEOFF Plan II basic salary

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
Payments received from an employer for authorized paid
				  absences from work are basic salary for LEOFF Plan II. These payments may or
				  may not be for services rendered. Paid leave is basic salary only to the extent
				  that it is the equivalent of the basic salary a member would have earned had
				  the member been working. The portion of any payment identified as paid leave
				  that exceeds that amount is not basic salary.
(1)
Leave payments earned for services
				rendered.
Most LEOFF members earn a certain number of leave hours per
				month, such as sick leave. The leave hours are earned by rendering service
				during the month the leave was accumulated. The payment a member receives when
				he or she uses an earned leave day is a deferred salary or wage for services
				previously rendered. It is basic salary to the extent that it is equal to the
				basic salary the member would have earned had he or she been working.
Example:
Assume a member accrues eight hours sick leave per
								month. The accrued leave in the member's sick leave balance is earned for
								personal services rendered during a payroll period. When the member is absent
								from work and uses the sick leave, the sick leave payment is basic
								salary.
(2)
Leave payments not earned for services rendered.
If an employer
				authorizes a period of paid leave but does not require the use of leave
				previously earned for services rendered, the payment is not a salary or wage
				for services rendered. However,
				RCW
				41.26.520 authorizes service credit for all
				periods of paid leave. Because the periods are creditable, the pay received is
				considered basic salary to the extent that it is equal to the basic salary the
				member would have earned had he or she been working.
(3)
Payments upon reinstatement or in
				lieu of reinstatement are paid leave and therefore qualify as basic
				salary.
The payment will count as basic salary for the payroll periods
				when the person would have earned the payment had he or she been working. In
				order for a payment in lieu of reinstatement to qualify as paid leave, the
				person's termination date must occur after the payroll period when the payment
				would have been earned. Because the periods are creditable, the pay received is
				considered basic salary to the extent that it is equal to the basic salary the
				member would have earned had he or she been working.
(4)
Union leave.
Periods of
				authorized leave to serve as an elected official of a labor organization which
				meet the requirements of
				RCW
				41.26.520 qualify for service credit. The
				salary payments provided by the employer subject to reimbursement from the
				union qualify as basic salary for LEOFF Plan II to the extent that they do not
				exceed the highest paid job class covered by the collective bargaining
				agreement negotiated between the labor organization and the employer. The
				portion of any payment identified as paid leave in excess of that amount is not
				basic salary.
Statutory Authority:
					 RCW
					 41.50.050 and
					 41.50.055. 97-01-016, §
											415-104-373, filed 12/6/96,
					 effective 1/6/97.