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Early Retirement Incentive proposal approved

Early Retirement Incentive proposal approved
Source: Office of the Governor

On May 28, 2010, Governor David A. Paterson reported that the State Legislature passed his bill authorizing an early retirement incentive. This bill, said the Governor, will provide State agency and local governments ?with an additional mechanism to achieve necessary workforce cost savings.?

The statute, which was the Governor's Program Bill No. 249, establishes a temporary retirement incentive program for certain State and municipal public employees.

Public employees will be able either to retire without penalty at 55 years of age with a minimum of 25 years of service, or receive an additional month of member service credit in their retirement system ? not to exceed 36 months ? for each year of service.

According to a press release issued by the Governor?s Office, the early retirement incentive consists of two parts, Part A and Part B.

Part A: Part A provides a targeted incentive to positions that can be abolished and provides an additional month of retirement service credit for each year of credited service, up to a maximum of three years of additional member service credit.

Employers that elect to participate in Part A will be required to provide a 30- to 90-day open period to allow eligible employees adequate time to consider the incentive.

Municipalities that choose to ?opt-in? to Part A must do so on or before August 31, 2010 and school districts must do so by July 30, 2010. Eligible employees must be currently eligible to retire, or be at least 50 years of age with ten or more years of service.

Part B: Part B provides employees in the Executive Branch of State government [and participating local government employees with the option to retire without penalty to employees at age 55 with at least 25 years of service. Participating employers will be required provide a 90-day open period to allow eligible employees adequate time to consider the incentive.

Employers may elect on or before September 1, 2010 to provide employees the benefits of Part B, and ?education employers? must ?opt-in? by July 1, 2010.

However, employees meeting the required criteria may not be permitted to participate in Part B if it the employer determines that the employee holds a position that is ?critical to the maintenance of public health and safety.?

The text of the measure, Governor?s Program Bill 249, is available on the Internet at: http://www.ny.gov/governor/bills/pdf/gpb_249.pdf

N.B. Chapter 45 of the Laws of 2010, signed into law by the Governor on April 14, 2010, provides early retirement incentives to certain employees in public higher, secondary and elementary education employed by:

1. "Participating employers" i.e., an educational employer, the state-operated institutions of the state university of New York, and a community that employs members who hold positions represented by the recognized collective bargaining units affiliated with the New York state united teachers employee organization]; and

2. "Educational employers" i.e., a school district, a board of cooperative educational services, a vocational education and extension board, an institution for the instruction of the deaf and of the blind as enumerated in section 4201 of the education law, or a school district as enumerated in section 1 of chapter 566 of the laws of 1967, as amended.

Chapter 45 covers employees holding positions represented by the recognized collective bargaining units affiliated with the New York state united teachers employee organization that participate in the New York state teachers' retirement system and the New York state and local employees' retirement system.

Full post as published by New York Public Personnel Law on May 28, 2010 (boomark / email).