N.H. Rev. Stat. § 100-A:4

Current through the 2024 Legislative Session

Section 100-A:4 - Creditable Service

I. With respect to service rendered prior to the date of membership, each employee, teacher, permanent policeman or permanent fireman who has become a member of the New Hampshire retirement system following prior service in any predecessor system, shall have included as creditable service hereunder all service credited to him under the terms of one or more of the predecessor systems, provided his membership continues unbroken until his retirement. Should the employee, teacher, permanent policeman or permanent fireman whose membership is broken again become a member, he shall enter the retirement system as a member not entitled to such prior service credit, except as provided in RSA 100-A:7.

II. Creditable service at retirement on which the retirement allowance of a member shall be based shall consist of his membership service since he became a member or since he last became a member in the event of a break in membership, and the prior service, if any, which is credited to him under paragraph I.

III.

(a) The board shall fix and determine by appropriate rules and regulations how much service in any year is equivalent to one year of service, but in no case shall it allow credit for a period of absence without pay of more than a month's duration, nor shall more than one year of service be creditable for all service in a calendar year. Service rendered for the full normal working time in any year shall be equivalent to one year's service.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraph (a) or any other law to the contrary, any member who receives a weekly award under the provisions of RSA 281-A from the commissioner of labor, for injury arising out of and in the course of employment, shall be entitled to creditable service for said period not in excess of one year. To receive creditable service, a member shall file a department of labor memo of payment of disability compensation form, with the board of trustees, verifying the first and last payment of disability compensation for each new unrelated injury.

III-a. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph III of this section, any group I or group II member who is absent without salary due to a disability for which the member is compensated by a salary continuance plan which is funded wholly or partially by the member's employer shall continue to accrue creditable service until the earlier of such time as the member returns to work, dies, retires, is no longer compensated by such salary continuance plan, or is no longer employed by the employer. Amounts received under such salary continuance plan are earnable compensation to the extent attributable to employer funding and shall be subject to the regular member contributions required under RSA 100-A:16 and the required employer and state contributions, if applicable, as are in effect from time to time. All such contributions shall be remitted to the retirement system in accordance with remittance procedures of the board of trustees. Any group I or group II member who is absent without salary due to a disability for which the member is compensated by a salary continuance plan which has not been funded in whole or in part by the member's employer shall not accrue any creditable service for the period of such absence. Further, amounts received from such salary continuance plan shall not be included as earnable compensation for purposes of the retirement system.

III-b. Notwithstanding any provision of paragraph III to the contrary, any teacher in service on or after July 1, 1995, who equally shares a job-sharing fulltime position with another teacher shall be eligible for membership in the retirement system. Any such teacher shall accrue full creditable service for the entire period of job-sharing and shall be credited with earnable compensation at the compensation actually paid to such teacher. Creditable service and earnable compensation for any currently active or retired teacher who shared a job-sharing teaching position with another teacher during any period prior to July 1, 1995, shall not be recalculated to conform with the provisions of this paragraph but shall remain in effect as each was originally granted.

IV. Any member in active service who terminates his or her employment, or takes a leave of absence, in order to enter directly into the armed forces of the United States or other qualified military service within the meaning of section 414(u)(5) of the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, shall be entitled to apply for service credit for the period of such qualified military service, provided he or she again becomes employed within a year after the termination of such service, unless he or she is prevented from such reemployment by virtue of disability incurred during the period of such qualified military service, and provided further that he or she elects to make, and makes within a period of time equal to 3 times the length of time of such service, but not more than 5 years, all payments to the system he or she would have been required to make had he or she been so employed during the period of such qualified military service.

V. Notwithstanding the payment provisions of paragraph IV any member entitled to apply for such military service, shall receive up to 3 years cumulatively at no cost to the member.

VI.

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a member in active service in the retirement system who has completed 10 years of creditable service in the state, shall be entitled to receive credit, upon payment by the member of the full actuarial cost of such credit and upon approval of the board, for not more than 3 years of additional creditable service for prior active service in the armed forces of the United States, subject to the following:

(1)

The member is honorably discharged or is an officer honorably separated from the military service of the United States, or is in active status in the New Hampshire national guard or organized reserve. A member on active status in the New Hampshire national guard or organized reserve may apply such service time on a ratio of 5 years active national guard or reserve service to one year of available additional creditable service under this paragraph.

(2) The member is not at the time of application for credit receiving any retirement benefits under this chapter or under any predecessor system.

VII. [Repealed.]

VIII. Any employee, teacher, permanent policeman, or permanent fireman who has completed at least 5 years of membership service and who terminates his or her employment in order to enter directly into the Peace Corps or AmeriCorps, shall be entitled to service credit for the period of such Peace Corps or AmeriCorps service, provided he or she again becomes employed within a year after the termination of such service and provided further that he or she elects to make, and makes while in active service and within a period of time equal to 3 times the length of time of such service, but not more than 5 years, all payments of the full actuarial cost to the system. The full actuarial cost of service credit purchases under this paragraph shall be determined by the actuary based on methods and assumptions recommended by the actuary and approved by the board of trustees. The member may be required to prepay all or part of the actuarial calculation fee, as determined by the board. Credit shall not be granted until the active member has fully paid for such service credit in a lump sum or by installment payments as permitted by the board. The member's payment shall be credited to the member annuity savings fund. The amount of service credit purchased under this paragraph shall not exceed the least of (a) 2 years or (b) the member's actual period of Peace Corps and AmeriCorps service or (c) 5 years minus the period of nonqualified service credit purchased by the member pursuant to former RSA 100-A:4, VII. Creditable service purchased under this paragraph shall not be used for the purpose of eligibility for medical and surgical benefits as a retired employee under RSA 21-:30I, RSA 100-A:52, RSA 100-A:52-a, or RSA 100-A:52-b.

IX. Notwithstanding any provision of this section, a member in active service in the retirement system who commenced group II service between January 1, 2002 and June 30, 2011, shall be entitled to receive credit for not less than one year nor more than 4 years of nonqualified service credit within the meaning of section 415 of the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, upon payment by the member of the full actuarial costs of such credit and upon approval of the board, subject to the following:

(a) Credit shall not be granted until the active member has fully paid for the nonqualified service in a lump sum or by installment payments as permitted by the board. The member's payment shall be credited to the member annuity savings fund. The actuary's statement shall be the full actuarial cost of service credit determined by the actuary based on methods and assumptions recommended by the actuary and approved by the board of trustees.

(b) "Nonqualified service credit" means time that is not otherwise purchasable under this chapter.

(c) Requests concerning the purchase of nonqualified service credit pursuant to this paragraph shall be limited to 2 such requests per member per calendar year.

(d) Members may only purchase as many years as designated for them under RSA 100-A:5, II(d), which will reduce the minimum age or creditable service for a regular service retirement to the previous minimum age of 45 with a minimum of 20 years of creditable service, but only reduced based on the number of years purchased.

(e) Additional creditable service purchased under this paragraph shall not be used as creditable service for the purpose determining eligibility for medical and surgical benefits as a retired employee under RSA 21-:30I, RSA 100-A:52, RSA 100-A:52-a, or RSA 100-A:52-b.

RSA 100-A:4

Amended by 2023, 19:6, eff. 7/3/2023.

Amended by 2022 , 171: 1, eff. 8/6/2022.

Amended by 2019 , 38: 3, eff. 7/14/2019.

Amended by 2014 , 183: 5, eff. 7/1/2014.

1967, 134:1; 405:12. 1974, 33:5. 1977, 409:1. 1989, 238:1. 1990, 162:6. 1994, 242:1. 1995, 269:1; 270:2, 3. 2000, 37:1, eff. July 1, 2000. 2003, 234:1, eff. July 1, 2003. 2004, 51:1, eff. July 2, 2004. 2006, 120:6, eff. July 14, 2006; 178:8, eff. July 24, 2006. 2007, 268:11, I, eff. June 30, 2007. 2008, 233:1, eff. Aug. 19, 2008.