SB2887 EngrossedLRB098 19792 RPM 55007 b

1    AN ACT concerning public employee benefits.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Illinois Pension Code is amended by changing
5Section 15-139.5 as follows:
 
6    (40 ILCS 5/15-139.5)
7    Sec. 15-139.5. Return to work by affected annuitant; notice
8and contribution by employer.
9    (a) An employer who employs or re-employs a person
10receiving a retirement annuity from the System in an academic
11year beginning on or after August 1, 2013 must notify the
12System of that employment within 60 days after employing the
13annuitant. The notice must include a summary of the contract of
14employment or specify the rate of compensation and the
15anticipated length of employment of that annuitant. The notice
16must specify whether the annuitant will be compensated from
17federal, corporate, foundation, or trust funds or grants of
18State funds that identify the principal investigator by name.
19The notice must include the employer's determination of whether
20or not the annuitant is an "affected annuitant" as defined in
21subsection (b).
22    The employer must also record, document, and certify to the
23System (i) the amount of compensation paid to the annuitant for

 

 

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1employment during the academic year, and (ii) the amount of
2that compensation, if any, that comes from either federal,
3corporate, foundation, or trust funds or grants of State funds
4that identify the principal investigator by name.
5    As used in this Section, "academic year" means the 12-month
6period beginning September 1.
7    For the purposes of this Section, an annuitant whose
8employment by an employer extends over more than one academic
9year shall be deemed to be re-employed by that employer in each
10of those academic years.
11    The System may specify the time, form, and manner of
12providing the determinations, notifications, certifications,
13and documentation required under this Section.
14    (b) A person receiving a retirement annuity from the System
15becomes an "affected annuitant" on the first day of the
16academic year following the academic year in which the
17annuitant first meets the following conditions condition:
18        (1) (Blank).
19        (2) While receiving a retirement annuity under this
20    Article, the annuitant was employed on or after August 1,
21    2013 by one or more employers under this Article and
22    received or became entitled to receive during an academic
23    year compensation for that employment in excess of 40% of
24    his or her highest annual earnings prior to retirement;
25    except that compensation paid from federal, corporate,
26    foundation, or trust funds or grants of State funds that

 

 

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1    identify the principal investigator by name is excluded.
2        (3) The annuitant received an annualized retirement
3    annuity under this Article of at least $10,000.
4    A person who becomes an affected annuitant remains an
5affected annuitant, except for any period during which the
6person returns to active service and does not receive a
7retirement annuity from the System.
8    (c) It is the obligation of the employer to determine
9whether an annuitant is an affected annuitant before employing
10the annuitant. For that purpose the employer may require the
11annuitant to disclose and document his or her relevant prior
12employment and earnings history. Failure of the employer to
13make this determination correctly and in a timely manner or to
14include this determination with the notification required
15under subsection (a) does not excuse the employer from making
16the contribution required under subsection (e).
17    The System may assist the employer in determining whether a
18person is an affected annuitant. The System shall inform the
19employer if it discovers that the employer's determination is
20inconsistent with the employment and earnings information in
21the System's records.
22    (d) Upon the request of an annuitant, the System shall
23certify to the annuitant or the employer the following
24information as reported by the employers, as that information
25is indicated in the records of the System: (i) the annuitant's
26highest annual earnings prior to retirement, (ii) the

 

 

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1compensation paid for that employment in each academic year,
2and (iii) whether any of that employment or compensation has
3been certified to the System as being paid from federal,
4corporate, foundation, or trust funds or grants of State funds
5that identify the principal investigator by name. The System
6shall only be required to certify information that is received
7from the employers.
8    (e) In addition to the requirements of subsection (a), an
9employer who employs an affected annuitant must pay to the
10System an employer contribution in the amount and manner
11provided in this Section, unless the annuitant is compensated
12by that employer solely from federal, corporate, foundation, or
13trust funds or grants of State funds that identify the
14principal investigator by name.
15    The employer contribution required under this Section for
16employment of an affected annuitant in an academic year shall
17be equal to 12 times the amount of the gross monthly retirement
18annuity payable to the annuitant for the month in which the
19first paid day of that employment in that academic year occurs,
20after any reduction in that annuity that may be imposed under
21subsection (b) of Section 15-139.
22    If an affected annuitant is employed by more than one
23employer in an academic year, the employer contribution
24required under this Section shall be divided among those
25employers in proportion to their respective portions of the
26total compensation paid to the affected annuitant for that

 

 

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1employment during that academic year.
2    If the System determines that an employer, without
3reasonable justification, has failed to make the determination
4of affected annuitant status correctly and in a timely manner,
5or has failed to notify the System or to correctly document or
6certify to the System any of the information required by this
7Section, and that failure results in a delayed determination by
8the System that a contribution is payable under this Section,
9then the amount of that employer's contribution otherwise
10determined under this Section shall be doubled.
11    The System shall deem a failure to correctly determine the
12annuitant's status to be justified if the employer establishes
13to the System's satisfaction that the employer, after due
14diligence, made an erroneous determination that the annuitant
15was not an affected annuitant due to reasonable reliance on
16false or misleading information provided by the annuitant or
17another employer, or an error in the annuitant's official
18employment or earnings records.
19    (f) Whenever the System determines that an employer is
20liable for a contribution under this Section, it shall so
21notify the employer and certify the amount of the contribution.
22The employer may pay the required contribution without interest
23at any time within one year after receipt of the certification.
24If the employer fails to pay within that year, then interest
25shall be charged at a rate equal to the System's prescribed
26rate of interest, compounded annually from the 366th day after

 

 

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1receipt of the certification from the System. Payment must be
2concluded within 2 years after receipt of the certification by
3the employer. If the employer fails to make complete payment,
4including applicable interest, within 2 years, then the System
5may, after giving notice to the employer, certify the
6delinquent amount to the State Comptroller, and the Comptroller
7shall thereupon deduct the certified delinquent amount from
8State funds payable to the employer and pay them instead to the
9System.
10    (g) If an employer is required to make a contribution to
11the System as a result of employing an affected annuitant and
12the annuitant later elects to forgo his or her annuity in that
13same academic year pursuant to subsection (c) of Section
1415-139, then the required contribution by the employer shall be
15waived, and if the contribution has already been paid, it shall
16be refunded to the employer without interest.
17    (h) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article,
18the employer contribution required under this Section shall not
19be included in the determination of any benefit under this
20Article or any other Article of this Code, regardless of
21whether the annuitant returns to active service, and is in
22addition to any other State or employer contribution required
23under this Article.
24    (i) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section to
25the contrary, if an employer employs an affected annuitant in
26order to continue critical operations in the event of either an

 

 

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1employee's unforeseen illness, accident, or death or a
2catastrophic incident or disaster, then, for one and only one
3academic year, the employer is not required to pay the
4contribution set forth in this Section for that annuitant. The
5employer shall, however, immediately notify the System upon
6employing a person subject to this subsection (i). For the
7purposes of this subsection (i), "critical operations" means
8teaching services, medical services, student welfare services,
9and any other services that are critical to the mission of the
10employer.
11    (j) This Section shall be applied and coordinated with the
12regulatory obligations contained in the State Universities
13Civil Service Act. This Section shall not apply to an annuitant
14if the employer of that annuitant provides documentation to the
15System that (1) the annuitant is employed in a status
16appointment position, as that term is defined in 80 Ill. Adm.
17Code 250.80, and (2) due to obligations contained under the
18State Universities Civil Service Act, the employer does not
19have the ability to limit the earnings or duration of
20employment for the annuitant while employed in the status
21appointment position.
22(Source: P.A. 97-968, eff. 8-16-12; 98-596, eff. 11-19-13.)