| contributing to the Fund in active payroll status in a position of employment under this Article, (ii) returning to active payroll status from an approved leave of absence prior to December 1, 2003, (iii) receiving ordinary or duty disability benefits under Section 12-140, 12-142, or 12-143 or (iv) or have been subjected to an involuntary termination or layoff by the employer and restored to service by his or her employer prior to January 31, 2004;
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(a-5) To ensure that the efficient operation of employers under this Article
is not jeopardized by the simultaneous retirement of large numbers of critical
personnel, each employer may, for its critical employees, extend the February 29, 2004 deadline for terminating employment under this Article established in
subdivision (a)(4) of this Section to a date not later than May 31, 2004 by
so
notifying the Fund by January 31, 2004.
(b) An eligible person may establish up to 5 years of creditable service
under this Section, in increments of one month, by making the contributions
specified in subsection (c). In addition, for each month of creditable service
established under this Section, a person's age at retirement shall be deemed to
be one month older than it actually is, except for purposes of determining age
under item (5) of subsection (a).
The creditable service established under this Section may be used for all
purposes under this Article and the Retirement Systems Reciprocal Act, except
for the computation of highest average annual salary under Section 12-133 or
the determination of salary under this or any other Article of this Code.
(c) For each month of creditable service established under this Section, the
person must pay to the Fund an employee contribution to be determined by the
Fund, equal to 4.50% of the person's monthly salary rate on the date of
withdrawal from service. Subject to the requirements of subsection (d), the
person may elect to pay the required employee contribution before the
retirement annuity commences or through deductions from the retirement annuity
over a period not longer than 24 months.
If a person who retires dies before all payments of the employee contribution
have been made, the remaining payments shall be deducted from any survivor or
death benefits payable to the employee's surviving spouse or beneficiary.
Notwithstanding any provision in this Article to the contrary, all employee
contributions paid under this Section shall not be deemed employee
contributions for the purpose of determining the tax levy under Section 12-149.
Notwithstanding any provision in this Article to the contrary, the employer
shall not make a contribution for any credit established by an employee under
subsection (b) of this Section. Employee contributions made under this Section
may be refunded under the same terms and conditions as other employee
contributions under this Article.
(d) A person who retires under the provisions of this Section shall be
entitled to have his or her retirement annuity calculated under the provisions
of Section 12-133, except that the retirement annuity shall not be subject to
reduction for retirement under age 60.
(e) Notwithstanding Section 12-146 of this Article, an annuitant who
reenters service under this Article after receiving a retirement annuity based
on additional benefits provided under this Section thereby forfeits the right
to continue to receive those benefits, and upon again retiring shall have his
or her retirement annuity recalculated at the appropriate time without the
additional benefits provided in this Section.
(f) No employer action in declaring an employee to be a critical employee pursuant to subsection (a-5) shall be construed as an impairment of any pension benefit or entitlement. No early retirement option or resultant benefit conferred under this Section shall, in any manner, vest for any employee until the earlier date of the employer's decision to release the employee from service or May 31, 2004.
(Source: P.A. 93-654, eff. 1-16-04.)
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