STATE EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT COMMISSION		55 ELM STREET HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT 06106-1775 TELEPHONE: (860) 702-3480 TELEFAX:(860) 702-3489
MEDICAL EXAMINING BOARD for DISABILITY RETIREMENT
HEALTH CARE COST CONTAINMENT COMMITTEE
	STATE OF CONNECTICUT RETIREMENT AND BENEFIT SERVICES DIVISION OFFICE OF THE STATE COMPTROLLER

RETIREMENT & BENEFIT SERVICES DIVISION MEMORANDUM

March 27, 2006 

TO THE HEADS OF ALL STATE AGENCIES 

I. INTRODUCTION

Public Act (PA) No. 03-2, Section 6(b) provided for the Early Retirement Incentive Program offered to members of the State Employees Retirement System (SERS) in 2003; section 6(b) also provided direction for labor force refills pursuant to the ERIP from March 1, 2003 through June 30, 2005.

Section 6(j) of PA No. 03-2 states: Each person laid off but returned to employment with the state pursuant to this section shall be deemed to have been employed by the state, with no interruption in service or pension credit, during any period that such person was laid off on or after November 1, 2002, to June 30, 2003.

The purpose of this memorandum is to provide state agencies with the procedures to be followed in order to provide affected state employees with the appropriate SERS retirement credit under Section 6(j) of PA No. 03-2.

II. IDENTIFICATION

The Retirement & Benefit Services Division (Division) has attempted to identify employees who were terminated from state service or after November 1, 2002 to June 30, 2003 and returned to employment from March 1, 2003 through June 30, 2005 from State Employees Retirement Data Base records. Under separate cover, each agency will be provided with a list of any employees at their agency identified through this process. Agencies must verify the circumstances surrounding each such employee's separation from state service and confirm that they meet the criteria provided for in Section 6(j) of PA No. 03-2. Agencies must also identify any affected employees not included in this list. Section III of this memorandum provides the notification procedure to be followed after an agency's verification and identification of such employees.

In addition, a check enclosure, Attachment "A", will be provided to all employees with the payroll check dated April 28, 2006 advising that those employees who were laid-off and returned to employment under the circumstances described in the preceding paragraph will receive retirement credit for their lay-off period provided that the appropriate notification has been received by this Division and, when applicable, the required retirement plan contributions have been made. Employees will be referred to their agencies for information regarding the notification procedure.

All employees must be identified and this Division notified as indicated in Section III below within one year of the date of this memorandum.

III. NOTIFICATION

A "Retirement Credit For Layoff - Public Act No. 03-2" application form, Attachment "B", must be completed for each employee verified from the list provided under separate cover by this Division or otherwise identified at your agency. The form must be signed by the employee and an authorized agency personnel/human resources staff member then forwarded to the Division's Data Base Unit at the address on this letterhead accompanied by a copy of the employee's original lay-off notice.

Upon receipt of this documentation, the Division will verify the information contained therein and, where necessary, calculate the cost of mandatory retirement plan contributions due for the lay-off period for all retirement plan members except Tier II non-hazardous duty retirement plan members.

The mandatory contributions due will be determined based on:

• The total period of the layoff.
• The salary the member would have received during the layoff period based on their position upon reemployment.
• The employee's current retirement plan membership.

The Division will notify employees in writing of the total mandatory retirement plan contributions due and initiate recovery of those contributions through the mandatory retirement plan collection process described in the Retirement & Benefit Services Division memorandum dated June 17, 2005. A copy of the employee's notification will be sent to the agency for their reference. Upon verification that all contributions have been paid, the Division will notify each employee accordingly with a copy of such notice to the agency for their reference.

SERS Tier II non-hazardous duty members will receive a written notification confirming receipt and verification of the "Retirement Credit for Layoff - Public Act No. 03-2" application form and lay-off notice. Again, a copy of the employee's notice will be sent to the agency for their reference. 

Please note that all such service will be considered actual state service and, with respect to Tier II and Tier IIA retirement plan members, all service will be treated as both vesting and credited service.

IV. CONCLUSION

Any questions regarding the procedures outlined herein should be referred to the Data Base Unit at (860) 702-3515.

Very truly yours,

STATE EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT COMMISSION
NANCY WYMAN, SECRETARY EX OFFICIO

BY: 

Thomas C. Woodruff, Ph.D., Director
Retirement & Benefit Services Division

TCW/JK/jk

Attachment A - check enclosure

Attachment B - application form

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