Bill Text: NJ A2314 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Allows reemployment by school district of TPAF retiree as advisor of school-sponsored club or program when compensation is under $10,000.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-02-03 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee [A2314 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-A2314-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman MILA M. JASEY
District 27 (Essex and Morris)
SYNOPSIS
Allows reemployment by school district of TPAF retiree as advisor of school-sponsored club or program when compensation is under $10,000.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning reemployment of a retiree of the Teachers' Pension and Annuity Fund and amending N.J.S.18A:66-53.2.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. N.J.S.18A:66-53.2 is amended to read as follows:
18A:66-53.2. a. Except as provided in subsection b. of this section, if a former member of the retirement system who has been granted a retirement allowance for any cause other than disability, becomes employed again in a position which makes him eligible to be a member of the retirement system, his retirement allowance and the right to any death benefit as a result of his former membership, shall be canceled until he again retires.
Such person shall be reenrolled in the retirement system and shall contribute thereto at a rate based on his age at the time of reenrollment. Such person shall be treated as an active member for determining disability or death benefits while in service and no benefits pursuant to an optional selection with respect to his former membership shall be paid if his death shall occur during the period of such reenrollment.
Upon subsequent retirement of such member, his former retirement allowance shall be reinstated together with any optional selection, based on his former membership. In addition, he shall receive an additional retirement allowance based on his subsequent service as a member computed in accordance with applicable provisions of this article; provided, however, that his total retirement allowance upon such subsequent retirement shall not be a greater proportion of his final compensation than the proportion to which he would have been entitled had he remained in service during the period of his prior retirement. Any death benefit to which such member shall be eligible shall be based on his latest retirement, but shall not be less than the death benefit that was applicable to his former retirement.
b. The cancellation,
reenrollment, and additional retirement allowance provisions of subsection a.
of this section shall not apply to a former member of the retirement system who
is a certificated superintendent or a certificated administrator and who, after
having been granted a retirement allowance, becomes employed by the State
Department of Education in a position of critical need as determined by the
State Commissioner of Education, or becomes employed by a board of education as
a certificated superintendent or a certificated administrator on a contractual
basis for a term of not more than one year; except that the cancellation,
reenrollment, and additional retirement allowance provisions shall apply if the
former member becomes employed within 120 days of retirement with the employer from which the member retired. Nothing herein shall preclude a former member so reemployed with a board of education from renewing a contract for one additional year; provided that the total period of employment with any individual board of education does not exceed a two-year period, unless so approved by the Commissioner of Education as being in the best interests of the school district; and provided that no such renewal shall provide the former member an election regarding whether or not to be reenrolled.
c. A former member of the retirement system who has been granted a retirement allowance, for any cause other than disability, may become employed again with the former employer in a position as a coach of an athletics activity or as an advisor of any school-sponsored club or program if: (1) the employment commences after the retirement allowance becomes due and payable; (2) the former member had attained the service retirement age, applicable to that member, as of the date of retirement; and (3) the compensation for the employment is less than $15,000 per year. This subsection shall be effective if the qualified status of the retirement system under federal law can be maintained upon its application, and such modifications to the system as may be available shall be made to allow for its application. As used in this section, "former employer" means the employer with which the former member held employment immediately prior to retirement.
(cf: P.L.2019, c.184, s.1)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
A law enacted in 2014 created an exception to current regulations to allow a retired member of the Teachers' Pension and Annuity Fund (TPAF) to become employed again with the former employer in a position as a coach of an athletics activity if the employment begins after the retirement allowance becomes due and payable; the retired member had attained service retirement age as of the date of retirement, which for most current members of the TPAF is age 60; and the compensation for the employment is less than $10,000 per year. This bill would expand the exception for coaches to include advisors of any school-sponsored club or program.
TPAF regulations require a "bona fide" severance from employment before a retiree can return to any employment with the former employer. A "bona fide" severance from employment means a complete termination of the employee's employment relationship with the employer for a period of at least 180 days. These regulations were promulgated to maintain the qualified status of the retirement system under federal law. The purpose of this bill is to create a limited exception to these requirements.
