78.616 Purchase of service credit with retirement system for unused sick leave -- Alternative. - Kentucky Statutes

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78.616 Purchase of service credit with retirement system for unused sick leave -- Alternative. (1) Any agency participating in the County Employees Retirement System which has formally adopted a sick-leave program that is universally administered to its
employees may purchase service credit with the retirement system for up to six (6)
months of unused sick leave for each retiring employee. (2) Participation under this section shall be at the option of each participating employer. The election to participate shall be made by the governing authority of the
participating employer and shall be certified in writing to the system on forms
prescribed by the board. The certification shall provide for equal treatment of all
employees participating under this section. (3) (a) Upon the member's notification of retirement as prescribed in KRS 61.590, the employer shall certify the retiring employee's unused, accumulated sick-
leave balance to the system. The member's sick-leave balance, expressed in
days, shall be divided by the average number of working days per month in
county service and rounded to the nearest number of whole months. A
maximum of six (6) months of the member's sick-leave balance, expressed in
months, shall be added to his service credit for the purpose of determining his
annual retirement allowance under KRS 78.510 to 78.852 and for the purpose
of determining whether the member is eligible to receive a retirement
allowance under KRS 78.510 to 78.852, except as provided by paragraph (d)
of this subsection. Accumulated sick-leave in excess of six (6) months shall
be added to the member's service credit if the member or employer pays to the
retirement system the value of the additional service credit based on the
formula adopted by the board, subject to the restrictions provided by
paragraph (d) of this subsection. (b) The employer may elect to pay fifty percent (50%) of the cost of the sick leave in excess of six (6) months on behalf of its employees. The employee shall
pay the remaining fifty percent (50%). The payment by the employer shall not
be deposited to the member's account. Service credit shall not be credited to
the member's account until both the employer's and employee's payments are
received by the retirement system. (c) Once the employer elects to pay all or fifty percent (50%) of the cost on behalf of its employees, it shall continue to pay the same portion of the cost. (d) For a member who begins participating in the retirement system on or after September 1, 2008, whose employer has established a sick-leave program
under subsections (1) to (4) and (6) of this section:
1. The member shall receive no more than twelve (12) months of service
credit upon retirement for accumulated unused sick leave accrued while
contributing to the retirement system from which the retirement benefit
is to be paid; 2. The service added to the member's service credit shall be used for
purposes of determining the member's annual retirement allowance
under KRS 78.510 to 78.852; 3. The service added to the member's service credit shall not be used to
determine whether a member is eligible to receive a retirement
allowance under KRS 78.510 to 78.852; and 4. The cost of the service provided by this paragraph shall be paid by the
employer. (4) The system shall compute the cost of the sick-leave credit of each retiring employee and bill each employer with whom the employee accrued sick leave accordingly.
The employer shall remit payment within thirty (30) days from receipt of the bill. (5) (a) As an alternative to subsections (1), (3), (4), and (6) of this section, any agency participating in the County Employees Retirement System which has
formally adopted a sick-leave program that is universally administered to its
employees, or administered to a majority of eligible employees in accordance
with subsection (6) of this section, shall, at the time of termination, or as
provided in KRS 161.155 in the case of school boards, compensate the
employee for unused sick-leave days the employee has accumulated which it
is the uniform policy of the agency to allow. (b) The rate of compensation for each unused sick-leave day shall be based on the daily salary rate calculated from the employee's current rate of pay. Payment
for unused sick-leave days shall be incorporated into the employee's final
compensation if the employee and employer make the regular employee and
employer contributions, respectively, on the sick-leave payment. (c) The number of sick-leave days for which the employee is compensated shall be divided by the average number of working days per month in county
service and rounded to the nearest number of whole months. This number of
months shall be added to the employee's total service credit and to the number
of months used to determine creditable compensation, pursuant to KRS
78.510, but no more than sixty (60) months shall be used to determine final
compensation. For an employee who begins participating on or after
September 1, 2008, the number of months added to the employee's total
service credit under this paragraph shall not exceed twelve (12) months, and
the additional service shall not be used to determine whether a member is
eligible to receive a retirement allowance under KRS 78.510 to 78.852. (6) Any city of the first class that has two (2) or more sick-leave programs for its employees may purchase service credit with the retirement system for up to six (6)
months of unused sick leave for each retiring employee who participates in the sick-
leave program administered to a majority of the eligible employees of the city. An
employee participating in a sick-leave program administered to a minority of the
eligible employees shall become eligible for the purchase of service credit under
this subsection when the employee commences participating in the sick-leave
program that is administered to a majority of the eligible employees of the city. Effective: June 27, 2008 History: Amended 2008 (1st Extra. Sess.) Ky. Acts ch. 1, sec. 26, effective June 27, 2008. -- Amended 2002 Ky. Acts ch. 52, sec. 21, effective July 15, 2002. -- Amended
2000 Ky. Acts ch. 385, sec. 36, effective July 14, 2000. -- Amended 1998 Ky. Acts
ch. 105, sec. 24, effective July 15, 1998; and ch. 262, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1998.
-- Amended 1992 Ky. Acts ch. 240, sec. 58, effective July 14, 1992. -- Amended
1988 Ky. Acts ch. 11, sec. 18, effective July 15, 1988; ch. 349, sec. 37, effective July
15, 1988; and ch. 366, sec. 4, effective July 15, 1988. -- Created 1984 Ky. Acts
ch. 232, sec. 10, effective July 13, 1984.