Section 28K Commonwealth employees; leave of absence as representative of employee organization; creditable service - Massachusetts Statutes

Section 28K. Any employee of the commonwealth or its political subdivisions who is a full-time representative of an employee organization, which has included in its membership employees of the commonwealth or its political subdivisions shall, while on leave of absence for the purpose of acting as a full-time representative of said employee organization, be considered on leave of absence, without pay, for the period of his assignment as a full-time representative of such employee organization. Such employee shall, however, be credited with creditable service, and shall contribute each month to the retirement fund in an amount which he would have contributed had he remained in the service of the commonwealth or its political subdivisions. Such employee of the commonwealth or its political subdivisions shall be entitled to all benefits and privileges, except the payment of salary as provided under this chapter and chapters thirty, thirty-one, and thirty-two during the leave of absence.

An employee who fulfills the requirements of the preceding paragraph shall be credited with creditable service for any period after January 1, 1975 and shall contribute to the retirement fund an amount which he would have contributed had such employee remained in the service of the commonwealth or a political subdivisions thereof, together with regular interest thereon, under the terms and conditions defined by the retirement system of which he is a member. This paragraph shall take effect for the members of a retirement system by majority vote of the board of such system, subject to the approval of the legislative body. For the purposes of this section, “legislative body” shall mean the town meeting for the purposes of a town system, the city council subject to the provisions of its charter in a city system, the district meeting in a district system, the county commissioners in a county system and the governing body of an authority in an authority system. Acceptance shall be deemed to have occurred upon the filing of a certificate of acceptance with the commission.