§ 1936 - Creditable service; military service - Vermont Statutes

§ 1936. Creditable service; military service

(a) Each member shall receive membership service credit for all service rendered while a member of the system since he or she became a member, or since he or she last became a member in the event of a break in his or her membership.

(b) Each teacher who becomes a member on or before June 30, 1948, shall file a detailed statement of all service as a teacher rendered by him or her prior to July 1, 1947 for which he or she claims credit, including military or naval service rendered in a period of national emergency which interrupted his period of prior service, and of such other facts as the board may require for the proper operation of the system. The board shall fix and determine by appropriate rules and regulations how much service in any year is equivalent to a year of service, but in no case shall more than one year of service be creditable for all service in one calendar year. The board shall verify, as soon as practicable after the filing of such statements of service, the service therein claimed, and shall issue prior service certificates certifying to each member the number of years of prior service with which the member is credited. As long as membership continues, a prior service certificate shall be final and conclusive for retirement purposes as to such prior service credit, provided, however, that any member may, within one year after the date of issuance or modification of such certificate, request the board to modify or correct his or her prior service certificate. When membership ceases, a prior service certificate shall become void, and should the teacher again become a member, he or she shall enter the system as a teacher not entitled to prior service credit except as provided in subdivision 1944(b)(6)(B) of this title.

(c) Creditable service shall consist of membership service credit, and also, if the member has a prior service certificate which is in full force and effect, the years of service certified on the member's prior service certificate.

(d) Credit shall also be granted for any period of absence from service due to any class of military service of the United States approved by the retirement board, provided the member returns to service as a teacher as defined under section 1931 of this title within 90 days after having become discharged or separated from military service, as if such service had been service as a teacher. The earnable compensation of the teacher at the time of entering such military service shall be deemed to be the earnable compensation for the period of such service.

(e) Credit shall also be granted for any period of absence from service in connection with an approved workers' compensation claim as a result of a work-related injury, provided the employee provides evidence of the period covered by the approved workers' compensation claim upon return to active service. The earnable compensation of the employee at the time of entering the absence from service resulting from an approved workers' compensation claim or the wages plus all other wage replacement compensation received while on the approved period of absence, whichever provides for the highest total compensation, shall be deemed to be the earnable compensation for the period of service. The total compensation under this subsection shall not exceed what the earnable compensation would have been had the member not been injured. (Amended 1977, No. 53, §§ 1, 5, eff. April 23, 1977; 2001, No. 29, § 4; 2007, No. 13, § 26.)