Page 20 - Public Employees Retirement Fund My Choice Plan Member Handbook for Local Government Employees

Contributions
Years of participation refers to all periods of participation in the plan in a covered position and will be credited in yearly increments. Partial years of participation are not prorated for credit.
Example
You work for the state for 21⁄2 years. During that time, you are on FMLA leave for 6 months. You begin a new job in a My Choice-covered position and work there for 31⁄2 years. During that time, you take another 6-month FMLA leave. Your total service at that point is 6 years.
3.5.1 Vesting Schedule
Only full years of participation count toward vesting in the variable rate (employer share) portion.
Example
If you work for 4 years and 10 months you would receive 80 percent of the variable rate (employer share) portion. One-hundred percent vesting occurs at termination for normal retirement (age 62 + five years of service) or death of a member in the line of duty.
Table 2 shows the vesting schedule for PERF My Choice participation.
Table 2: Vesting Schedule
Years of Participation
Employer Share
Member Share
1
20%
100%
2
40%
100%
3
60%
100%
4
80%
100%
5
100%
100%
If you are employed in two different PERF My Choice Plan-covered positions at the same time; and then terminate employment from either one of those positions, you forfeit only those contributions not vested from the employer from which you terminate.
Your years of participation in the plan may only be used towards calculating your vesting percentage in the plan. Years of participation in the plan may not be treated as creditable service in the fund.
If you are employed in one fund-covered position and at the same time are employed in a separate plan- covered position, you are entitled to both creditable service in the fund and years of participation in the plan. If you are employed in two plan-covered positions, you may earn years of participation from only one position at a time.
You do not have to work for the same employer and job in order to reach vested status. A total of 5 full years in any combination of My Choice covered employment for which an employer makes contributions qualifies as years of participation for vesting purposes.
Public Employees Retirement Fund My Choice Plan Page 20 of 50 Member Handbook for Local Government Employees
Effective: 07/01/2020