2006 New York Code - Vested Retirement Rights.

 
    §  13-556  Vested  retirement  rights.  a.  (1)  Except as provided in
  paragraph three of this subdivision a, any contributor who  has  been  a
  member  of  the  retirement  system  and  has  had five or more years of
  accredited service, who discontinues service in the schools or  colleges
  of  the city other than by death or retirement and who does not withdraw
  his or her accumulated deductions shall have a vested right to receive a
  deferred retirement allowance on attaining the age at which  he  or  she
  would first be eligible for retirement had he or she remained in service
  but  in  no  case, except as otherwise provided in paragraph two of this
  subdivision, prior to the date he or she attains the age of sixty years.
  Such member shall be known as a discontinued member.
    (2) A discontinued member who has such vested right  when  he  or  she
  attains    the    age    of    fifty-five   years   and   who   was   an
  age-fifty-five-increased benefits pension plan contributor  when  he  or
  she  discontinued  service  shall  be  entitled  to  receive  a deferred
  retirement allowance under this section on  the  date  when  he  or  she
  attains the age of fifty-five years.
    (3)  The  provisions  of  this  section  shall  be  inapplicable  to a
  twenty-year pension plan contributor.
    b. The deferred retirement allowance provided by  this  section  shall
  vest  automatically  upon  such discontinuance of service by such member
  and shall become payable on the day he or she reaches the age  at  which
  he  or she would first be eligible for retirement had he or she remained
  in service but in no case prior to the date he or she attains age sixty,
  except as otherwise provided in paragraph two of subdivision a  of  this
  section.
    c.  (1)  In  the  case  of  any  discontinued  member  who  was not an
  age-fifty-five-increased-benefits pension plan contributor  when  he  or
  she discontinued service, the deferred retirement allowance provided for
  in this section shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of
  section 13-554, except that where the total service for any discontinued
  member  whose retirement allowance is required to be determined pursuant
  to this paragraph one is less than twenty-five years, the pension  shall
  be  based  on  one  per  cent  of  this  average salary for each year of
  accredited service.
    (2)  In  the  case   of   any   discontinued   member   who   was   an
  age-fifty-five-increased-benefits  pension  plan  contributor when he or
  she discontinued service, the deferred retirement allowance provided for
  in this section, shall, subject to the provisions of  subdivision  i  of
  this  section,  be  determined in accordance with the provisions of such
  section   13-554   governing   the   retirement    allowance    of    an
  age-fifty-five-increased-benefits  pension plan contributor, in the same
  manner as if he or she had retired for service on the date on  which  he
  or  she attained the age of fifty-five years. In any case where, for the
  purpose of computing such  retirement  allowance,  his  or  her  average
  salary  is required to be determined pursuant to subdivision eighteen of
  section 13-501 of this chapter, any reference  in  such  subdivision  to
  salary  earnable during a period preceding the date of retirement shall,
  for the purposes of  this  paragraph  two,  be  deemed  to  mean  salary
  earnable  during  an  equal  period  preceding  the  date  of his or her
  discontinuance of service and  any  reference  in  such  subdivision  to
  selection of a period of service prior to the date of retirement, shall,
  for  the purposes of this paragraph, be deemed to mean selection of such
  period prior to the date on which such discontinued member  attains  the
  age of fifty-five years.
    d.    Interest    on   the   accumulated   deductions   and   on   the
  reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay of a discontinued  member  shall  be


  credited  after  the discontinuance of service at the same rate as prior
  to the discontinuance.
    e.  If  a  member who has withdrawn from the service should die before
  becoming eligible for a deferred retirement allowance under this section
  his    or    her    accumulated    deductions    and    his    or    her
  reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay   shall   be  paid  to  his  or  her
  beneficiary, and in the absence of a designated beneficiary, to  his  or
  her estate.
    f. A member, who has withdrawn from the service in accordance with the
  provisions of this section, may elect any of the options available under
  the  provisions  of  section  13-558  providing he or she files with the
  retirement board an application for such option prior to the day  he  or
  she becomes eligible for a deferred retirement allowance.
    g.  A  member  who  has  resigned from service may withdraw his or her
  accumulated  contributions  at  any  time  subject  to  the  limitations
  contained  in  section  13-541  of  this  chapter.  The  withdrawal of a
  member's accumulated contributions shall terminate his or her right to a
  vested deferred retirement allowance.
    h. Subject to  the  provisions  of  section  13-549  of  this  chapter
  (relating   to  deferred  eligibility  of  certain  retirees,  withdrawn
  contributors and discontinued members for benefits under certain pension
  plans), a member who has discontinued service but has not withdrawn  his
  or her accumulated contributions and is subsequently restored to service
  in  the  city's  schools  or  colleges, shall be entitled to the service
  credit and status to which he or she was entitled immediately  prior  to
  his or her withdrawal and shall also be credited with interest on his or
  her     accumulated     deductions     and     on     his     or     her
  reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay between  the  time  of  his  or  her
  withdrawal and the time of his or her restoration to service.
    i. (1) In any case where:
    (a) a contributor:
    (i)  on  or  after July first, nineteen hundred sixty-nine, re-entered
  member-service (as defined in subdivision fifteen-a of section 13-501 of
  this chapter) or shall hereafter re-enter member-service; or
    (ii) on or after July first, nineteen hundred  seventy,  first  enters
  member-service; and
    (b)   such  contributor,  while  an  age-fifty-five-increased-benefits
  pension  plan  contributor  and  before   completing   four   years   of
  member-service  after  such re-entry or first entry into member-service,
  as the case may be, discontinued service so as to become a  discontinued
  member; and
    (c)  his  or her right to receive a deferred retirement allowance as a
  discontinued member is not terminated;
    the deferred retirement allowance to which he or she is entitled as  a
  discontinued  member  shall be computed as provided for by paragraph two
  of subdivision c of  this  section,  except  as  otherwise  provided  in
  paragraph two of this subdivision h.
    (2)  The pension component of such deferred retirement allowance shall
  not be as prescribed by paragraph two of such subdivision c,  but  shall
  instead be the larger of:
    (a)  a  pension  determined  pursuant to the method of computation set
  forth in paragraphs one to five, inclusive, of subdivision f of  section
  13-549  of  this  chapter  (relating  to  computation  of the pension of
  certain retirees having deferred eligibility for benefits under  certain
  pension plans); or
    (b)  the pension to which he or she would have been entitled under the
  provisions of paragraph one of subdivision c of this section, if  he  or


  she  had  not  been  an  age-fifty-five-increased-benefits  pension plan
  contributor when he or she discontinued service.
    (3)  The  provisions  of  this  subdivision  (i)  shall  apply  to any
  contributor who re-entered or shall re-enter  member-service  under  the
  circumstances set forth in paragraph one of this subdivision, whether or
  not  such re-entry was or shall be with credit for service and status at
  the termination of his or her prior membership in the retirement system.
    j. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a  discontinued  member
  with  ten  or  more  years  of  credited service in such system who dies
  before a retirement benefit becomes payable and  who  is  otherwise  not
  entitled to a death benefit from the system shall be deemed to have died
  on  the  last  day  that  he or she was in service upon which his or her
  membership was based for purposes of eligibility for the  payment  of  a
  death  benefit pursuant to the provisions of section 13-542 or 13-543 of
  this title. The death benefit payable in such case shall be one-half  of
  that  which would have been payable had such member died on the last day
  that service was rendered.