2015 New York Laws
RSS - Retirement & Social Security
Article 20 - (Retirement & Social Security) CREDIT FOR MILITARY SERVICE RENDERED DURING PERIODS OF MILITARY CONFLICT
1000 - Military service credit.

  1000.  Military  service  credit.  Notwithstanding  any  law to the
  contrary, a member of a  public  retirement  system  of  the  state,  as
  defined  in subdivision twenty-three of section five hundred one of this
  chapter,  shall  be  eligible  for  credit  for  military   service   as
  hereinafter provided:
1.  A member, upon application to such retirement system, may obtain a
  total not to exceed three years of service credit for up to three  years
  of  military  duty, as defined in section two hundred forty-three of the
  military law, if the member was honorably discharged from  the  military
  and  all  or  part  of  such  military  service  was rendered during the
  following periods: (a) commencing  December  seventh,  nineteen  hundred
  forty-one   and  terminating  December  thirty-first,  nineteen  hundred
  forty-six; (b) commencing June twenty-seventh,  nineteen  hundred  fifty
  and  terminating  January  thirty-first, nineteen hundred fifty-five; or
  (c) commencing February twenty-eighth, nineteen  hundred  sixty-one  and
  terminating May seventh, nineteen hundred seventy-five;
2.  A member, upon application to such retirement system, may obtain a
  total not to exceed three years of service credit for up to three  years
  of  military  duty, as defined in section two hundred forty-three of the
  military law, if honorably discharged therefrom, if all or part of  such
  services  was  rendered  in  the military conflicts referenced below, as
  follows:
(a) hostilities participated in by the military forces of  the  United
  States  in  Lebanon,  from  the  first  day  of  June,  nineteen hundred
  eighty-three  to  the  first   day   of   December,   nineteen   hundred
  eighty-seven,   as   established   by   receipt   of  the  armed  forces
  expeditionary medal, the navy expeditionary medal, or the  marine  corps
  expeditionary medal;
(b)  hostilities  participated in by the military forces of the United
  States in Grenada,  from  the  twenty-third  day  of  October,  nineteen
  hundred  eighty-three  to  the  twenty-first  day  of November, nineteen
  hundred eighty-three, as established by  receipt  of  the  armed  forces
  expeditionary  medal,  the navy expeditionary medal, or the marine corps
  expeditionary medal;
(c) hostilities participated in by the military forces of  the  United
  States  in  Panama, from the twentieth day of December, nineteen hundred
  eighty-nine to the thirty-first day of January, nineteen hundred ninety,
  as established by receipt of the armed forces expeditionary  medal,  the
  navy expeditionary medal, or the marine corps expeditionary medal; or
(d)  hostilities  participated in by the military forces of the United
  States, from the second day of August, nineteen hundred ninety,  to  the
  end  of  such hostilities in case of a veteran who served in the theater
  of operations including Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar,  the
  United  Arab  Emirates,  Oman,  the  Gulf of Aden, the Gulf of Oman, the
  Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and the airspace above these locations.
3. A member must have at least five years  of  credited  service  (not
  including  service  granted  hereunder) to be eligible to receive credit
  under this section.
4. To obtain such credit, a member shall pay such  retirement  system,
  for deposit in the fund used to accumulate employer contributions, a sum
  equal  to  the  product of the number of years of military service being
  claimed and three percent of such member's  compensation  earned  during
  the  twelve  months  of  credited service immediately preceding the date
  that the member made application for credit pursuant to this section. If
  permitted by rule or regulation of the applicable retirement system, the
  member may pay such member costs by payroll deduction for a period which
  shall not exceed the time period of  military  service  to  be  credited
  pursuant  to  this  section. In the event the member leaves the employer

  payroll prior to completion of payment, he  or  she  shall  forward  all
  remaining  required  payments to the appropriate retirement system prior
  to the effective date of retirement. If the full amount of  such  member
  costs  is  not  paid  to  the appropriate retirement system prior to the
  member's  retirement,  the  amount  of   service   credited   shall   be
  proportional  to  the  total  amount  of  the  payments  made  prior  to
  retirement.
5. In no event shall the credit granted pursuant to this section, when
  added to credit granted for military service with any retirement  system
  of  this  state pursuant to this or any other provision of law, exceed a
  total of three years.
6. To be eligible to receive credit for military  service  under  this
  section,  a  member  must  make  application  for such credit before the
  effective date of retirement. Notwithstanding the  foregoing  provisions
  of  this  subdivision,  an  individual  who retired on or after December
  twenty-first, nineteen hundred ninety-eight  and  before  the  effective
  date  of  this  section may make application for credit pursuant to this
  section within one year following the effective date of this section, in
  which event, the cost to the retiree would be based on the twelve  month
  period immediately preceding retirement.
7.  All  costs  for  service  credited  to  a  member pursuant to this
  section, other than the member costs set forth in subdivision  three  of
  this  section,  shall  be  paid  by  the  state  and all employers which
  participate in the retirement system in which  such  member  is  granted
  credit.
8.  A  member  who  has  purchased military service credit pursuant to
  section two hundred forty-four-a of the military law shall  be  entitled
  to  a refund of the difference between the amount paid by the member for
  such purchase and the amount that would be payable if service  had  been
  purchased pursuant to this section.
9.  Notwithstanding  any other provision of law, in the event of death
  prior to retirement, amounts paid by the  member  for  the  purchase  of
  military service credit pursuant to this section shall be refunded, with
  interest, to the extent the military service purchased with such amounts
  does  not  produce  a greater death benefit than would have been payable
  had the member not purchased such credit.
Notwithstanding  any  other  provision  of  law,  in  the   event   of
  retirement,  amounts  paid  by  the  member for the purchase of military
  service  credit  pursuant  to  this  section  shall  be  refunded,  with
  interest, to the extent the military service purchased with such amounts
  does  not  produce  a  greater retirement allowance than would have been
  payable had the member not purchased such credit.
10. Anything to the contrary  in  subdivision  four  of  this  section
  notwithstanding,  to  obtain  such  credit,  a  member who first joins a
  public retirement system of the state  on  or  after  April  first,  two
  thousand  twelve  shall  pay  such retirement system, for deposit in the
  fund used to accumulate employer  contributions,  a  sum  equal  to  the
  product of the number of years of military service being claimed and six
  percent of such member's compensation earned during the twelve months of
  credited  service  immediately  preceding  the date that the member made
  application for credit pursuant to this section.