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Public Act 098-1144 Public Act 1144 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
Public Act 098-1144 | SB2887 Enrolled | LRB098 19792 RPM 55007 b |
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| AN ACT concerning public employee benefits.
| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | represented in the General Assembly:
| Section 5. The Illinois Pension Code is amended by changing | Section 15-139.5 as follows: | (40 ILCS 5/15-139.5) | Sec. 15-139.5. Return to work by affected annuitant; notice | and contribution by employer. | (a) An employer who employs or re-employs a person | receiving a retirement annuity from the System in an academic | year beginning on or after August 1, 2013 must notify the | System of that employment within 60 days after employing the | annuitant. The notice must include a summary of the contract of | employment or specify the rate of compensation and the | anticipated length of employment of that annuitant. The notice | must specify whether the annuitant will be compensated from | federal, corporate, foundation, or trust funds or grants of | State funds that identify the principal investigator by name. | The notice must include the employer's determination of whether | or not the annuitant is an "affected annuitant" as defined in | subsection (b). | The employer must also record, document, and certify to the | System (i) the amount of compensation paid to the annuitant for |
| employment during the academic year, and (ii) the amount of | that compensation, if any, that comes from either federal, | corporate, foundation, or trust funds or grants of State funds | that identify the principal investigator by name. | As used in this Section, "academic year" means the 12-month | period beginning September 1. | For the purposes of this Section, an annuitant whose | employment by an employer extends over more than one academic | year shall be deemed to be re-employed by that employer in each | of those academic years. | The System may specify the time, form, and manner of | providing the determinations, notifications, certifications, | and documentation required under this Section. | (b) A person receiving a retirement annuity from the System | becomes an "affected annuitant" on the first day of the | academic year following the academic year in which the | annuitant first meets the following conditions condition : | (1) (Blank). | (2) While receiving a retirement annuity under this | Article, the annuitant was employed on or after August 1, | 2013 by one or more employers under this Article and | received
or became entitled to receive during an academic | year compensation for that employment in excess of 40% of | his or her highest annual earnings prior
to retirement; | except that compensation paid from federal, corporate, | foundation, or trust funds or grants of State funds that |
| identify the principal investigator by name is excluded. | (3) The annuitant received an annualized retirement | annuity under this Article of at least $10,000. | A person who becomes an affected annuitant remains an | affected annuitant, except for any period during which the | person returns to active service and does not receive a | retirement annuity from the System. | (c) It is the obligation of the employer to determine | whether an annuitant is an affected annuitant before employing | the annuitant. For that purpose the employer may require the | annuitant to disclose and document his or her relevant prior | employment and earnings history. Failure of the employer to | make this determination correctly and in a timely manner or to | include this determination with the notification required | under subsection (a) does not excuse the employer from making | the contribution required under subsection (e). | The System may assist the employer in determining whether a | person is an affected annuitant. The System shall inform the | employer if it discovers that the employer's determination is | inconsistent with the employment and earnings information in | the System's records. | (d) Upon the request of an annuitant, the System shall | certify to the annuitant or the employer the following | information as reported by the employers, as that information | is indicated in the records of the System: (i) the annuitant's | highest annual earnings prior
to retirement, (ii) the |
| compensation paid for that employment in each academic year, | and (iii) whether any of that employment or compensation has | been certified to the System as being paid from federal, | corporate, foundation, or trust funds or grants of State funds | that identify the principal investigator by name. The System | shall only be required to certify information that is received | from the employers. | (e) In addition to the requirements of subsection (a), an | employer who employs an affected annuitant must pay to the | System an employer contribution in the amount and manner | provided in this Section, unless the annuitant is compensated | by that employer solely from federal, corporate, foundation, or | trust funds or grants of State funds that identify the | principal investigator by name. | The employer contribution required under this Section for | employment of an affected annuitant in an academic year shall | be equal to 12 times the amount of the gross monthly retirement | annuity payable to the annuitant for the month in which the | first paid day of that employment in that academic year occurs, | after any reduction in that annuity that may be imposed under | subsection (b) of Section 15-139. | If an affected annuitant is employed by more than one | employer in an academic year, the employer contribution | required under this Section shall be divided among those | employers in proportion to their respective portions of the | total compensation paid to the affected annuitant for that |
| employment during that academic year. | If the System determines that an employer, without | reasonable justification, has failed to make the determination | of affected annuitant status correctly and in a timely manner, | or has failed to notify the System or to correctly document or | certify to the System any of the information required by this | Section, and that failure results in a delayed determination by | the System that a contribution is payable under this Section, | then the amount of that employer's contribution otherwise | determined under this Section shall be doubled. | The System shall deem a failure to correctly determine the | annuitant's status to be justified if the employer establishes | to the System's satisfaction that the employer, after due | diligence, made an erroneous determination that the annuitant | was not an affected annuitant due to reasonable reliance on | false or misleading information provided by the annuitant or | another employer, or an error in the annuitant's official | employment or earnings records. | (f) Whenever the System determines that an employer is | liable for a contribution under this Section, it shall so | notify the employer and certify the amount of the contribution. | The employer may pay the required contribution without interest | at any time within one year after receipt of the certification. | If the employer fails to pay within that year, then interest | shall be charged at a rate equal to the System's prescribed | rate of interest, compounded annually from the 366th day after |
| receipt of the certification from the System. Payment must be | concluded within 2 years after receipt of the certification by | the employer. If the employer fails to make complete payment, | including applicable interest, within 2 years, then the System | may, after giving notice to the employer, certify the | delinquent amount to the State Comptroller, and the Comptroller | shall thereupon deduct the certified delinquent amount from | State funds payable to the employer and pay them instead to the | System. | (g) If an employer is required to make a contribution to | the System as a result of employing an affected annuitant and | the annuitant later elects to forgo his or her annuity in that | same academic year pursuant to subsection (c) of Section | 15-139, then the required contribution by the employer shall be | waived, and if the contribution has already been paid, it shall | be refunded to the employer without interest. | (h) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article, | the employer contribution required under this Section shall not | be included in the determination of any benefit under this | Article or any other Article of this Code, regardless of | whether the annuitant returns to active service, and is in | addition to any other State or employer contribution required | under this Article. | (i) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section to | the contrary, if an employer employs an affected annuitant in | order to continue critical operations in the event of either an |
| employee's unforeseen illness, accident, or death or a | catastrophic incident or disaster, then, for one and only one | academic year, the employer is not required to pay the | contribution set forth in this Section for that annuitant. The | employer shall, however, immediately notify the System upon | employing a person subject to this subsection (i). For the | purposes of this subsection (i), "critical operations" means | teaching services, medical services, student welfare services, | and any other services that are critical to the mission of the | employer.
| (j) This Section shall be applied and coordinated with the | regulatory obligations contained in the State Universities | Civil Service Act. This Section shall not apply to an annuitant | if the employer of that annuitant provides documentation to the | System that (1) the annuitant is employed in a status | appointment position, as that term is defined in 80 Ill. Adm. | Code 250.80, and (2) due to obligations contained under the | State Universities Civil Service Act, the employer does not | have the ability to limit the earnings or duration of | employment for the annuitant while employed in the status | appointment position. | (Source: P.A. 97-968, eff. 8-16-12; 98-596, eff. 11-19-13.) |
Effective Date: 6/1/2015
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