A former PERS Plan 1 member who has never been retired and becomes a member participant in TRS Plan 2 through employment with a TRS employer becomes a dual member.

Upon separation from TRS Plan 2 eligible employment, the person in Example 1 (see WAC 415-113-041) is no longer a member of TRS Plan 2 nor a dual member.

A person becomes a dual member on January 1, 1994. She has until December 31, 1995, to restore any previously withdrawn contributions for service credit in a prior system regardless of whether she subsequently loses her status as a dual member.

A person becomes a dual member on January 1, 1994, separates from membership on January 1, 1995, and then reenters membership on January 1, 1996. He has until December 31, 1997, twenty-four consecutive months from the date he regained dual member status, to restore withdrawn contributions in any prior system.

A person is a member participant in PERS Plan 2 and has previous service in LEOFF Plan 2. LEOFF Plan 2 was newly admitted to participate under the portability provisions of chapter 41.54 RCW on July 25, 1993. Therefore, the person has until July 24, 1995, to restore her prior LEOFF Plan 2 service.

A sixty-two year old dual member of PERS Plan 1 and TRS Plan 2 retires. He chooses to receive PERS Plan 1 benefits but defers receipt of a TRS Plan 2 retirement allowance. If he becomes reemployed in a TRS Plan 2 eligible position, he will reenter TRS Plan 2 membership if otherwise eligible and terminate his dual member status, but he will continue to receive his PERS Plan 1 retirement allowance until he works more than the work-limit in a calendar year under WAC 415-108-710. The member's eligibility to retire from TRS Plan 2 will be based solely on his accrued service credit in TRS Plan 2 and his TRS Plan 2 retirement allowance will be based solely on his compensation while he was a member participant in TRS Plan 2.

Assume the retiree in Example 9 above became reemployed in a PERS position rather than a TRS Plan 2 position. He could work in this position up to the work-limit in a calendar year under WAC 415-108-710 without having his PERS retirement allowance suspended. If the retiree works over the work-limit:

 

• The department would suspend his retirement allowance until the next calendar year. He would remain a dual member. He would be able to retire in TRS 2 if otherwise eligible;

 

• The retiree could choose to reenter PERS Plan 1 membership at any time, if otherwise eligible, and terminate his dual member status. His choice for membership is not retroactive. The effect on the person's right to a TRS Plan 2 benefit is the same as in Example 9. See WAC 415-108-710.

Tom became a member of LEOFF 2 on January 1, 1981, and remained a member through December 31, 2000. He earned 20 years of service credit. Tom reached age 48 on December 31, 2000. His highest years of compensation in LEOFF 2 were as follows:

 

Tom became a member of PERS 2 on January 1, 2001. He separated from service on December 31, 2014. He earned 14 years of service credit. On December 31, 2005, Tom reached age 53 and met the eligibility requirements for an unreduced retirement from his prior system (LEOFF 2). During the period of his PERS employment, Tom's compensation was as follows:

A nonmember participant in LEOFF Plan 2 who has accrued sixteen years of service in LEOFF Plan 2 became a member of PERS Plan 2 at age fifty-four. Because she became a member participant of PERS Plan 2 at age fifty-four, prior to attaining retirement eligibility under LEOFF Plan 2 (i.e., age fifty-five), she may later retire retroactively from LEOFF Plan 2, subject to LEOFF Plan 2 criteria, while continuing membership in PERS Plan 2.

A nonmember participant in LEOFF Plan 2 with sixteen years of accrued service became a member of PERS Plan 2 at age fifty-five. If he attempts to retire from LEOFF Plan 2 while continuing membership in PERS Plan 2, the department will cancel his PERS Plan 2 membership and refund his PERS contributions. However, if he retires from both systems, he is entitled to retain the benefits of his PERS Plan 2 membership.

Assume either of the retirees in Examples 13 and 14 above had accrued less than fifteen years of service in LEOFF Plan 2. In this case, RCW 41.04.270 would not apply to prevent the retirees from establishing PERS Plan 2 membership. Either person could retire retroactively from the LEOFF Plan 2 without canceling membership and participation in PERS Plan 2.

A multiple system retiree retires from TRS Plan 1 state employment with prior creditable PERS Plan 1 service. His PERS employer pays him an accrued sick leave cashout at termination. Because a sick leave cashout from a state agency employer is not includable as TRS earnable compensation, the department will not include the cashout in the retiree's average compensation for purposes of computing either his PERS Plan 1 or TRS Plan 1 maximum benefit.

A multiple system retiree retires from PERS Plan 1 local government employment and receives a sick leave cashout. Because a sick leave cashout from a local government employer may be included as earnable compensation, the department will include the sick leave cashout to compute the retiree's maximum benefits under both PERS Plan 1 and TRS Plan 1.

A person with twenty-nine years of prior service in TRS Plan 1 and one year of subsequent service in PERS Plan 2 retires from both systems at age sixty-five. The retiree's TRS Plan 1 average compensation is thirty thousand dollars. The TRS Plan 1 maximum benefit is sixty percent of average compensation. The retiree's maximum TRS benefit is eighteen thousand dollars or one thousand five hundred dollars per month. The retiree's PERS Plan 2 average compensation is twenty-eight thousand dollars. The retiree's maximum PERS 2 benefit is sixteen thousand eight hundred dollars or one thousand four hundred dollars per month. The retiree's maximum benefit is the higher of the two amounts, one thousand five hundred dollars per month.

 

Assume the retiree's accrued service is such that her actual TRS Plan 1 monthly benefit is one thousand four hundred fifty dollars and her PERS Plan 2 monthly benefit is one hundred dollars. The retiree's total multiple system benefit is the sum of her TRS Plan 1 and PERS Plan 2 benefits, or one thousand five hundred fifty dollars. Because the retiree's total multiple system benefit exceeds her maximum benefit by fifty dollars, the department would proportionately reduce her TRS Plan 1 and PERS Plan 2 benefits. Her TRS Plan 1 benefit is 29/30 of her total service or ninety-seven percent, and her PERS Plan 2 benefit is 1/30 of total service, or three percent. The department would reduce her TRS Plan 1 benefit by ninety-seven percent of the overage, or forty-eight dollars and fifty cents (50 x.97) and her PERS Plan 2 benefit by three percent of the overage, or one dollar and fifty cents (50 x.03).

 

 

(a) During a month, a member works 80 hours at a school district and 100 hours at a county. If all of the service had been reported in one system, the maximum the member could have earned is one service credit for that month. The member will be granted .5 service credit in SERS based on the 80 hours of service reported in SERS and will receive .5 service credit in PERS based on subtracting the .50 service credit in SERS from the maximum of 1.00 service credit.

 

(b) During a month, a member works 65 hours at a school district and 30 hours at a county. If all of the service had been reported in one system, the maximum the member could have earned is one service credit for that month. The member will be granted .25 service credit in SERS based on the 65 hours of service reported in SERS and will receive .75 service credit in PERS based on subtracting the .25 service credit in SERS from the maximum of 1.00 service credit.

 

 

During a month, a member works 172 hours for an educational service district and works 30 hours for a state agency. If all of the service had been reported in one system, the maximum the member could have earned is one service credit for that month. The member will be granted one month of service credit in SERS based on the 172 hours of service reported in SERS and will receive 0.0 service credit in PERS (even though they worked 30 hours) based on subtracting the 1.00 service credit in SERS from the maximum of 1.00 service credit.

 

 

During a month, a member works 40 hours for a school district and 180 hours for a city. If all of the service had been reported in one system, the maximum the member could have earned is one service credit for that month. The member will be granted .25 service credit in SERS based on the 40 hours of service reported in SERS and will receive .75 service credit in PERS based on subtracting the .25 service credit in SERS from the maximum of 1.00 service credit.

 

During September, October, and November a member works 60 hours, 30 hours, and 70 hours in SERS and works 90 hours, 30 hours, and 60 hours in PERS, respectively. Based on these hours, the member would have been granted .25, .25, and .50 service credits in SERS and .75, 0.0, and .50 in PERS. The member's service credit calculated on a monthly basis through November is shown in Table 1 below.

 

At the end of the school year, the educational service credit rules (RCW 41.35.180) are applied. The application of these rules may cause one or more months of SERS service credit to change. A change in the SERS service credit for any given month may cause the combined SERS/PERS service credit to change. See Table 2, second line. The PERS service credit would then need to be recalculated for any month that the SERS service credit changed.

 

The members service for the entire school year is shown in Table 2 below. Applying the educational service credit rules, the member is now entitled to six service credit months in SERS for the school year (.50 in each month of September through August) based on working a total of 750 hours for the year. Thus, the service credit in September would be changed to .50 service credit in SERS and .50 credit in PERS. The service credit in October would be changed to .50 service credit in SERS and would remain at 0.0 service credit in PERS. November's service credit calculation is not affected by the application of the educational service credit rules.