Except as provided in § 49-7, a person is credited with all periods of service in which he/she is employed by the employer (or any related employer) as an employee, including working days, vacation, sick days, holidays, bereavement days, jury duty time, and nonscheduled days (such as weekends or the equivalent).
A.
With six months or more of prior service. Any member of the police
force of the Borough of Punxsutawney who has been a regularly appointed
employee of the Department for a period of six months and who thereafter
shall enter into the military service of the United States shall have
credited to his or her employment record for pension or disability
benefits all of the time spent by him or her in such service of the
United States military if such person returns or has heretofore returned
to his employment within six months after his or her separation from
the service.
B.
With less than six months of prior service. Any member of the police
force who was employed by the Department for less than six months
before leaving to enter the military service of the United States
shall have such military service credited for the pension or disability
benefits, provided:
(1)
The person returns to employment with the employer (or any related
employer) at a time when the employer (or any related employer) is
legally obligated to reemploy the person under the Uniformed Services.
Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994, 38 U.S.C. § 4301
et seq., and any amendments, supplements, or successor legislation;
and
(2)
Such person pays to the plan the amount of employee contributions
that such person would have had to make had he been employed by the
employer during the time he was in military service. Any payment to
the plan shall be made during the period beginning with the date of
reemployment and whose duration is three times the period of the person's
service in the military, not to exceed five years.
A.
For employees hired prior to January 1, 2020: A police officer, may
purchase military service time to be applied to his or her pension
pursuant to the terms and conditions of 53 P.S. § 770.
(1)
Every participant of the police pension plan and of the Borough of
Punxsutawney who has not served in such employment prior to entering
the military service of the United States of America shall be entitled
to full service credit for each year of military service or a fraction
thereof, not to exceed five years, upon purchasing of credit for such
nonintervening military service to be computed by applying the average
normal cost rate for Borough and Township Police Pension Plans as
certified by the Public Employee Retirement Commission, but not to
exceed 10%, to the participant's averaged annual rate of compensation
over the first three years of municipal service and multiplying the
result by the number of years and fractional part of a year of creditable
nonintervening military service being purchased together with interest
at the rate of 4 3/4% compounded annually from the date of initial
entry into municipal service to the date of payment.
(2)
Participants of the Police Pension Plan shall be eligible to receive military service credit, as provided in this section, provided that he or she is not entitled to receive, eligible to receive now or in the future, or is receiving retirement benefits for such service under a retirement system administered and wholly or partially paid for by any other governmental agency, with the exception of a participant eligible to receive or receiving military retirement pay, earned by a combination of active duty and nonactive duty with a reserve or national guard component of the armed forces which retirement pay is payable only upon the attainment of a specified age and period of service under 10 U.S.C. Ch. 67 (related to retired pay for nonregular service).
B.
For employees hired on or after January 1,2020, the purchase of nonintervening
military service shall be eliminated.
A person is also credited with service during any period for
which back pay, irrespective of mitigation of damages, is either awarded
or agreed to by the employer.
