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Alaska Statutes.

Title 39. Public Officers and Employees

Chapter 35. Public Employees' Retirement System of Alaska

Section 680. Definitions.

previous: Section 678. Internal Revenue Code Compliance.
next: Section 690. [Renumbered as AS 39.35.995].

AS 39.35.680. Definitions.

In AS 39.35.095 - 39.35.680, unless the context otherwise requires,

(1) "active member" means an employee who is employed by an employer, is receiving compensation for seasonal, permanent full-time, or permanent part-time services, and is making contributions to the plan;

(2) "actuarial adjustment" means the adjustment necessary to obtain equality in value of the aggregate expected payments under two different forms of pension payments, considering expected mortality and interest earnings on the basis of assumptions, factors, and methods specified in regulations issued under this plan that are formally adopted by the board that clearly preclude employer discretion in the determination of the amount of any member's benefit;

(3) "administrator" means the commissioner of administration or the commissioner's designee appointed under AS 39.35.003 ;

(4) "average monthly compensation" means the result obtained by dividing the compensation earned by an employee during a considered period by the number of months, including fractional months, for which compensation was earned; an employee must have at least 115 days of credited service in the last payroll year in order for that year to be used as part of the consecutive payroll years; the considered period consists of

(A) for employees first hired before July 1, 1996, the three consecutive payroll years during the period of credited service that yield the highest average;

(B) for employees first hired on or after July 1, 1996, the five consecutive payroll years during the period of credited service that yield the highest average;

(C) if the employee does not have the number of consecutive payroll years required by (A) or (B) of this paragraph, the actual number of months, including fractional months, that the employee worked;

(D) for an employee who has made an election under AS 39.35.300 (c) or 39.35.310(c), the actual number of months, including fractional months, that the employee worked;

(E) for a peace officer or fire fighter hired at any time, the three consecutive payroll years during the period of credited service that yield the highest average;

(5) "beneficiary" means a person designated by an employee to receive benefits that may be due from the plan upon the employee's death;

(6) "board" means the Alaska Retirement Management Board;

(7) "calendar year" means the period beginning on January 1 and ending on December 31;

(8) "commissioner" means the commissioner of administration;

(9) "compensation" means the remuneration earned by an employee for personal services rendered to an employer, including employee contributions under AS 39.35.160 , cost-of-living differentials only as provided in AS 39.35.675 , payments for leave that is actually used by the employee, the amount by which the employee's wages are reduced under AS 39.30.150 (c), an amount that is contributed by the employer under a salary reduction agreement and that is not includable in the gross income of the employee under 26 U.S.C. 125 or 132(f)(4), and any amount deferred under an employer-sponsored deferred compensation plan, but does not include retirement benefits, severance pay or other separation bonuses, welfare benefits, per diem, expense allowances, workers' compensation payments, or payments for leave not used by the employee whether those leave payments are scheduled payments, lump-sum payments, donations, or cash-ins; for a member first hired on or after July 1, 1996, compensation does not include remuneration in excess of the limitations set out in 26 U.S.C. 401(a)(17) (Internal Revenue Code);

(10) "credited service" means the number of years, including fractional years, recognized for computing benefits that may be due from the plan;

(11) "deferred vested member" means an inactive member who meets the five-year credited service requirement to qualify for a retirement benefit;

(12) "dependent child" means an unmarried child of an employee, including one adopted, who is dependent upon the employee for support and who is either (A) under 19 years old or (B) under 23 years old and registered at and attending on a full-time basis an accredited educational or technical institution recognized by the Department of Education and Early Development; age restrictions set out in this paragraph do not apply to a child who is totally and permanently disabled;

(13) "disabled member" means an employee who is terminated, who has not received a refund from the plan and is receiving a disability benefit from the plan;

(14) "early retirement" means retirement for a member who is not eligible for normal retirement and who is at least 55 years old and is eligible to receive benefits under AS 39.35.370 (b) or under AS 39.35.385(b) or (f);

(15) "elected official" means a person whose compensation results from personal services rendered to an employer as an elected representative;

(16) "employee contribution account" means the total maintained by the plan of the employee's mandatory contributions, voluntary contributions, indebtedness principal, and interest contributions, interest credited to each of those accounts, and adjustments to the accounts in accordance with AS 39.35.100 ;

(17) "employee savings account" means the account maintained by the plan to record the voluntary contributions of each employee, including interest and adjustments to the account in accordance with AS 39.35.100;

(18) "employer" means

(A) the State of Alaska;

(B) a political subdivision or public organization of the state that participates in the plan based on a resolution to participate in the plan that was approved by the administrator on or before July 1, 2006; or

(C) a political subdivision or public organization of the state that, as a result of consolidation or reorganization that occurs on or after July 1, 2006, assumes liability under the plan of a political subdivision or public organization described in (B) of this paragraph;

(19) "fiscal year" means the period beginning on July 1 and ending on June 30 of the following calendar year;

(20) "former member" means an employee who is terminated and who has received a total refund of the balance of the employee contribution account or who has requested in writing a refund of the balance in the employee contribution account;

(21) "inactive member" means an employee who is terminated and who has not received a refund from the plan or an employee on leave-without-pay status or layoff status;

(22) "member" or "employee"

(A) means a person eligible to participate in the plan and who is covered by the plan;

(B) includes

(i) an active member;

(ii) an inactive member;

(iii) a vested member;

(iv) a deferred vested member;

(v) a nonvested member;

(vi) a disabled member;

(vii) a retired member;

(viii) an elected public officer under AS 39.35.381 ;

(C) does not include

(i) former members;

(ii) persons compensated on a contractual or fee basis;

(iii) casual or emergency workers or nonpermanent employees as defined in AS 39.25.200 ;

(iv) persons covered by the Alaska Teachers' Retirement System except as provided under AS 39.35.131 and 39.35.381, or persons covered by a university retirement program;

(v) employees of the division of marine transportation engaged in operating the state ferry system who are covered by a union or group retirement system to which the state makes contributions;

(vi) justices of the supreme court or judges of the court of appeals or of the superior or district courts of Alaska;

(vii) the administrative director of courts appointed under art. IV, sec. 16 of the state constitution unless the director becomes a member under AS 39.35.158 ;

(viii) members of the elected public officers' retirement system (former AS 39.37); and

(ix) contractual employees of the legislative branch of state government under AS 24.10.060 (f);

(D) may include employees of the division of marine transportation excluded under (C)(v) of this paragraph provided that

(i) the State of Alaska formally agrees to their inclusion through the process of collective bargaining; and

(ii) no collective bargaining agreement has the effect of obligating contributions made by the state under AS 39.30.150 in the event the state resumes participation in the federal social security system;

(23) "military service" means active duty service in the armed forces of the United States;

(24) "nonoccupational disability" means a physical or mental condition that, in the judgment of the administrator, presumably permanently prevents an employee from satisfactorily performing the employee's usual duties for an employer or the duties of another position or job that an employer makes available and for which the employee is qualified by training or education, not including a condition resulting from a cause that the board, in its regulations has excluded;

(25) "non-vested member" means an active or inactive member who does not meet the five-year credited service requirement to qualify for a retirement benefit;

(26) "normal retirement" means retirement for a member who is eligible to receive benefits under AS 39.35.370 (a) or under 39.35.385(a) or (f);

(27) "occupational disability" means a physical or mental condition that, in the judgment of the administrator, presumably permanently prevents an employee from satisfactorily performing the employee's usual duties for an employer or the duties of another comparable position or job that an employer makes available and for which the employee is qualified by training or education; however, the proximate cause of the condition must be a bodily injury sustained, or a hazard undergone, while in the performance and within the scope of the employee's duties and not the proximate result of the wilful negligence of the employee;

(28) "payroll year" means the period that includes the first pay period ending in January of a year through the last pay period ending in December of that year;

(29) "peace officer" or "fire fighter" means an employee occupying a position as a peace officer, chief of police, regional public safety officer, correctional officer, correctional superintendent, fire fighter, fire chief, or probation officer, but does not include a village public safety officer employed by a village public safety officer program established under AS 18.65.670 ;

(30) "pension fund" or "fund" means the fund in which the assets of the plan, including income and interest derived from the investment of money, are deposited and held;

(31) "permanent full-time" means an employee who is occupying a permanent position that regularly requires working 30 or more hours a week;

(32) "permanent part-time" means an employee who is occupying a permanent position that regularly requires working at least 15 hours but less than 30 hours a week;

(33) "plan" means the retirement plan established in AS 39.35.095 - 39.35.680;

(34) "prescribed rate of interest" means the rate of interest used for computing employer contributions, for preparing actuarial tables used by the plan and for crediting interest to employee contributions and savings accounts, and for charging interest on employee indebtedness accounts;

(35) "public organization" means an organization or entity

(A) created by the constitution or laws of the state for the purpose of administering state programs;

(B) whose officers and employees are paid by a method other than by the state payroll prepared by the Department of Administration; and

(C) whose employees are not required by law to participate in the plan;

(36) "qualified domestic relations order" means a divorce or dissolution judgment under AS 25.24, including an order approving a property settlement, that

(A) creates or recognizes the existence of an alternate payee's right to, or assigns to an alternate payee the right to, receive all or a portion of employee contribution account or the benefits payable with respect to an employee;

(B) sets out the name and last known mailing address, if any, of the employee and of each alternate payee covered by the order;

(C) sets out the amount or percentage of the employee's benefit, or of any survivor's benefit, to be paid to the alternate payee, or sets out the manner in which that amount or percentage is to be determined;

(D) sets out the number of payments or period to which the order applies;

(E) sets out the retirement plan to which the order applies;

(F) does not require any type or form of benefit or any option not otherwise provided by AS 39.35.095 - 39.35.680;

(G) does not require an increase of benefits in excess of the amount provided by AS 39.35.095 - 39.35.680, determined on the basis of actuarial value; and

(H) does not require the payment to an alternate payee of benefits that are required to be paid to another alternate payee under another order previously determined to be a qualified domestic relations order;

(37) "retired member" means an employee who is terminated, who has not received a refund from the plan and is receiving a benefit other than disability, from the plan;

(38) "retirement" means that period of time from the first day of the month following (A) the date of termination and (B) application for retirement, in which a person is appointed to receive a retirement benefit, other than occupational or nonoccupational disability benefit;

(39) "seasonal" refers to an employee who is occupying a position for less than 12 months each year where it is anticipated that the same employee will return to the position when needed and includes a temporary employee of the legislature if part of the service for the legislature during each calendar year is performed during a legislative session;

(40) "surviving spouse" means the spouse of an employee who has been married to the employee for at least one year at the time of the employee's death; the one-year marriage requirement does not apply when the employee's death was an occupational or accidental death;

(41) "system" means the Public Employees' Retirement System of Alaska;

(42) "vested member" is an active member who meets the five-year credited service requirement to qualify for a retirement benefit.