97B.52A - ELIGIBILITY FOR BENEFITS -- BONA FIDE RETIREMENT.
97B.52A ELIGIBILITY FOR BENEFITS -- BONA FIDE
RETIREMENT.
1. A member has a bona fide retirement when the member terminates
all employment covered under the chapter or formerly covered under
the chapter pursuant to section 97B.42, files a completed application
for benefits form with the system, survives into the month for which
benefits are first payable, and meets the following applicable
requirement:
a. For a member whose first month of entitlement is prior to
July 1, 1998, the member does not return to covered employment until
the member has qualified for no fewer than four calendar months of
retirement benefits.
b. For a member whose first month of entitlement is July 1998
or later, but before July 2000, the member does not return to any
employment with a covered employer until the member has qualified for
no fewer than four calendar months of retirement benefits.
c. For a member whose first month of entitlement is July 2000
or later, the member does not return to any employment with a covered
employer until the member has qualified for at least one calendar
month of retirement benefits, and the member does not return to
covered employment until the member has qualified for no fewer than
four calendar months of retirement benefits. For purposes of this
paragraph, effective July 1, 2000, any employment with a covered
employer does not include employment as an elective official or
member of the general assembly if the member is not covered under
this chapter for that employment. For purposes of determining a bona
fide retirement under this paragraph and for a member whose first
month of entitlement is July 2004 or later, but before July 2010,
covered employment does not include employment as a licensed health
care professional by a public hospital as defined in section 249J.3,
with the exception of public hospitals governed pursuant to chapter
226.
2. A member may commence receiving retirement benefits under this
chapter upon satisfying eligibility requirements. However, a retired
member who commences receiving a retirement allowance but fails to
meet the applicable requirements of subsection 1 does not have a bona
fide retirement and any retirement allowance received by such a
member must be returned to the system together with interest earned
on the retirement allowance calculated at a rate determined by the
system. Until the member has repaid the retirement allowance and
interest, the system may withhold any future retirement allowance for
which the member may qualify.
3. A member whose first month of entitlement is before July 1998
and who terminates covered employment but maintains an employment
relationship with an employer that made contributions to the
retirement system on the member's behalf does not have a bona fide
retirement until all employment, including employment which is not
covered by this chapter, with such employer is terminated for at
least thirty days. In order to receive retirement benefits, the
member must file a completed application for benefits form with the
system before returning to any employment with the same employer.
4. The requirements of this section shall apply to a lump sum
payment as provided by section 97B.48, subsection 1, and the payment
of contributions as provided in section 97B.48A, subsection 4. Section History: Recent Form
92 Acts, ch 1201, §55; 95 Acts, ch 102, §10; 96 Acts, ch 1187,
§48; 98 Acts, ch 1183, §55, 56; 2000 Acts, ch 1077, §59--62; 2001
Acts, ch 68, §21, 24; 2003 Acts, ch 145, §286; 2004 Acts, ch 1103,
§46; 2005 Acts, ch 167, §29, 66; 2006 Acts, ch 1092, §6
Referred to in § 97B.1A, 97B.42 Footnotes
Iowa public employees' retirement system and Iowa hospital
association shall each report to the general assembly by October 1,
2009, regarding the costs and effectiveness of 2004 amendment to
subsection 1, paragraph c, providing that covered employment does not
include employment as a licensed health care professional by certain
public hospitals for purposes of establishing a bona fide retirement;
2004 Acts, ch 1103, §62; 2006 Acts, ch 1092, §7