79-902 Terms, defined.
79-902. Terms, defined.For purposes of the School Employees Retirement Act, unlessthe context otherwise requires:(1) Accumulated contributions means the sum of all amountsdeducted from the compensation of a member and credited to his or her individualaccount in the School Retirement Fund together with regular interest thereon,compounded monthly, quarterly, semiannually, or annually;(2) Beneficiary means any person in receipt of a school retirementallowance or other benefit provided by the act;(3) Member means any person who has an account in the SchoolRetirement Fund;(4) County school official means (a) until July 1, 2000,the county superintendent or district superintendent and any person servingin his or her office who is required by law to have a teacher's certificateand (b) on or after July 1, 2000, the county superintendent, county schooladministrator, or district superintendent and any person serving in his orher office who is required by law to have a teacher's certificate;(5) Creditable service means prior service for which creditis granted under sections 79-926 to 79-929, service credit purchased undersections 79-933.03 to 79-933.06 and 79-933.08, and all service rendered whilea contributing member of the retirement system. Creditable service includesworking days, sick days, vacation days, holidays, and any other leave daysfor which the employee is paid regular wages as part of the employee's agreementwith the employer. Creditable service does not include lump-sum payments tothe employee upon termination or retirement in lieu of accrued benefits forsuch days, eligibility and vesting credit, nor service years for which membercontributions are withdrawn and not repaid. Creditable service also does notinclude service rendered by a member for which the retirement board determinesthat the member was paid less in compensation than the minimum wage as providedin the Wage and Hour Act or service which the board determines was renderedwith the intent to defraud the retirement system;(6) Disability retirement allowance means the annuity paidto a person upon retirement for disability under section 79-952;(7) Employer means the State of Nebraska or any subdivisionthereof or agency of the state or subdivision authorized by law to hire schoolemployees or to pay their compensation;(8) Fiscal year means any year beginning July 1 and endingJune 30 next following;(9) Regular interest means interest fixed at a rate equalto the daily treasury yield curve for one-year treasury securities, as publishedby the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, that applies on July1 of each year, which may be credited monthly, quarterly, semiannually, orannually as the board may direct;(10) School employee means a contributing member who earnsservice credit pursuant to section 79-927. For purposes of this section, contributingmember means the following persons who receive compensation from a publicschool: (a) Regular employees; (b) regular employees having retired pursuantto the School Employees Retirement Act who subsequently provide compensatedservice on a regular basis in any capacity; and (c) regular employees hiredby a public school on an ongoing basis to assume the duties of other regularemployees who are temporarily absent. Substitute employees and temporary employees shall not be consideredschool employees;(11) Prior service means service rendered as a school employeein the public schools of the State of Nebraska prior to July 1, 1945;(12) Public school means any and all schools offering instructionin elementary or high school grades, as defined in section 79-101, which schoolsare supported by public funds and are wholly under the control and managementof the State of Nebraska or any subdivision thereof, including (a) schoolsor other entities established, maintained, and controlled by the school boardsof local school districts, except Class V school districts, (b) any educationalservice unit, and (c) any other educational institution wholly supported bypublic funds, except schools under the control and management of the Boardof Trustees of the Nebraska State Colleges, the Board of Regents of the Universityof Nebraska, or the community college boards of governors for any communitycollege areas;(13) Retirement means qualifying for and accepting a schoolor disability retirement allowance granted under the School Employees RetirementAct;(14) Retirement board or board means the Public EmployeesRetirement Board;(15) Retirement system means the School Retirement Systemof the State of Nebraska;(16) Required deposit means the deduction from a member'scompensation as provided for in section 79-958 which shall be deposited inthe School Retirement Fund;(17) School year means one fiscal year which includes notless than one thousand instructional hours or, in the case of service in theState of Nebraska prior to July 1, 1945, not less than seventy-five percentof the then legal school year;(18) Service means employment as a school employee and shallnot be deemed interrupted by (a) termination at the end of the school yearof the contract of employment of an employee in a public school if the employeeenters into a contract of employment in any public school, except a schoolin a Class V school district, for the following school year, (b) temporaryor seasonal suspension of service that does not terminate the employee's employment,(c) leave of absence authorized by the employer for a period not exceedingtwelve months, (d) leave of absence because of disability, or (e) militaryservice when properly authorized by the retirement board. Service does notinclude any period of disability for which disability retirement benefitsare received under sections 79-951 to 79-953;(19) School retirement allowance means the total of the savingsannuity and the service annuity or formula annuity paid a person who has retiredunder sections 79-931 to 79-935. The monthly payments shall be payable atthe end of each calendar month during the life of a retired member. The firstpayment shall include all amounts accrued since the effective date of theaward of annuity. The last payment shall be at the end of the calendar monthin which such member dies or in accordance with the payment option chosenby the member;(20) Service annuity means payments for life, made in equalmonthly installments, derived from appropriations made by the State of Nebraskato the retirement system;(21) State deposit means the deposit by the state in theretirement system on behalf of any member;(22) State school official means the Commissioner of Educationand his or her professional staff whoare required by law or by the State Department of Education to hold a certificateas such term is defined in section 79-807;(23) Savings annuity means payments for life, made in equalmonthly payments, derived from the accumulated contributions of a member;(24) Emeritus member means a person (a) who has entered retirementunder the provisions of the act, including those persons who have retiredsince July 1, 1945, under any other regularly established retirement or pensionsystem as contemplated by section 79-916, (b) who has thereafter been reemployedin any capacity by a public school, a Class V school district, or a schoolunder the control and management of the Board of Trustees of the NebraskaState Colleges, the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska, or a communitycollege board of governors or has become a state school official or countyschool official subsequent to such retirement, and (c) who has applied tothe board for emeritus membership in the retirement system. The school districtor agency shall certify to the retirement board on forms prescribed by theretirement board that the annuitant was reemployed, rendered a service, andwas paid by the district or agency for such services;(25) Actuarial equivalent means the equality in value ofthe aggregate amounts expected to be received under different forms of payment.The determinations shall be based on the 1994 Group Annuity Mortality Tablereflecting sex-distinct factors blended using twenty-five percent of the maletable and seventy-five percent of the female table. An interest rate of eightpercent per annum shall be reflected in making these determinations exceptwhen a lump-sum settlement is made to an estate. If the lump-sum settlementis made to an estate, the interest rate will be determined by the Moody'sTriple A Bond Index as of the prior June 30, rounded to the next lower quarterpercent;(26) Retirement date means (a) if the member has terminatedemployment, the first day of the month following the date upon which a member'srequest for retirement is received on a retirement application provided bythe retirement system or (b) if the member has filed an application but hasnot yet terminated employment, the first day of the month following the dateon which the member terminates employment. An application may be filed nomore than ninety days prior to the effective date of the member's initialbenefit;(27) Disability retirement date means the first day of themonth following the date upon which a member's request for disability retirementis received on a retirement application provided by the retirement systemif the member has terminated employment in the school system and has compliedwith sections 79-951 to 79-954 as such sections refer to disability retirement;(28) Retirement application means the form approved by theretirement system for acceptance of a member's request for either regularor disability retirement;(29) Eligibility and vesting credit means credit for years,or a fraction of a year, of participation in a Nebraska government plan forpurposes of determining eligibility for benefits under the School EmployeesRetirement Act. Such credit shall not be included as years of creditable servicein the benefit calculation;(30)(a) Final average compensation means the sum of the member'stotal compensation during the three twelve-month periods of service as a schoolemployee in which such compensation was the greatest divided by thirty-six.(b) If a member has such compensation for less than thirty-sixmonths, his or her final average compensation shall be determined by dividinghis or her total compensation in all months by the total number of monthsof his or her creditable service therefor.(c) Payments under the Retirement Incentive Plan pursuantto section 79-855 and Staff Development Assistance pursuant to section 79-856shall not be included in the determination of final average compensation;(31) Plan year means the twelve-month period beginning onJuly 1 and ending on June 30 of the following year;(32) Current benefit means (a) until July 1, 2000, the initialbenefit increased by all adjustments made pursuant to section 79-947.02 and(b) on or after July 1, 2000, the initial benefit increased by all adjustmentsmade pursuant to the School Employees Retirement Act;(33) Initial benefit means the retirement benefit calculatedat the time of retirement;(34) Surviving spouse means (a) the spouse married to themember on the date of the member's death or (b) the spouse or former spouseof the member if survivorship rights are provided under a qualified domesticrelations order filed with the board pursuant to the Spousal Pension RightsAct. The spouse or former spouse shall supersede the spouse married to themember on the date of the member's death as provided under a qualified domesticrelations order. If the benefits payable to the spouse or former spouse undera qualified domestic relations order are less than the value of benefits entitledto the surviving spouse, the spouse married to the member on the date of themember's death shall be the surviving spouse for the balance of the benefits;(35)(a) Compensation means gross wages or salaries payableto the member for personal services performed during the plan year and includes(i) overtime pay, (ii) member retirement contributions, (iii) retroactivesalary payments paid pursuant to court order, arbitration, or litigation andgrievance settlements, and (iv) amounts contributed by the member to plansunder sections 125, 403(b), and 457 of the Internal Revenue Code as definedin section 49-801.01 or any other section of the code which defers or excludessuch amounts from income.(b) Compensation does not include (i) fraudulently obtainedamounts as determined by the retirement board, (ii) amounts for unused sickleave or unused vacation leave converted to cash payments, (iii) insurancepremiums converted into cash payments, (iv) reimbursement for expenses incurred,(v) fringe benefits, (vi) bonuses for services not actually rendered, including,but not limited to, early retirement inducements, cash awards, and severancepay, or (vii) beginning on September 4, 2005, employer contributions madefor the purposes of separation payments made at retirement and early retirementinducements as provided for in section 79-514.(c) Compensation in excess of the limitations set forth insection 401(a)(17) of the Internal Revenue Code as defined in section 49-801.01shall be disregarded. For an employee who was a member of the retirement systembefore the first plan year beginning after December 31, 1995, the limitationon compensation shall not be less than the amount which was allowed to betaken into account under the retirement system as in effect on July 1, 1993.(d)(i) In the determination of compensation for members onor after July 1, 2002, through June 30, 2005, that part of a member's compensationfor the fiscal year which exceeds the member's compensation with the sameemployer for the preceding fiscal year by more than ten percent shall be excludedunless (A) the member experienced a substantial change in employment positionor (B) the excess compensation occurred as the result of a collective-bargainingagreement between the employer and a recognized collective-bargaining unitor category of school employee.(ii) For purposes of this subdivision:(A) Category of school employee means either all employeesof the employer who are administrators or certificated teachers, or all employeesof the employer who are not administrators or certificated teachers, or both;and(B) Recognized collective-bargaining unit means a group ofemployees similarly situated with a similar community of interest appropriatefor bargaining recognized as such by a school board.(e)(i) In the determination of compensation for members onor after July 1, 2005, that part of a member's compensation for the plan yearwhich exceeds the member's compensation with the same employer for the precedingplan year by more than seven percent of the compensation base during the sixtymonths preceding the member's retirement shall be excluded unless (A) themember experienced a substantial change in employment position, (B) as verifiedby the school board, the excess compensation above seven percent occurredas the result of a collective-bargaining agreement between the employer anda recognized collective-bargaining unit or category of school employee, andthe percentage increase in compensation above seven percent shall not be excludedfor employees outside of a collective-bargaining unit or within the same categoryof school employee, or (C) the excess compensation occurred as the resultof a districtwide permanent benefit change made by the employer for a categoryof school employee in accordance with subdivision (35)(a)(iv) of this section.(ii) For purposes of this subdivision:(A) Category of school employee means either all employeesof the employer who are administrators or certificated teachers, or all employeesof the employer who are not administrators or certificated teachers, or both;(B) Compensation base means (I) for current members employedwith the same employer, the member's compensation for the plan year endingJune 30, 2005, or (II) for members newly hired or hired by a separate employeron or after July 1, 2005, the member's compensation for the first full planyear following the member's date of hiring. Thereafter, the member's compensationbase shall be increased each plan year by the lesser of seven percent of themember's preceding plan year's compensation base or the member's actual annualcompensation increase during the preceding plan year; and(C) Recognized collective-bargaining unit means a group ofemployees similarly situated with a similar community of interest appropriatefor bargaining recognized as such by a school board;(36) Termination of employment occurs on the date on whichthe member experiences a bona fide separation from service of employment withthe member's current employer, the date of which separation is determinedby the employer. The employer shall notify the board of the date on whichsuch a termination has occurred. A member shall not be deemed to haveterminated employment if the member subsequently provides service to any employerparticipating in the retirement system provided for in the School EmployeesRetirement Act within one hundred eighty calendar days after ceasing employmentunless such service:(a) Is voluntaryor substitute service provided on an intermittent basis; or(b) Is asprovided in subsection (2) of section 79-920.A member shall not bedeemed to have terminated employment if the board determines that a purportedtermination was not a bona fide separation from service with the employer;(37) Disability means an inability to engage in a substantiallygainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mentalimpairment which can be expected to result in death or be of a long and indefiniteduration;(38) Substitute employee means a person hired by a publicschool as a temporary employee to assume the duties of regular employeesdue to the temporary absence of the regular employees. Substitute employeedoes not mean a person hired as a regular employee on an ongoing basis toassume the duties of other regular employees who are temporarily absent;(39) Participation means qualifying for and making requireddeposits to the retirement system during the course of a plan year;(40) Regular employee means an employee hired by a publicschool or under contract in a regular full-time or part-time position whoworks a full-time or part-time schedule on an ongoing basis for fifteen ormore hours per week. An employeehired as described in this subdivision to provide service for less than fifteenhours per week but who provides service for an average of fifteen hours ormore per week in each calendar month of any three calendar months of a planyear shall immediately commence contributions and shall be deemed a regularemployee; and(41) Temporary employee means an employee hired by a publicschool who is not a regular employee andwho is hired to provide service for a limited period of time to accomplisha specific purpose or task. When such specific purpose or task is complete,the employment of such temporary employee shall terminate and in no case shallthe temporary employment period exceed one year in duration. SourceLaws 1945, c. 219, § 1, p. 638; R.S.Supp.,1947, § 79-2901; Laws 1949, c. 256, § 435, p. 840; Laws 1953, c. 315, § 1, p. 1042; Laws 1961, c. 410, § 1, p. 1229; Laws 1963, c. 469, § 7, p. 1506; Laws 1963, c. 495, § 1, p. 1580; Laws 1965, c. 530, § 1, p. 1663; Laws 1965, c. 531, § 1, p. 1671; Laws 1967, c. 546, § 2, p. 1798; Laws 1969, c. 584, § 84, p. 2396; Laws 1969, c. 735, § 1, p. 2773; Laws 1971, LB 987, § 16; Laws 1975, LB 50, § 1; Laws 1984, LB 971, § 1; Laws 1985, LB 350, § 1; Laws 1986, LB 325, § 1; Laws 1986, LB 311, § 14; Laws 1987, LB 549, § 1; Laws 1988, LB 551, § 10; Laws 1988, LB 1170, § 1; Laws 1989, LB 506, § 9; Laws 1991, LB 549, § 24; Laws 1992, LB 1001, § 32; Laws 1994, LB 833, § 28; Laws 1996, LB 700, § 5; Laws 1996, LB 847, § 27; R.S.1943, (1994), § 79-1501; Laws 1996, LB 900, § 537; Laws 1996, LB 1076, § 13; Laws 1996, LB 1273, § 23; Laws 1997, LB 347, § 26; Laws 1997, LB 623, § 12; Laws 1997, LB 624, § 16; Laws 1997, LB 724, § 3; Laws 1998, LB 1191, § 45; Laws 1999, LB 272, § 91; Laws 1999, LB 538, § 1; Laws 1999, LB 674, § 3; Laws 2000, LB 1192, § 9; Laws 2001, LB 408, § 13; Laws 2002, LB 407, § 22; Laws 2003, LB 451, § 18; Laws 2005, LB 329, § 2; Laws 2005, LB 364, § 8; Laws 2005, LB 503, § 8; Laws 2006, LB 1019, § 8; Laws 2010, LB950, § 11.Operative Date: July 1, 2010 Cross ReferencesPublic Employees Retirement Board, see sections 84-1501 to 84-1513.Spousal Pension Rights Act, see section 42-1101.Wage and Hour Act, see section 48-1209. AnnotationsStatutory plan of retirement complete within itself is provided. Ledwith v. Bankers Life Ins. Co., 156 Neb. 107, 54 N.W.2d 409 (1952).