62.1-129.1 - Employees; employment; personnel rules; health insurance; retirement plans.
§ 62.1-129.1. Employees; employment; personnel rules; health insurance;retirement plans.
A. Employees of the Authority shall be employed on such terms and conditionsas established by the Authority. The Board of Commissioners of the Authorityshall develop and adopt personnel rules, policies, and procedures to give itsemployees grievance rights, ensure that employment decisions shall be basedupon the merit and fitness of applicants, and prohibit discrimination becauseof race, religion, color, sex, or national origin.
B. The Authority shall issue a written notice to its employees regarding theAuthority's status. The date upon which such written notice is issued shallbe referred to herein as the "option date." Each employee may, by writtenrequest made within 180 days of the option date, elect not to become employedby the Authority. Any employee of the Virginia Port Authority who: (i) electsnot to become employed by the Authority and who is not reemployed by anyother department, institution, board, commission or agency of theCommonwealth; (ii) is not offered the opportunity to remain employed by theAuthority; or (iii) is not offered a position with the Authority for whichthe employee is qualified or is offered a position that requires relocationor a reduction in salary, shall be eligible for the severance benefitsconferred by the provisions of the Workforce Transition Act (§ 2.2-3200 etseq.). Any employee who accepts employment with the Authority shall not beconsidered to be involuntarily separated from state employment and shall notbe eligible for the severance benefits conferred by the Workforce TransitionAct.
C. Any employee of the Authority who is a member of any plan providing healthinsurance coverage pursuant to Chapter 28 (§ 2.2-2800 et seq.) of Title 2.2,shall continue to be a member of such health insurance plan under the sameterms and conditions. Notwithstanding subsection A of § 2.2-2818, the costsof providing health insurance coverage to such employees who elect tocontinue to be members of the state employees' health insurance plan shall bepaid by the Authority. Alternatively, an employee may elect to become amember of any health insurance plan established by the Authority. TheAuthority is authorized to: (i) establish a health insurance plan for thebenefit of its employees and (ii) enter into agreements with the Departmentof Human Resource Management providing for the coverage of its employeesunder the state employees' health insurance plan, provided that suchagreement requires the Authority to pay the costs of providing healthinsurance coverage under such plan.
D. Any retired employee of the Authority shall be eligible to receive thehealth insurance credit set forth in § 51.1-1400 provided the retiredemployee meets the eligibility criteria set forth in that section.
E. Any Authority employee who is a member of the Virginia Retirement Systemor other retirement plan as authorized by Article 4 (§ 51.1-125 et seq.) ofChapter 1 of Title 51.1, shall continue to be a member of the VirginiaRetirement System or other authorized retirement plan under the same termsand conditions. Alternatively, such employee may elect to become a member ofthe retirement program established by the Authority for the benefit of itsemployees pursuant to § 51.1-126.4. The following rules shall apply:
1. The Authority shall collect and pay all employee and employercontributions to the Virginia Retirement System or other such authorizedretirement plan for retirement and group life insurance in accordance withthe provisions of Chapter 1 (§ 51.1-124.1 et seq.) of Title 51.1 for anyemployee who elects to remain a member of the Virginia Retirement System orother such authorized retirement plan.
2. Employees who elect to become members of the alternative retirement planestablished by the Authority pursuant to § 51.1-126.4 shall be given fullcredit for their creditable service as defined in § 51.1-124.3, and vestingand benefit accrual under the retirement plan. For any such employee,employment with the Authority shall be treated as employment with anynonparticipating employer for purposes of the Virginia Retirement System orother retirement plan authorized pursuant to Article 4 (§ 51.1-125 et seq.)of Chapter 1 of Title 51.1.
3. For employees who elect to become members of the alternative retirementplan established by the Authority, the Virginia Retirement System or othersuch authorized plan shall transfer to the alternative retirement planestablished by the Authority, assets equal to the actuarially determinedpresent value of the accrued basic benefits as of the transfer date. Forpurposes hereof, the "basic benefits" means the benefits accrued under theVirginia Retirement System or other such authorized retirement plan based oncreditable service and average final compensation as defined in § 51.1-124.3.The actuarial present value shall be determined by using the same actuarialfactors and assumptions used in determining the funding needs of the VirginiaRetirement System or other such authorized retirement plan so that thetransfer of assets to the alternative retirement plan established by theAuthority will have no effect on the funded status and financial stability ofthe Virginia Retirement System or other such authorized retirement plan. TheAuthority shall reimburse the Virginia Retirement System for the cost ofactuarial services necessary to determine the present value of the accruedbasic benefit of employees who transfer to an Authority retirement plan.
4. The Authority may provide that employees of the Authority who are eligibleto participate in the deferred compensation plan sponsored by the Authorityshall be enrolled automatically in such plan, unless such employee elects, ina manner prescribed by the Board, not to participate. The amount of thedeferral under the automatic enrollment and the group of employees to whichthe automatic enrollment shall apply shall be set by the Board; providedhowever, that such employees are provided the opportunity to increase ordecrease the amount of the deferral in accordance with the Internal RevenueCode of 1986, as amended.
(1997, c. 232; 2000, cc. 66, 657; 2008, cc. 325, 621.)