GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
1983 SESSION
CHAPTER 1106
AN ACT TO PROHIBIT STATE EMPLOYEES FROM RECEIVING STATE RETIREMENT BENEFITS WHILE EMPLOYED.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1. G.S. 128-24(5)c and G.S. 135-3(8)c are rewritten to read:
"c. Should a beneficiary who retired on an early or service retirement allowance be reemployed by an employer participating in the Retirement System on a permanent full-time, part-time, temporary, or on fee-for-service basis, whether contractual or otherwise, the retirement allowance shall be suspended if the beneficiary receives or earns any of the following:
1. Salary or fees or both in excess of one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) per month;
2. Salary or fees or both in excess of thirteen thousand five hundred dollars ($13,500) during any consecutive 12 calendar months;
3. Salary or fees or both during any consecutive 12 calendar months, which is greater than fifty percent (50%) of the reported compensation during the 12 months of service preceding the effective date of retirement; or
4. Salary or fees or both during any month, which when added to the retirement allowance at retirement exceeds the monthly compensation earned immediately prior to retirement, if reemployed by the same employer within 90 days of the effective date of retirement.
The suspension of the retirement allowance shall be effective as of the first day of the month in which the beneficiary meets the conditions set forth in conditions 1 or 4 of this paragraph and effective as of the first day of the next succeeding month following the month in which the beneficiary meets the conditions set forth in conditions 2 or 3 of this paragraph. The retirement allowance shall be reinstated the month following termination of reemployment or the month following the month in which the conditions set forth in this paragraph are no longer met. The Board of Trustees may adjust the monetary limits in this paragraph by an amount equivalent to any across-the-board salary increase granted to employees of the State by the General Assembly. Each employer shall report information monthly to the Board of Trustees on forms provided by the Board on each reemployed beneficiary sufficient for the effective enforcement of this paragraph. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any beneficiary may irrevocably elect to recommence membership in the Retirement System immediately upon being restored to service, whereupon the retirement allowance shall cease."
Sec. 2. G.S. 128-24(5)d and G.S. 135-3(8)d are rewritten to read:
"d. A beneficiary whose retirement allowance is suspended in accordance with the provisions of paragraph c and who is restored to service shall become a member of the Retirement System and shall contribute thereafter as allowed by law at the uniform contribution payable by all members.
Upon his subsequent retirement, he shall be paid a retirement allowance determined as follows:
1. For a member who earns at least three years' membership service after restoration to service, the retirement allowance shall be computed on the basis of his compensation and service before and after the period of prior retirement without restriction; provided, that if the prior allowance was based on a social security leveling payment option, the allowance shall be adjusted actuarially for the difference between the amount received under the optional payment and what would have been paid if the retirement allowance had been paid without optional modification.
2. For a member who does not earn three years' membership service after restoration to service, the retirement allowance shall be equal to the sum of the retirement allowance to which he would have been entitled had he not been restored to service, without modification of the election of an optional allowance previously made, and the retirement allowance that results from service earned since being restored to service; provided, that if the prior retirement allowance was based on a social security leveling payment option, the prior allowance shall be adjusted actuarially for the difference between the amount that would have been paid for each month had the payment not been suspended and what would have been paid if the retirement allowance had been paid without optional modification."
Sec. 3. G.S. 135-71 is amended by adding a new subsection (c) to read:
"(c) Notwithstanding any other provision in this Chapter, the retirement allowance of a justice or judge shall not be affected by the compensation received as an emergency justice or judge."
Sec. 4. G.S. 135-3(8) is amended by adding paragraph e to read:
"e. Any beneficiary who retired on an early or service retirement allowance as an employee of any State department, agency or institution under the Law Enforcement Officers' Retirement System and becomes employed as an employee by a State department, agency, or institution as an employer participating in the Retirement System shall become subject to the provisions of G.S. 135-3(8)c and G.S. 135-3(8)d on and after January 1, 1989."
Sec. 5. This act is effective September 1, 1985, but shall not apply to agreements entered into before the effective date of this act.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 6th day of July, 1984.