19-20-401. Creditable service. (1) The creditable service of a member begins on the date of the member's employment in a capacity prescribed for eligibility in 19-20-302.

(2) Subject to 19-20-405, the creditable service of a member includes the following:

(a) each period of active membership service in a position reportable to the retirement system as described in 19-20-302 and credited as provided in this section;

(b) any creditable service awarded by the retirement board under 19-20-402 for out-of-state employment;

(c) any creditable service awarded by the retirement board under 19-20-403 for employment while on leave;

(d) any creditable service awarded by the retirement board under 19-20-404 for service in the military, the red cross, or the merchant marine;

(e) any creditable service awarded by the retirement board under 19-20-408 for employment in private schools;

(f) any creditable service awarded by the retirement board under 19-20-409 for service transferred after October 1, 1989, from the public employees' retirement system;

(g) any creditable service awarded by the retirement board under 19-20-410 for extension service employment;

(h) any creditable service awarded by the retirement board under 19-20-411 for absence because of employment-related injury; and

(i) any creditable service awarded by the retirement board under 19-20-426 for service provided under the university system retirement program.

(3) The retirement board's determination of creditable service under this section is final and conclusive for the purposes of the retirement system unless, at any time, the board discovers an error or fraud in the establishment of creditable service, in which case the board shall redetermine the creditable service.

(4) Creditable service may be awarded only for a period of membership service or purchased service for which all required contributions and interest, if applicable, have been paid.

(5) All accrued creditable service must be forfeited upon withdrawal from the retirement system and may not be reinstated unless the member redeposits the withdrawn contributions as set forth in 19-20-427.

(6) Creditable service must be awarded on the basis of a fiscal year beginning July 1 and ending June 30 regardless of the member's term of employment service or benefit accrual as established in an employment agreement, in an employer policy, or in another manner and regardless of the term of the employer's school year or fiscal year.

(7) Creditable service must be credited based on the full-time or part-time service of the member, as follows:

(a) Service provided over 7 or more hours in a day is a full-time day.

(b) Full-time service is service that is at least 180 days in a fiscal year, at least 140 hours a month during 9 months in a fiscal year, or full-time under an alternative school calendar adopted by a school board that is less than 180 days but meets minimum accreditation requirements of 1,080 hours.

(c) Part-time service is service that is less than full-time. Part-time creditable service must be calculated based on the total number of hours, days, or months reported to the retirement system in each fiscal year, divided by the number of hours, days, or months of equivalent full-time service.

(8) Creditable service and earned compensation credit must be awarded for extra duty service subject to the following:

(a) A member who is credited with full-time creditable service without consideration of the extra duty service may not be awarded additional creditable service for the extra duty service, and the extra duty compensation must be reported and credited as earned compensation to the member.

(b) A member who is credited with less than full-time creditable service without consideration of the extra duty service must be awarded additional creditable service and compensation credit for the extra duty service, and time worked must be reported and creditable service and compensation credit awarded as provided in subsection (8)(d).

(c) A member who is not employed in a position reportable to the retirement system other than to perform extra duty service must be awarded additional creditable service and compensation credit for the extra duty service, and time worked must be reported and creditable service and compensation credit awarded as provided in subsection (8)(d).

(d) (i) If the member is employed by the employer to perform service other than the extra duty service, whether or not in a position reportable to the retirement system, and is compensated for that service on an hourly or daily basis, the employer must report the actual number of hours or days worked in extra duty service with compensation at the hourly or daily rate of pay that the employee earns for service other than extra duty service. The compensation reported for extra duty service must include any increase in the rate of pay or total compensation required to be paid for overtime. Creditable service must be awarded on the basis of the actual time worked in extra duty service.

(ii) If the member is not employed by the employer to perform service other than the extra duty service and the extra duty service is compensated at an hourly or daily rate of pay, the employer must report the actual hours or days worked, the hourly or daily rate of pay, and the total compensation paid for the extra duty service. Creditable service must be awarded based on the actual time worked in extra duty service.

(iii) If the member is not employed by the employer to perform service other than the extra duty service and the extra duty service is compensated on a single fee or stipend basis:

(A) the employer must report the total fee or stipend paid for the extra duty service and must provide the retirement system with the employer's base rate of pay for an entry-level teacher for the fiscal year in which the extra duty service is provided; and

(B) creditable service must be awarded for the extra duty service based on the following calculations:

(I) the base rate of pay must be divided by 187 to determine a daily rate of pay;

(II) the total fee or stipend must be divided by the daily rate of pay to determine the number of days eligible for creditable service; and

(III) the number of days eligible for creditable service must be divided by 180 to determine the portion of a year to be credited as creditable service for the extra duty service.

(9) Creditable service may not be awarded in excess of full-time service for any period of time regardless of the amount of time actually worked in the time period. No more than 1 day of creditable service may be awarded for any calendar day, no more than 1 month of creditable service may be awarded for any calendar month, and no more than 1 year of creditable service may be awarded for any fiscal year. Service may not be carried over or otherwise reported for the accrual of creditable service in any month other than the month in which the service was actually performed.

(10) For a member completing only part-time service during the fiscal year of membership service on which a service purchase cost will be calculated, the member's compensation must be annualized to calculate the service purchase cost.

(11) A member may not purchase creditable service under this part after retirement benefit payments to the member have started, even if the member returns to active member status.

History: En. 75-6212 by Sec. 107, Ch. 5, L. 1971; amd. Sec. 5, Ch. 507, L. 1973; amd. Sec. 8, Ch. 127, L. 1977; amd. Sec. 7, Ch. 331, L. 1977; R.C.M. 1947, 75-6212(2) thru (4); amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 551, L. 1981; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 38, L. 1987; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 79, L. 1987; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 56, L. 1989; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 690, L. 1989; Sec. 19-4-401, MCA 1991; redes. 19-20-401 by Code Commissioner, 1993; amd. Sec. 4, Ch. 320, L. 2005; amd. Sec. 4, Ch. 282, L. 2009; amd. Sec. 12, Ch. 210, L. 2015; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 39, L. 2017.