A. Participating employees shall at all times be vested at one hundred percent (100%) of their accounts containing solely their employee contributions, and the gains or losses on these contributions. Participating employees will have investment discretion over these accounts within the available options offered by the Board.

B. Participating employees shall be vested with respect to the employer matching amounts, and the gains or losses on these funds, deposited into their defined contribution system account or accounts according to the following schedule based on years of participating service:

Year 120%

Year 240%

Year 360%

Year 480%

Year 5 and thereafter100%

C. Participating employees will have investment discretion over all employer contributions.

D. For purposes of determining a participating employee's right to withdraw employer matching contributions and any investment gains upon such employer contribution matching amounts, the vesting percentages apply at the end of each full year of service as described in subsection B of this section.

E. For participating employees who do not select any investment options, the OPERS Board will establish default investment options for the contributions received from participating employees and default investment options for matching employer contributions.

F. To the extent that participants leave employment and have not vested in all of the employer contributions, the nonvested employer contributions, including any gains or losses, shall be immediately forfeited to the 401(a) plan and may be used to offset costs of administering the plan. Upon reemployment with an employer and satisfying the eligibility requirements to become a participant, the reemployed participant shall receive credit for previous service and be vested at the same percentage the participant was vested when service was previously terminated. However, under no circumstances shall the participant be entitled to any previously forfeited employer contributions.

Added by Laws 2014, c. 375, § 7, eff. Nov. 1, 2014. Amended by Laws 2015, c. 303, § 4, eff. Nov. 1, 2015.