Chapter 53

§ 5301 Early retirement option. (a) This chapter provides a 1-time early retirement option to state employees covered under Chapter 55 of this title who were employees as defined in Chapter 55 of this title between December 1, 1990, and February 1, 1991. (b) Elected officials shall not be eligible for this early retirement option for the pension they are entitled to receive under §  5527(d) of this title. (c) Except as provided hereinafter, employees who meet the eligibility requirements as contained in §§ 5306 and 5307 of this title must make their election to retire under this option on the following schedule: (1) Eligible employees of the State Department of Education, a school district which is part of the state school system, the University of Delaware, Delaware State University or Delaware Technical and Community College must make their elections between March 15, 1991 and April 19, 1991. (2) All other eligible employees must make their elections between February 1, 1991 and March 15, 1991; however, all members of the Delaware National Guard or members of the U.S. Armed Forces Reserves who have been called to active duty must make their elections within 45 days of the date they are no longer on active duty. (3) These elections must be made in a form approved by the Board of Pension Trustees and shall be irrevocable. (4) If it is determined by the State Pension Administrator that an employee is or was unable to make this election in a timely manner due to circumstances beyond the employee’s control, the Administrator may extend the time period for making the election beyond the periods specified in this subsection. (5) In the event an eligible employee, prior to February 15, 1991, requests a computation of such employee’s prospective pension benefit by the State Pension Administrator, the election required in paragraphs (d)(1) and (d)(2) of this section need not be made until 10 days after the State Pension Administrator has provided the employee, in writing, the amount of the pension benefit said employee will be entitled to receive. (d) Employees who elect the early retirement option must terminate their employment on the following schedule: (1) Except as provided hereinafter, employees who elect the option under paragraph (c)(1) of this section must terminate their employment on June 30, 1991 and their pensions will be effective July 1, 1991. Payment for unused sick and vacation pay for these employees will not be disbursed until after June 30, 1991. (2) Except as provided hereinafter, employees who elect the option under paragraph (c)(2) of this section must terminate their employment on May 31, 1991 and their pensions will be effective June 1, 1991. Payment for unused sick and vacation pay for these employees will not be disbursed until after June 30, 1991. (3) Employees of the State Pension Office who meet the eligibility requirements under §§ 5306 and 5307 of this title and who elect the early retirement option will be eligible to retire under the option not earlier than December 31, 1991 nor later than December 31, 1992 unless an earlier date is approved by the State Pension Administrator. (4) Employees who elect the early retirement option and who are deemed to be essential to the normal operation of state government shall have their termination date extended up to 12 months provided such extension is approved unanimously in writing, by a committee, herein referred to as the “Early Retirement Option Delayed Retirement Committee,” comprised of the Director of State Personnel, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the Controller General. (e) Employees who elect the early retirement option under this chapter shall be considered to have also been eligible, for purposes of computing their pensions under § 5527 of this title, to receive a service or disability pension under the provisions of Chapter 55 of this title which were in effect immediately prior to the effective date of the 1976 Pension Act. (f) No employee whose pension under Chapter 55 of this title is effective prior to January 1, 1991, shall be eligible for the early retirement option contained in this chapter. (g) Notwithstanding provisions of this chapter to the contrary, employees who retire under the early retirement option contained in this chapter may contract with the State for personal services, as an independent contractor, for a period not to exceed 12 months provided such contractual arrangement is approved unanimously, in writing, by the “Early Retirement Option Delayed Retirement Committee” established by this chapter. (h) The Director of State Personnel shall submit to the Controller General, Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the Secretary of Finance by December 1, 1991, a report containing the specific disposition of each former employee electing retirement under the provisions of this chapter and the disposition of each position so vacated. The content of said report shall be comprised of the state employment status of each individual electing retirement under the provisions of this chapter, the position number of the position so vacated, the disposition of the position (deleted, transferred, reclassified, etc.), the actual budgetary savings associated with the vacated position, the original funding source for the vacated position and the actual budgetary savings net of the full retirement cost associated with the retired individual. The accounting period for the preceding actual statistics will be the prior fiscal year. Further, the report shall, for each affected position for the current fiscal year, estimate the budgetary savings net of the full retirement cost regardless of funding source. 68 Del. Laws, c. 8, §  1 ; 68 Del. Laws, c. 290, §  29 ; 69 Del. Laws, c. 67, §  2 ; 73 Del. Laws, c. 65, §  32 ; 75 Del. Laws, c. 88, §  21(13) ; § 5302 Definitions. (a) “Credited service” shall mean, for any individual, service as defined in § 5501(e) of this title, except that the provisions contained in §  5501(e)(5), (8)-(11) of this title, requiring that the payment for service purchased under these subsections be made prior to the issuance of his or her pension check, may be waived by the State Pension Administrator for any individual for a period not to exceed 2 months if such waiver is deemed by the Pension Administrator to be necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter. This subsection shall be in effect retroactively as of February 1, 1991. (b) “Employee” shall mean an individual who meets the definition of an employee as defined in §  5501(f) of this title which is in effect on February 1, 1991. (c) For the purposes of this chapter, those individuals who must terminate employment on May 31, 1991, in accordance with § 5301(d)(2) of this title, will receive credited service for the month of June 1991 in determining their eligibility for the early retirement option provided by this chapter but that service will not be used in determining the amount of their pension benefits. (d) The definitions contained in § 5501 (a)-(c), (f)-(i) of this title, which are in effect on February 1, 1991, shall apply to this chapter. 68 Del. Laws, c. 8, §  1 ; 68 Del. Laws, c. 290, §§  58, 59 ; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1 ; 79 Del. Laws, c. 174, §  1 ; § 5303 Employment of pensioners. (a) (1) An individual shall not receive a service or disability pension under this chapter for any month during which such individual is an employee as defined in § 5302(b) of this title, nor may an individual receiving a service pension under this chapter be an employee as defined in §  5302(b) of this title for a period of 5 years from the date of retirement under this chapter, unless such individual is: a. An official elected by popular vote at a regular state election; b. An official appointed by the Governor; or c. A temporary, casual, seasonal or substitute employee as defined by the Board of Pension Trustees. (2) An individual who has retired under this chapter or Chapter 55 of this title and who has been rehired by the Pension Office to work on the implementation of the Early Retirement Program shall not be subject to the earnings limitation as contained in paragraph (a)(1)c. of this section or § 5502(a)(3) of this title until December 31, 1992. (b) An individual who has retired under this chapter shall not contract with the State for personal services, as an independent contractor, for a period of 5 years from the effective date of retirement, unless such individual qualifies for 1 of the exceptions contained in paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(2) of this section. 68 Del. Laws, c. 8, §  1 ; 68 Del. Laws, c. 431, §  1 ; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1 ; 71 Del. Laws, c. 119, §  2 ; 73 Del. Laws, c. 430, §  1 ; § 5304 Attachment and assignment of benefits. Except for orders of the Delaware Family Court for a sum certain payable on a periodic basis, the benefits provided by this chapter shall not be subject to attachment or execution and shall be payable only to the beneficiary designated and shall not be subject to assignment or transfer. 68 Del. Laws, c. 8, §  1 ; 71 Del. Laws, c. 337, §  4 ; § 5305 University of Delaware. For persons employed by the University of Delaware, the provisions contained in §  5505 of this title, which are in effect on February 1, 1991, shall apply to this chapter. 68 Del. Laws, c. 8, §  1 ; Delaware General Assembly Judicial Executive Contact Twitter Help function submitSearch() { if (!window.location.origin) { window.location.origin = window.location.protocol + "//" + window.location.hostname + (window.location.port ? ':' + window.location.port : ''); } keyword = document.getElementById('srch-term').value; window.location.href = "/Search?query=" + keyword; } document.getElementById('srch-term').onkeyup = function (e) { if (e.keyCode == 13) { submitSearch(); } } § 5306 Eligibility for service pension. In addition to the provisions of subchapter I of this chapter, an employee shall be eligible for the early retirement option provided by this chapter beginning with the month after the employee has terminated employment, if: (1) The employee has 15 years of credited service under this chapter as of June 30, 1991, exclusive of service credited under § 5501(e)(4), (5) and (12) of this title, and shall have attained age 50 on or before June 30, 1991; or (2) The employee has 25 years of credited service under this chapter as of June 30, 1991, exclusive of service credited under § 5501(e)(4), (5) and (12) of this title, regardless of age. 68 Del. Laws, c. 8, §  1 ; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1 ; 79 Del. Laws, c. 174, §  1 ; § 5307 Eligibility for disability pension. In addition to the provisions of subchapter I of this chapter, an employee shall be eligible for the early retirement option provided by this chapter beginning with the month after the employee has terminated employment, if: (1) The employee has 15 years of credited service under this chapter as of June 30, 1991, exclusive of service credited under § 5501(e)(4), (5) and (12) of this title, and shall have attained age 50 on or before June 30, 1991; or (2) The employee has 25 years of credited service under this chapter as of June 30, 1991, exclusive of service credited under § 5501(e)(4), (5) and (12) of this title, regardless of age. (3) In addition to meeting the credited service and age requirements contained in paragraphs (1) and (2) of this section, an employee must meet the requirements for a disability pension contained in § 5524 of this title, and the employee’s termination from employment shall be governed by § 5524(b) of this title. 68 Del. Laws, c. 8, §  1 ; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1 ; 79 Del. Laws, c. 174, §  1 ; § 5308 Payment of service pension. Service pension payments shall be made to a retired employee for each month beginning with the month in which the retired employee becomes eligible to receive such pension and ending with the month in which the retired employee dies. 68 Del. Laws, c. 8, §  1 ; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1 ; § 5309 Payment of disability pension. (a) Disability pension payments shall be made to a retired employee for each month beginning with the month in which the retired employee becomes eligible to receive such pension and ending with the month in which the retired employee ceases to be eligible or dies. (b) Any disability pensioner who has not attained age 60 shall report to the Board by April 30 each year, in a form prescribed by the Board, the pensioner’s total earnings from any gainful occupation or business in the preceding calendar year. One twelfth of the excess of such earnings over 1 / 2 of the annual rate of compensation received by the pensioner before he or she became disabled shall be deducted from the pensioner’s disability pension during each of the 12 months beginning in July of the year following the calendar year for which earnings are reported. If any person received a disability pension for less than 12 months in the calendar year for which earnings are reported, the deduction, if any, shall be determined on a pro rata basis. (c) Termination of a disability pension on account of recovery from disability shall not prejudice the right of the pensioner to qualify subsequently for a service pension or another disability pension. 68 Del. Laws, c. 8, §  1 ; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1 ; § 5310 Amount of service or disability pension. (a) The amount of the monthly service or disability pension payable to a former employee shall be computed in accordance with the provisions of § 5527(a)-(f) of this title except that 5 years shall be added to the former employee’s credited service for purposes of calculating the amount of the monthly pension. (b) The amount of monthly pension payable to a former employee for the first 3 months of retirement shall be double the amount calculated in subsection (a) of this section, but in no case shall such amount exceed 100% of the former employee’s final compensation in the last month of actual employment. Thereafter, the monthly pension payable shall be the amount calculated pursuant to subsection (a) of this section. (c) Individuals eligible for the early retirement option and whose pensions are effective prior to the dates specified in § 5301(d) of this title shall have their pensions computed in accordance with the provisions of § 5527(a)-(f) of this title without taking into consideration subsections (a) and (b) of this section until such time as they would have terminated in accordance with § 5301(d) of this title. Then, beginning with the month that their pensions would have been effective had they terminated in accordance with § 5301(d) of this title, their pensions shall be adjusted in accordance with subsections (a) and (b) of this section. 68 Del. Laws, c. 8, §  1 ; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1 ; § 5311 Survivor’s pension. For persons eligible for a survivor’s pension, the provisions contained in § 5528 of this title, which are in effect on February 1, 1991, shall apply to this chapter, except that an individual who has elected the early retirement option and whose death occurs prior to the date specified in §  5301(d) of this title, shall have his or her pension computed in accordance with the provisions of § 5310(c) of this title, and the eligible survivor or survivors shall receive a survivor’s pension equal to 3 / 4 of the service pension for which the employee would have been eligible. 68 Del. Laws, c. 8, §  1 ; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1 ; § 5312 Application for benefits. The Board may require any employee, former employee or eligible survivor to furnish such information as may be required for the determination of benefits under this chapter, or to authorize the Board to procure such information including, but not limited to, information regarding benefits pursuant to the federal Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. § 301 et seq.]. The Board may withhold payment of any pension under this chapter whenever the determination of such pension is dependent upon such information and the employee, former employee or eligible survivor does not cooperate in the furnishing or procuring thereof. 68 Del. Laws, c. 8, §  1 ; § 5313 Adjustment of benefits. Any pension that has been determined to have been incorrectly calculated after an individual begins receiving such pension shall be adjusted as follows: (1) If an individual’s pension is determined to be less than he or she is entitled to receive, it will be adjusted retroactively to the effective date of the pension. (2) If an individual’s pension is determined to be more than he or she is entitled to receive, it will be adjusted prospectively only. (3) In no case shall a pension awarded under this chapter which has been in effect for 1 year be subject to reduction. 68 Del. Laws, c. 8, §  1 ; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1 ; § 5314 Board of Pension Trustees. The Board of Pension Trustees, established by §  8308 of this title, shall be responsible for the general administration of this chapter in accordance with Chapter 83 of this title. 68 Del. Laws, c. 8, §  1 ; § 5315 Actuarial valuations and appropriations. (a) The state appropriations to fund the benefits provided by this chapter shall be deposited monthly into the State Employees’ Retirement Fund established by §  5541 of this title. (b) The State’s appropriation to the Fund for the Fiscal Year 1991-92, and for each fiscal year thereafter, shall be the percentage of covered payroll approved by the Board on the basis of the actuarial valuation as of June 30, 1991, and shall be the payment required to amortize the added unfunded accrued liability over 24 years from July 1, 1991. The amortization payment shall be an amount computed as a level percentage of the prospective total covered payroll to be determined on the basis of a growth rate of 4% per year, compounded annually. 68 Del. Laws, c. 8, §  1 ; § 5316 Group life insurance. (a) Upon the death of an individual receiving a pension under this chapter a benefit will be provided in the same manner as benefits provided under § 5546 of this title to the designated beneficiary or in the absence of a designated beneficiary the amount of this benefit shall be paid to the deceased pensioner’s estate. (b) The benefit granted under this section shall not be construed as a contractual obligation of the State or of the Pension Fund and may be revised or terminated by an act of the General Assembly. 68 Del. Laws, c. 8, §  1 ; 68 Del. Laws, c. 290, §  60 ; 69 Del. Laws, c. 451, §  1 ; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1 ; 72 Del. Laws, c. 169, §  1 ; 73 Del. Laws, c. 146, §  4 ;