Part A of the early retirement legislation is a traditional incentive.
It is modeled after plans that the city has offered to DC 37 members
in the past.
This plan grants workers extra credited service as an incentive to
leave the workforce. The additional credited service increases members'
pensions and also counts toward the years required for participants
to qualify for retirement.
The employee benefit in the Part A plan provides for a month of additional
retirement service credit for each year the participant has been enrolled
in the pension plan. The maximum credit is 36 months.
This plan is open to anyone in a job title targeted by their employer
who is at least 50, has 10 years on the job, and is eligible to retire.
Participants must have at least two years of credited service in their
pension system.
Under the early retirement incentive law, employers must decide whether
to offer the traditional ERI, and the plan may be open for 30 to 90
days.
The New York City Board of Education has already put into place its
early retirement incentive. The program ends Aug. 31.
The enrollment periods have not been announced at city agencies and
other employers, such as the Health and Hospitals Corp., City University
of New York, libraries, the New York City Housing Authority, MTA New
York City Transit, the Office of the Comptroller, the Off-Track Betting
Corp. and the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority. They have until
Aug. 31 to decide whether to opt in; they may offer the traditional
incentive for 30 to 90 days ending no later than Dec. 31.
At state agencies, the law permits the incentive to be offered until
March 31, 2003. State employees represented by DC 37 work at the New
York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal and in the court
system (the Office of Court Administration).
To participate, members must be eligible for retirement under the
terms of their retirement plan. In addition to meeting the 50-year
age and 10-year service requirements, workers must have been on the
payroll from Feb. 1 through the starting date of the open enrollment
period. If the employer targets limited numbers in a title, eligibility
will be determined by seniority.
Part A includes these other benefits: