IPERS Member Handbook

IF YOU SERVE IN THE MILITARY

A. Military Service May Have a Favorable Impact on Your Retirement

This section of the handbook is devoted to helping you understand how service in the military can impact your retirement, death, and disability benefits. Under the law, you have certain rights as detailed below. Still, whenever you are called to active duty or return from military service, it is very important that you contact IPERS to learn about your options for obtaining or purchasing service credits. (You should also contact your employer.) In fact, you may be eligible for free service under some circumstances, which are described in the following paragraphs.

It’s important to note that any benefits described here apply solely to your IPERS benefits.

B. Returning to Work With Your IPERS-Covered Employer

About the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act. If you serve in the military you have certain rights under the law. The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) helps to minimize the disruption that can occur in your life by providing you with certain rights regarding reemployment when you leave from and return to covered employment following service in the military.

Under USERRA, service includes the performance of duty on a voluntary or involuntary basis in a uniformed service including:

• Active duty
• Active duty for training
• Initial active duty for training
• Inactive duty training
• Full-time National Guard duty
• Absence for examinations used to determine fitness for duty

"Uniformed services” includes:

• Armed Forces
• Army National Guard
• Air National Guard
• The commissioned corps of the Public Health Service
• Any other category of persons designated by the President of the United States in time of war or emergency

To be eligible for the rights and other benefits covered under USERRA, you must receive an honorable discharge from military service. Under USERRA, reemployment and reinstatement deadlines are based on your length of military service. Contact your employer for more information about when you need to apply for reemployment under USERRA guidelines.

C. Maximizing Your IPERS Benefit

The number of service credits you have under the IPERS plan affects the amount of your retirement benefit, death benefit, and refund. Under the IPERS plan, you may be eligible to receive free service credit or purchase service credits for active duty service. You also have the option to make up contributions.

1. Free Service Credit

If you are called to active military duty from an IPERS-covered position, and you return to any covered position in Iowa within one year of your release from active duty, you are eligible for free IPERS service credit for the period of your military service. To be eligible for free service credit, you must meet both of the following conditions:

• Be working in covered employment immediately before entering the armed forces.
• Return to IPERS-covered employment within 1 year after discharge.

If you do not return to IPERS-covered employment within one year after being released from active duty, you can still purchase service credit for your period of military service.

2. Deemed Wages

If you qualify for free service credit, your account will also be credited with the wages you would have earned had you not been deployed. These deemed wages may be considered in determining your highest 3-year average salary.

3. Making Up Contributions

If you leave from and return to IPERS-covered employment, you may, but are not required to, make up the contributions you would have paid while on active duty. Making up contributions may help you if you want:

• A refund.
• To maximize your death benefits.

If you decide to make up the IPERS contributions, your IPERS-covered employer will take a pretax deduction from your paycheck and send it to IPERS. Your employer also will pay IPERS the employer’s share.

You have up to three times the period of your military service (up to a maximum of five years) from the date of your reemployment to apply for and pay contributions to IPERS. (For example, if your military service was 12 months, you have 36 months to apply for and make up the contributions.) Also, you must sign an agreement that you will make the required contributions within the required period. After you sign the agreement, it cannot be revoked.

4. Purchasing Service for Active Duty

If you served in the U.S. Armed Forces, but are not eligible for free service, you can still purchase additional service called Veteran’s Credit Buy-In. You can purchase IPERS service for periods of active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces if you meet all of these conditions:

• Are a vested or retired member of IPERS.
• Have at least 1 calendar year of wages on file.
• Are not eligible to receive military retirement or disability pay in lieu of military retirement, unless the retirement pay is for nonregular service (for example, service in the military reserve).

You will need to provide a copy of DD Form 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge From Active Duty (or other acceptable military records) to verify the dates of your active duty. You can obtain a copy of a DD Form 214 by contacting your military personnel office or veterans’ representative (for more information, visit www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel). Disability pay received from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs that is not payable in lieu of retirement will not affect your ability to purchase service credit.

To see how military service credits can boost your monthly retirement benefit or death benefit, look at the example below: