Membership:
September 26. 2019:
Part-Time and Temporary Full-Time employees of the Marblehead School Department shall be eligible for membership in the Marblehead Retirement System after fifteen (15) months of consecutive school year employment in a position which requires him/her to work a minimum of 20 hours per week.
This regulation shall not apply to employees who, at the time of hire with the Marblehead School Department, are members of another Massachusetts public employee retirement system with an account eligible for transfer pursuant to MGL c. 32, Section 3(8).
Effective April 2, 2012:
Any individual who is permanently employed twenty (20) or more hours per week by the Town of Marblehead or any of its departments or by any member unit of the Marblehead Retirement System shall become a member of the Marblehead Retirement System (“System”). In addition to the foregoing, an individual or elected official must earn at least $5,000 per year in regular compensation to be eligible for initial membership in the System.
After October 23, 2001:
Membership eligibility will be limited to only those part-time employees who are employed 52 weeks a year with a minimum of 1040 hours per year worked. All full-time and eligible part-time employees shall be enrolled in the system at the inception of their employment.
March 26, 2001:
Service Liability:
The Marblehead Retirement Board will not accept any liability pursuant to the M.G.L. c. 32, § 3(8)(c) for any service that is rendered in the Town of Marblehead, which did not entitle the employee to membership in the Marblehead Retirement System, unless the employee subsequently becomes a member of the Marblehead Retirement System and purchases said service while employed in the Town of Marblehead.
Creditable Service:
March 3, 2011:
For a member in service who is employed in a full-time capacity, he/she will receive one (1) month of creditable service for each full month for which the employee receives regular compensation and remits the appropriate contributions to the Marblehead Contributory Retirement System, with said service not to exceed one (1) year of creditable service in any calendar year.
For a member in service who is employed in a part-time capacity throughout his/her entire career, he/she will receive one (1) month of creditable service for each full month for which the employee receives regular compensation and remits the appropriate contributions to the Marblehead Retirement System, with said service not to exceed one (1) year of creditable service in any calendar year.
For a member who has rendered membership service in the Marblehead Retirement System in both a full-time and part-time capacity, the member shall receive full credit for all full-time service and prorated credit for part-time service based on the full-time equivalency of 37.5 hours per week, with said service not to exceed one (1) year of creditable service in any calendar year.
For a member who is employed in a part-time capacity throughout his/her career but who either purchases past refunded service, or has transferred into the Marblehead Retirement System previous service rendered in a full-time capacity, the member’s part-time service shall be prorated based on the full-time equivalency of 37.5 hours per week with said service not to exceed one (1) year of creditable service in any calendar year.
Any member purchasing non-membership part-time service rendered shall have said service prorated based on 37.5 hours per week being considered a full-week of service. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any member who works part-time his/her entire career shall have said service prorated based on the weekly hours worked as a part-time employee, with said service not to exceed one (1) year of creditable service in any calendar year.
Any member who transfers out of the Marblehead Contributory Retirement System to another Massachusetts Contributory Retirement System, shall have all service rendered prorated based on the full-time equivalency of 37.5 hours per week with said service not to exceed one (1) year of creditable service in any calendar year.
Regular Compensation:
Miscellaneous:
November 22, 2016:
Correction of Errors
In all cases in which a benefit calculation error occurs that results in an underpayment or non-payment of a pension or benefit to a member or beneficiary, or in the event of any overpayment as the result of an error to a member or beneficiary, the Board shall, consistent with the provisions of M.G.L. c. 32, § 20(5)(c) pay to or collect from the member or beneficiary, as the case may be, the actuarial equivalent of the benefit paid or received in error. Pursuant to the Supreme Judicial Court's decision in Herrick v. Essex Regional Retirement Board, 465 Mass. 801 (2013) and PERAC Memorandum #32/2013, the Board has determined that the actuarial equivalent requires that the interest to be applied will be the interest rate established by the Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission in consultation with the Commissioner of Banks, obtained from the average rates paid on individual savings accounts by a representative sample of no less than 10 financial institutions and applied annually to accumulated total deductions and accrued interest, referred to as "regular interest". Interest shall be calculated using PERAC's "regular interest" on an annual basis for the affected time period of the error.
August 30, 2000:
Recovery of Earnings in Excess of the Statutory Limitations Set Forth in M.G.L. c. 32, § 91A:
If a disability retiree of the Marblehead Retirement System whose earnings exceed the limitations set forth in M.G.L. c. 32, § 91A can demonstrate that a lump-sum payment of said over earnings to the System would result in financial hardship, the Board shall, in its sole discretion, develop a monthly payment schedule to address the member’s financial needs, not to exceed six months. If the disability retiree elects to utilize said monthly payment schedule, the method of payment shall be by automatically withholding the predetermined amount from the member’s monthly retirement allowance.