79-926.

Retirement system; members; statement of service record; requirements for prior service credit; exception; reemployment; military service; credit; effect; applicability.

(1) Under such rules and regulations as the retirement board may adopt and promulgate, each person who was a school employee at any time prior to the establishment of the retirement system and who becomes a member of the retirement system shall, within two years after becoming a member, file a detailed statement of all service as a school employee rendered by him or her prior to the date of establishment of the retirement system. In order to qualify for prior service credit toward a service annuity, a school employee, unless temporarily out of service for further professional education, for service in the armed forces, or for temporary disability, must have completed four years of service on a part-time or full-time basis during the five calendar years immediately preceding July 1, 1945, or have completed eighteen years out of the last twenty-five years prior to July 1, 1945, full time or part time, and two years out of the five years immediately preceding July 1, 1945, full time or part time, or such school employee must complete, unless temporarily out of service for further professional education, for service in the armed forces, or for temporary disability, four years of service within the five calendar years immediately following July 1, 1945. In order to qualify for prior service credit toward a service annuity, a school employee who becomes a member of the retirement system on or before September 30, 1951, or from July 1, 1945, to the date of becoming a member shall have been continuously employed in a public school in Nebraska operating under any other regularly established retirement or pension system.

(2)(a) Any school employee who is reemployed pursuant to 38 U.S.C. 4301 et seq., shall be treated as not having incurred a break in service by reason of his or her period of military service. Such military service shall be credited for purposes of determining the nonforfeitability of the member's accrued benefits and the accrual of benefits under the plan.

(b) The employer shall be liable for funding any obligation of the plan to provide benefits based upon such period of military service. To satisfy the liability, the employer shall pay to the retirement system an amount equal to:

(i) The sum of the member and employer contributions that would have been paid during such period of military service; and

(ii) Any actuarial costs necessary to fund the obligation of the plan to provide benefits based upon such period of military service. For the purposes of determining the amount of such liability and obligation of the plan, earnings and forfeitures, gains and losses, regular interest, or interest credits that would have accrued on the member and employer contributions that are paid by the employer pursuant to this section shall not be included.

(c) The amount required in subdivision (b) of this subsection shall be paid to the retirement system as soon as reasonably practicable following the date of reemployment, but must be paid within eighteen months of the date the board notifies the employer of the amount due. If the employer fails to pay the required amount within such eighteen-month period, then the employer is also responsible for any actuarial costs and interest on actuarial costs that accrue from eighteen months after the date the employer is notified by the board until the date the amount is paid.

(d) The retirement board may adopt and promulgate rules and regulations to carry out this subsection, including, but not limited to, rules and regulations on:

(i) How and when the member and employer must notify the retirement system of a period of military service;

(ii) The acceptable methods of payment;

(iii) Determining the service and compensation upon which the contributions must be made;

(iv) Accelerating the payment from the employer due to unforeseen circumstances that occur before payment is made pursuant to this section, including, but not limited to, the member's termination or retirement or the employer's reorganization, consolidation, merger, or closing; and

(v) The documentation required to substantiate that the member was reemployed pursuant to 38 U.S.C. 4301 et seq.

(3) This section applies to military service that falls within the definition of uniformed services under 38 U.S.C. 4301 et seq., and includes (a) preparation periods prior to military service, (b) periods during military service, (c) periods of rest and recovery authorized by 38 U.S.C. 4301 et seq., after military service, (d) periods of federal military service, and (e) periods during active service of the state provided pursuant to sections 55-101 to 55-181.