79-978.

Terms, defined.

For purposes of the Class V School Employees Retirement Act, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) Accumulated contributions means the sum of amounts contributed by a member of the system together with regular interest credited thereon;

(2) Actuarial equivalent means the equality in value of the retirement allowance for early retirement or the retirement allowance for an optional form of annuity, or both, with the normal form of the annuity to be paid, as determined by the application of the appropriate actuarial table, except that use of such actuarial tables shall not effect a reduction in benefits accrued prior to September 1, 1985, as determined by the actuarial tables in use prior to such date;

(3) Actuarial tables means:

(a) For determining the actuarial equivalent of any annuities other than joint and survivorship annuities:

(i) For members hired before July 1, 2018, a unisex mortality table using twenty-five percent of the male mortality and seventy-five percent of the female mortality from the 1994 Group Annuity Mortality Table with a One Year Setback and using an interest rate of eight percent compounded annually; and

(ii) For members hired on or after July 1, 2018, or rehired on or after July 1, 2018, after termination of employment and being paid a retirement benefit, the determinations shall be based on a unisex mortality table and an interest rate specified by (A) the board until September 1, 2024, or (B) the retirement board beginning on September 1, 2024. Both the mortality table and the interest rate shall be recommended by the actuary retained pursuant to section 79-984 following an actuarial experience study, a benefit adequacy study, or a plan valuation. The mortality table, interest rate, and actuarial factors in effect on the member's retirement date shall be used to calculate the actuarial equivalency of any retirement benefit. Such interest rate may be, but is not required to be, equal to the assumed rate; and

(b) For joint and survivorship annuities:

(i) For members hired before July 1, 2018, a unisex retiree mortality table using sixty-five percent of the male mortality and thirty-five percent of the female mortality from the 1994 Group Annuity Mortality Table with a One Year Setback and using an interest rate of eight percent compounded annually and a unisex joint annuitant mortality table using thirty-five percent of the male mortality and sixty-five percent of the female mortality from the 1994 Group Annuity Mortality Table with a One Year Setback and using an interest rate of eight percent compounded annually; and

(ii) For members hired on or after July 1, 2018, or rehired on or after July 1, 2018, after termination of employment and being paid a retirement benefit, the determinations shall be based on a unisex mortality table and an interest rate specified by (A) the board until September 1, 2024, or (B) the retirement board beginning on September 1, 2024. Both the mortality table and the interest rate shall be recommended by the actuary retained pursuant to section 79-984 following an actuarial experience study, a benefit adequacy study, or a plan valuation. The mortality table, interest rate, and actuarial factors in effect on the member's retirement date shall be used to calculate the actuarial equivalency of any retirement benefit. Such interest rate may be, but is not required to be, equal to the assumed rate;

(4) Administrator of the retirement system or administrator means (a) until September 1, 2024, the person administering the retirement system who is appointed by the board or (b) beginning on September 1, 2024, the director appointed by the retirement board pursuant to section 84-1503;

(5) Annuitant means any member receiving an allowance;

(6) Annuity means annual payments, for both prior service and membership service, for life as provided in the Class V School Employees Retirement Act;

(7) Audit year means the period beginning January 1 in any year and ending on December 31 of that same year, which is the period of time used in the preparation of (a) the annual actuarial analysis and valuation and (b) a financial audit of the retirement system, including the investments of the retirement system;

(8) Beneficiary means any person entitled to receive or receiving a benefit by reason of the death of a member;

(9) Board means the board of trustees until July 1, 2021, and the board of education beginning July 1, 2021, and until September 1, 2024;

(10) Board of education means the board or boards of education of a school district or districts;

(11) Board of trustees means:

(a) Until September 1, 2024, the entity established pursuant to section 79-980; and

(b) Beginning September 1, 2024, the board of education shall be deemed to be the successor in interest for all liability associated with the actions or inactions of the entity identified under subdivision (11)(a) of this section and as specified in the Class V School Employees Retirement Act;

(12)(a) Compensation means gross wages or salaries payable to the member during a fiscal year and includes (i) overtime pay, (ii) member contributions to the retirement system that are picked up under section 414(h) of the Internal Revenue Code, as defined in section 49-801.01, (iii) retroactive salary payments paid pursuant to court order, arbitration, or litigation and grievance settlements, and (iv) amounts contributed by the member to plans under sections 125, 403(b), and 457 of the Internal Revenue Code, as defined in section 49-801.01, or any other section of the code which defers or excludes such amounts from income.

(b) Compensation does not include (i) fraudulently obtained amounts as determined by the board, (ii) amounts for accrued unused sick leave or accrued unused vacation leave converted to cash payments, (iii) insurance premiums converted into cash payments, (iv) reimbursement for expenses incurred, (v) fringe benefits, (vi) per diems paid as expenses, (vii) bonuses for services not actually rendered, (viii) early retirement inducements, (ix) cash awards, (x) severance pay, or (xi) employer contributions made for the purposes of separation payments made at retirement and early retirement inducements.

(c) Compensation in excess of the limitations set forth in section 401(a)(17) of the Internal Revenue Code, as defined in section 49-801.01, shall be disregarded;

(13) Council means the Nebraska Investment Council created and acting pursuant to section 72-1237;

(14) Creditable service means the sum of the membership service and the prior service, measured in one-tenth-year increments;

(15) Early retirement date means, for members hired prior to July 1, 2016, who have attained age fifty-five, that month and year selected by a member having at least ten years of creditable service which includes a minimum of five years of membership service. Early retirement date means, for members hired on or after July 1, 2016, that month and year selected by a member having at least five years of creditable service and who has attained age sixty;

(16) Early retirement inducement means, but is not limited to:

(a) A benefit, bonus, or payment to a member by an employer in exchange for an agreement by the member to retire with a reduced retirement benefit;

(b) A benefit, bonus, or payment paid to a member by an employer in addition to the member's retirement benefit;

(c) Lump-sum or installment cash payments by an employer, except payments for accrued unused leave converted to cash payments;

(d) An additional salary or wage component of any kind that is being paid by an employer as an incentive to leave employment and not for personal services performed for which creditable service is granted;

(e) Partial or full employer payment of a member's health, dental, life, or long-term disability insurance benefits or cash in lieu of such insurance benefits that extend beyond the member's termination of employment and contract of employment dates. This subdivision does not apply to any period during which the member is contributing to the retirement system and being awarded creditable service; and

(f) Any other form of separation payments made by an employer to a member at termination, including, but not limited to, purchasing retirement contracts for the member pursuant to section 79-514, or depositing money for the member in an account established under section 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code except for payments for accrued unused leave;

(17) Employee means the following enumerated persons receiving compensation from the school district: (a) Teachers, other than substitutes, employed on a written contract basis; (b) administrators employed on a written contract, agreement, or document basis; and (c) regular employees;

(18) Employer means a school district participating in a retirement system established pursuant to the Class V School Employees Retirement Act;

(19) Fiscal year means the period beginning September 1 in any year and ending on August 31 of the next succeeding year;

(20) Hire date or date of hire means the first day of compensated service subject to retirement contributions;

(21) Interest means, for the purchase of service credit, the purchase of prior service credit, restored refunds, and delayed payments, the investment return assumption used in the most recent actuarial valuation;

(22) Member means any employee included in the membership of the retirement system or any former employee who has made contributions to the system and has not received a refund;

(23) Membership service means service on or after September 1, 1951, as an employee of the school district and a member of the system for which compensation is paid by the school district. Credit for more than one year of membership service shall not be allowed for service rendered in any fiscal year. Beginning September 1, 2005, a member shall be credited with a year of membership service for each fiscal year in which the member performs one thousand or more hours of compensated service as an employee of the school district. For an employee who becomes a member prior to July 1, 2018, an hour of compensated service shall include any hour for which the member is compensated by the school district during periods when no service is performed due to vacation or approved leave. For an employee who becomes a member on or after July 1, 2018, an hour of compensated service shall include any hour for which the member is compensated by the school district during periods when no service is performed due to used accrued sick days, used accrued vacation days, federal and state holidays, and jury duty leave for which the member is paid full compensation by an employer. If a member performs less than one thousand hours of compensated service during a fiscal year, one-tenth of a year of membership service shall be credited for each one hundred hours of compensated service by the member in such fiscal year. In determining a member's total membership service, all periods of membership service, including fractional years of membership service in one-tenth-year increments, shall be aggregated;

(24) Military service means service in the uniformed services as defined in 38 U.S.C. 4301 et seq., as such provision existed on March 27, 1997;

(25) Normal retirement date means the end of the month during which the member attains age sixty-five and has completed at least five years of membership service;

(26) Participation means qualifying for and making required deposits to the retirement system during the course of a fiscal year;

(27) Primary beneficiary means the person or persons entitled to receive or receiving a benefit by reason of the death of a member;

(28) Prior service means service rendered prior to September 1, 1951, for which credit is allowed under section 79-999, service rendered by retired employees receiving benefits under preexisting systems, and service for which credit is allowed under sections 79-990, 79-991, 79-994, 79-995, and 79-997;

(29)(a) Regular employee means a person hired on a full-time basis, which basis shall contemplate a work week of not less than thirty hours, and who is not (i) a teacher employed on a written contract basis or (ii) an administrator employed on a written contract, agreement, or document basis.

(b) Effective September 1, 2021, a person hired by an employer or under contract to provide service for less than thirty hours per week but who provides service for an average of thirty hours or more per week in each calendar month of any three calendar months of a fiscal year shall, beginning with the next full payroll period, commence contributions and shall be deemed a regular employee;

(30) Regular interest means interest (a) on the total contributions of the member prior to the close of the last preceding fiscal year, (b) compounded annually, and (c)(i) beginning September 1, 2016, at a rate equal to the daily treasury yield curve for one-year treasury securities, as published by the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, that applies on September 1 of each year and (ii) prior to September 1, 2016, at rates to be determined annually by the board, which shall have the sole, absolute, and final discretionary authority to make such determination, except that the rate for any given year in no event shall exceed the actual percentage of net earnings of the system during the last preceding fiscal year;

(31) Retirement allowance means the total annual retirement benefit payable to a member for service or disability;

(32) Retirement application means beginning on and after September 1, 2024, the form approved and provided by the retirement system for acceptance of a member's request for either regular or disability retirement;

(33) Retirement board means the Public Employees Retirement Board created and acting pursuant to section 84-1501;

(34) Retirement date means the date of retirement of a member for service or disability as fixed by (a) the board for retirements occurring prior to September 1, 2024, or (b) the retirement board for retirements occurring on or after September 1, 2024;

(35) Retirement system or system means the School Employees' Retirement System of (corporate name of the school district as described in section 79-405) as provided for by the act;

(36) School district means an employer participating in a retirement system established pursuant to the Class V School Employees Retirement Act;

(37) Secondary beneficiary means the person or persons entitled to receive or receiving a benefit by reason of the death of all primary beneficiaries prior to the death of the member. If no primary beneficiary survives the member, secondary beneficiaries shall be treated in the same manner as primary beneficiaries;

(38) Solvency means the rate of all contributions required pursuant to the Class V School Employees Retirement Act is equal to or greater than the actuarially required contribution rate as annotated in the most recent valuation report prepared by the actuary retained for the retirement system as provided in section 79-984;

(39) State investment officer means the person appointed by the council pursuant to section 72-1240 and acting pursuant to the Nebraska State Funds Investment Act;

(40) Substitute employee means a person hired by an employer as a temporary employee to assume the duties of an employee due to a temporary absence of any employee. Substitute employee does not mean a person hired as an employee on an ongoing basis to assume the duties of other employees who are temporarily absent;

(41) Temporary employee means a person hired by an employer who is not an employee and who is hired to provide service for a limited period of time to accomplish a specific purpose or task. When such specific purpose or task is complete, the employment of such temporary employee shall terminate and in no case shall the temporary employment period exceed one year in duration;

(42)(a) Termination of employment or termination occurs on the date the member experiences a bona fide separation from service of employment with the member's employer, the date of which separation is the last day of service under the member's contractual agreement or, if there is no contract or only partial fulfillment of a contract, as determined by an employer. A member who experiences a separation from service shall comply with the return-to-work provisions of section 79-992 if the member returns to work for an employer.

(b) A member shall not be deemed to have incurred a termination of employment if the board determines that, based on the facts and circumstances, (i) a claimed termination of employment was not a bona fide separation from service with the employer; (ii) a member was compensated for a full contractual period when the member stopped working prior to the end date of the member's employment as determined by the member's contract or labor agreement; or (iii) a member prearranged a return to work that violates the Class V School Employees Retirement Act.

(c) Nothing in this subdivision (42) precludes an employer from adopting a policy which limits or denies employees who have experienced a separation from service from working as a volunteer or substitute employee within one hundred eighty days after the employee experiences a separation from service;

(43) Transfer of management means the transition and transfer of the general management, administration, and operation of the retirement system from the board of trustees, board of education, and school district to the retirement board as described in the Class V School Employees Retirement Act. Transfer of management does not include:

(a) Transfer of the school district's funding obligations described in the Class V School Employees Retirement Act or assumption of financial liability for such funding obligations by (i) the State of Nebraska, (ii) the retirement board, (iii) the Nebraska Public Employees Retirement Systems, (iv) any other state entity with duties related to administration of the retirement system, or (v) the council for its investment duties regarding the assets of the retirement system; or

(b) Merger or consolidation of any Class V school employees retirement system established under the Class V School Employees Retirement Act with the School Employees Retirement System of the State of Nebraska or any other retirement system administered by the retirement board;

(44) Trustee means a trustee provided for in section 79-980; and

(45) Voluntary service or volunteer means providing bona fide unpaid service to an employer.