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1		AN ACT concerning public employee benefits.
2		Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3		represented in the General Assembly:
4		Section 5. The Illinois Pension Code is amended by changing
5		Sections 15-126.1, 15-139, 15-139.5, and 15-168.2 as follows:
6		(40 ILCS 5/15-126.1) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 15-126.1)
7		Sec. 15-126.1. Academic year. "Academic year": The
8		12-month period beginning on the first day of the fall term as
9		determined by each employer, or if the employer does not have
10		an academic program divided into terms, then beginning
11		September 1. For the purposes of Section 15-139.5 and
12		subsection (b) of Section 15-139, however, "academic year"
13		means the 12-month period beginning September 1.
14		(Source: P.A. 84-1472.)
15		(40 ILCS 5/15-139) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 15-139)
16		Sec. 15-139. Retirement annuities; cancellation; suspended
17		during employment.
18		(a) If an annuitant returns to employment for an employer
19		within 60 days after the beginning of the retirement annuity
20		payment period, the retirement annuity shall be cancelled, and
21		the annuitant shall refund to the System the total amount of
22		the retirement annuity payments which he or she received. If

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1		the retirement annuity is cancelled, the participant shall
2		continue to participate in the System.
3		(b) If an annuitant retires prior to age 60 and receives or
4		becomes entitled to receive during any month compensation in
5		excess of the monthly retirement annuity (including any
6		automatic annual increases) for services performed after the
7		date of retirement for any employer under this System, that
8		portion of the monthly retirement annuity provided by employer
9		contributions shall not be payable.
10		If an annuitant retires at age 60 or over and receives or
11		becomes entitled to receive during any academic year
12		compensation in excess of the difference between his or her
13		highest annual earnings prior to retirement and his or her
14		annual retirement annuity computed under Rule 1, Rule 2, Rule
15		3, Rule 4, or Rule 5 of Section 15-136, or under Section
16		15-136.4, for services performed after the date of retirement
17		for any employer under this System, that portion of the monthly
18		retirement annuity provided by employer contributions shall be
19		reduced by an amount equal to the compensation that exceeds
20		such difference.
21		However, any remuneration received for serving as a member
22		of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board shall be
23		excluded from "compensation" for the purposes of this
24		subsection (b), and serving as a member of the Illinois
25		Educational Labor Relations Board shall not be deemed to be a
26		return to employment for the purposes of this Section. This

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1		provision applies without regard to whether service was
2		terminated prior to the effective date of this amendatory Act
3		of 1991.
4		"Academic year", as used in this subsection (b), means the
5		12-month period beginning September 1.
6		(c) If an employer certifies that an annuitant has been
7		reemployed on a permanent and continuous basis or in a position
8		in which the annuitant is expected to serve for at least 9
9		months, the annuitant shall resume his or her status as a
10		participating employee and shall be entitled to all rights
11		applicable to participating employees upon filing with the
12		board an election to forgo all annuity payments during the
13		period of reemployment. Upon subsequent retirement, the
14		retirement annuity shall consist of the annuity which was
15		terminated by the reemployment, plus the additional retirement
16		annuity based upon service granted during the period of
17		reemployment, but the combined retirement annuity shall not
18		exceed the maximum annuity applicable on the date of the last
19		retirement.
20		The total service and earnings credited before and after
21		the initial date of retirement shall be considered in
22		determining eligibility of the employee or the employee's
23		beneficiary to benefits under this Article, and in calculating
24		final rate of earnings.
25		In determining the death benefit payable to a beneficiary
26		of an annuitant who again becomes a participating employee

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1		under this Section, accumulated normal and additional
2		contributions shall be considered as the sum of the accumulated
3		normal and additional contributions at the date of initial
4		retirement and the accumulated normal and additional
5		contributions credited after that date, less the sum of the
6		annuity payments received by the annuitant.
7		The survivors insurance benefits provided under Section
8		15-145 shall not be applicable to an annuitant who resumes his
9		or her status as a participating employee, unless the
10		annuitant, at the time of initial retirement, has a survivors
11		insurance beneficiary who could qualify for such benefits.
12		If the participant's employment is terminated because of
13		circumstances other than death before 9 months from the date of
14		reemployment, the provisions of this Section regarding
15		resumption of status as a participating employee shall not
16		apply. The normal and survivors insurance contributions which
17		are deducted during this period shall be refunded to the
18		annuitant without interest, and subsequent benefits under this
19		Article shall be the same as those which were applicable prior
20		to the date the annuitant resumed employment.
21		The amendments made to this Section by this amendatory Act
22		of the 91st General Assembly apply without regard to whether
23		the annuitant was in service on or after the effective date of
24		this amendatory Act.
25		(Source: P.A. 97-933, eff. 8-10-12; 97-968, eff. 8-16-12.)

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1		(40 ILCS 5/15-139.5)
2		Sec. 15-139.5. Return to work by affected annuitant; notice
3		and contribution by employer.
4		(a) An employer who employs or re-employs a person
5		receiving a retirement annuity from the System in an academic
6		year beginning on or after August 1, 2014 2013 must notify the
7		System of that employment within 60 days after employing the
8		annuitant. The notice must include a summary copy of the
9		contract of employment or ; if no written contract of employment
10		exists, then the notice must specify the rate of compensation
11		and the anticipated length of employment of that annuitant. The
12		notice must specify whether the annuitant will be compensated
13		from federal, corporate, foundation, or trust funds or grants
14		of State funds that identify the principal investigator by
15		name. The notice must include the employer's determination of
16		whether or not the annuitant is an "affected annuitant" as
17		defined in subsection (b).
18		The employer must also record, document, and certify to the
19		System (i) the number of paid days and paid weeks worked by the
20		annuitant in the academic year, (ii) the amount of compensation
21		paid to the annuitant for employment during the academic year,
22		and (ii) (iii) the amount of that compensation, if any, that
23		comes from either federal, corporate, foundation, or trust
24		funds or grants of State funds that identify the principal
25		investigator by name.
26		As used in this Section, "academic year" means the 12-month

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1		period beginning September 1. has the meaning ascribed to that
2		term in Section 15-126.1; "paid day" means a day on which a
3		person performs personal services for an employer and for which
4		the person is compensated by the employer; and "paid week"
5		means a calendar week in which a person has at least one paid
6		day.
7		For the purposes of this Section, an annuitant whose
8		employment by an employer extends over more than one academic
9		year shall be deemed to be re-employed by that employer in each
10		of those academic years.
11		The System may specify the time, form, and manner of
12		providing the determinations, notifications, certifications,
13		and documentation required under this Section.
14		(b) A person receiving a retirement annuity from the System
15		becomes an "affected annuitant" on the first day of the
16		academic year following the academic year in which the
17		annuitant first meets both of the following condition
18		conditions:
19		(1) (Blank). While receiving a retirement annuity
20		under this Article, the annuitant has been employed on or
21		after August 1, 2013 by one or more employers under this
22		Article for a total of more than 18 paid weeks (which need
23		not have been with the same employer or in the same
24		academic year); except that any periods of employment for
25		which the annuitant was compensated solely from federal,
26		corporate, foundation, or trust funds or grants of State

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1		funds that identify the principal investigator by name are
2		excluded.
3		(2) While receiving a retirement annuity under this
4		Article, the annuitant was employed on or after August 1,
5		2014 2013 by one or more employers under this Article and
6		received or became entitled to receive during an academic
7		year compensation for that employment in excess of 40% of
8		his or her highest annual earnings prior to retirement;
9		except that compensation paid from federal, corporate,
10		foundation, or trust funds or grants of State funds that
11		identify the principal investigator by name is excluded.
12		A person who becomes an affected annuitant remains an
13		affected annuitant, except for any period during which the
14		person returns to active service and does not receive a
15		retirement annuity from the System.
16		(c) It is the obligation of the employer to determine
17		whether an annuitant is an affected annuitant before employing
18		the annuitant. For that purpose the employer may require the
19		annuitant to disclose and document his or her relevant prior
20		employment and earnings history. Failure of the employer to
21		make this determination correctly and in a timely manner or to
22		include this determination with the notification required
23		under subsection (a) does not excuse the employer from making
24		the contribution required under subsection (e).
25		The System may assist the employer in determining whether a
26		person is an affected annuitant. The System shall inform the

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1		employer if it discovers that the employer's determination is
2		inconsistent with the employment and earnings information in
3		the System's records.
4		(d) Upon the request of an annuitant, the System shall
5		certify to the annuitant or the employer the following
6		information as reported by the employers, as that information
7		is indicated in the records of the System: (i) the annuitant's
8		highest annual earnings prior to retirement, (ii) the number of
9		paid weeks worked by the annuitant for an employer on or after
10		August 1, 2013, (iii) the compensation paid for that employment
11		in each academic year, and (iii) (iv) whether any of that
12		employment or compensation has been certified to the System as
13		being paid from federal, corporate, foundation, or trust funds
14		or grants of State funds that identify the principal
15		investigator by name. The System shall only be required to
16		certify information that is received from the employers.
17		(e) In addition to the requirements of subsection (a), an
18		employer who employs an affected annuitant must pay to the
19		System an employer contribution in the amount and manner
20		provided in this Section, unless the annuitant is compensated
21		by that employer solely from federal, corporate, foundation, or
22		trust funds or grants of State funds that identify the
23		principal investigator by name.
24		The employer contribution required under this Section for
25		employment of an affected annuitant in an academic year shall
26		be equal to 12 times the amount of the gross monthly retirement

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1		annuity payable to the annuitant for the month in which the
2		first paid day of that employment in that academic year occurs,
3		after any reduction in that annuity that may be imposed under
4		subsection (b) of Section 15-139.
5		If an affected annuitant is employed by more than one
6		employer in an academic year, the employer contribution
7		required under this Section shall be divided among those
8		employers in proportion to their respective portions of the
9		total compensation paid to the affected annuitant for that
10		employment during that academic year.
11		If the System determines that an employer, without
12		reasonable justification, has failed to make the determination
13		of affected annuitant status correctly and in a timely manner,
14		or has failed to notify the System or to correctly document or
15		certify to the System any of the information required by this
16		Section, and that failure results in a delayed determination by
17		the System that a contribution is payable under this Section,
18		then the amount of that employer's contribution otherwise
19		determined under this Section shall be doubled.
20		The System shall deem a failure to correctly determine the
21		annuitant's status to be justified if the employer establishes
22		to the System's satisfaction that the employer, after due
23		diligence, made an erroneous determination that the annuitant
24		was not an affected annuitant due to reasonable reliance on
25		false or misleading information provided by the annuitant or
26		another employer, or an error in the annuitant's official

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1		employment or earnings records.
2		(f) Whenever the System determines that an employer is
3		liable for a contribution under this Section, it shall so
4		notify the employer and certify the amount of the contribution.
5		The employer may pay the required contribution without interest
6		at any time within one year after receipt of the certification.
7		If the employer fails to pay within that year, then interest
8		shall be charged at a rate equal to the System's prescribed
9		rate of interest, compounded annually from the 366th day after
10		receipt of the certification from the System. Payment must be
11		concluded within 2 years after receipt of the certification by
12		the employer. If the employer fails to make complete payment,
13		including applicable interest, within 2 years, then the System
14		may, after giving notice to the employer, certify the
15		delinquent amount to the State Comptroller, and the Comptroller
16		shall thereupon deduct the certified delinquent amount from
17		State funds payable to the employer and pay them instead to the
18		System.
19		(g) If an employer is required to make a contribution to
20		the System as a result of employing an affected annuitant and
21		the annuitant later elects to forgo his or her annuity in that
22		same academic year pursuant to subsection (c) of Section
23		15-139, then the required contribution by the employer shall be
24		waived, and if the contribution has already been paid, it shall
25		be refunded to the employer without interest.
26		(h) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article,

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1		the employer contribution required under this Section shall not
2		be included in the determination of any benefit under this
3		Article or any other Article of this Code, regardless of
4		whether the annuitant returns to active service, and is in
5		addition to any other State or employer contribution required
6		under this Article.
7		(i) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section to
8		the contrary, if an employer employs an affected annuitant in
9		order to continue critical operations in the event of either an
10		employee's unforeseen illness, accident, or death or a
11		catastrophic incident or disaster, then, for one and only one
12		academic year, the employer is not required to pay the
13		contribution set forth in this Section for that annuitant. The
14		employer shall, however, immediately notify the System upon
15		employing a person subject to this subsection (i). For the
16		purposes of this subsection (i), "critical operations" means
17		teaching services, medical services, student welfare services,
18		and any other services that are critical to the mission of the
19		employer.
20		(j) This Section shall be applied and coordinated with the
21		regulatory obligations contained in the State Universities
22		Civil Service Act. This Section shall not apply to an annuitant
23		if the employer of that annuitant provides documentation to the
24		System that (1) the annuitant is employed in a status
25		appointment position, as that term is defined in 80 Ill. Adm.
26		Code 250.80, and (2) due to obligations contained under the

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1		State Universities Civil Service Act, the employer does not
2		have the ability to limit the earnings or duration of
3		employment for the annuitant while employed in the status
4		appointment position.
5		(Source: P.A. 97-968, eff. 8-16-12.)
6		(40 ILCS 5/15-168.2)
7		Sec. 15-168.2. Audit of employers. Beginning August 1, 2014
8		2013, the System may audit the employment records and payroll
9		records of all employers. When the System audits an employer,
10		it shall specify the exact information it requires, which may
11		include but need not be limited to the names, titles, and
12		earnings history of every individual receiving compensation
13		from the employer. If an employer is audited by the System,
14		then the employer must provide to the System all necessary
15		documents and records within 60 calendar days after receiving
16		notification from the System. When the System audits an
17		employer, it shall send related correspondence by certified
18		mail.
19		(Source: P.A. 97-968, eff. 8-16-12.)
20		Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
21		becoming law.