(a) Qualified Military Service. The plan will grant continuous service in accordance with the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 ("USERRA"), 38 U.S.C. Sections 4301 through 4333, for a participant who is an employee immediately prior to the commencement of qualified military service, as defined in Code Section 414(u)(5), provided such participant:
(1) Provides the City of Anniston with advance written notice of the qualified military service.
(2) Has accumulated five years or less of qualified military service while employed with the City of Anniston.
(3) Returns to work or applies for reemployment within the applicable time period specified in subsections (b)(1) through (4).
(4) Has not been separated from the qualified military service with a disqualifying discharge or under other than honorable conditions.
(b) Time frame for Reemployment. Under USERRA, the time period in which a participant must return to work or apply for reemployment depends on the length of qualified military service. In general, those time periods are as follows:
(1) One day after a participant's qualified military service ends, if such service was less than 31 days.
(2) Fourteen days after a participant's qualified military service ends, if such service was more than 30, but less than 181 days.
(3) Ninety days after a participant's qualified military service ends, if such service was more than 180 days.
(4) If a participant is hospitalized for or recovering from an illness or injury that was incurred or aggravated during qualified military service, USERRA requires that such participant return to work or apply for reemployment with the City of Anniston as soon as he or she has recovered. Except as otherwise provided by USERRA, such recovery period cannot exceed two years.
(c) Plan Contributions. A participant returning from qualified military service who meets the requirements of subsections (a) and (b) shall have the right to make up his or her participant contributions for the period of qualified military service and thereby receive credit for continuous service equal to his or her period of qualified military service. Such participant must notify the retirement board within a reasonable period of time following reemployment of his or her desire to repay his or her participant contributions. Such contributions shall be made (1) in a lump sum payment or (2) over a period of time beginning with the participant's date of reemployment and extending three times the period of the participant's qualified military service, with such payment period not to exceed five years. No such payment may exceed the amount the participant would have been permitted or required to contribute had the participant remained continuously employed throughout the period of qualified military service.
For purposes of calculating participant contributions under this section, the participant's compensation during the period of qualified military service shall be computed as the compensation the participant would have received but for the period of qualified military service; provided, however, in the event that the determination of such compensation is not reasonably certain, the participant's compensation shall be calculated as the participant's average rate of compensation during the 12-month period immediately preceding the qualified military service, or, if shorter, the period of employment immediately preceding such period.
(d) Except as provided in this section, a participant shall not receive credited service for periods of absence from employment during which he or she receives no compensation from the City of Anniston.
(e) Notwithstanding any provision of the plan to the contrary, all contributions and benefits relating to qualified military service shall be made in accordance with applicable state and federal law, including, but not limited to, USERRA and the Internal Revenue Code, including those provisions created by the Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Tax (HEART) Act of 2008.
Last modified: May 3, 2021