Revised Code of Washington - RCW Title 41 Public Employment, Civil Service, And Pensions - Chapter 41.32 Teachers' Retirement

41.32.005 Provisions applicable to "plan 1," "plan 2," and "plan 3.
RCW 41.32.010 through 41.32.067 shall apply to members of plan 1, plan 2, and plan 3.[1995 c 239 § 101; 1992 c 72 § 4; ...

41.32.010 Definitions
As used in this chapter, unless a different meaning is plainly required by the context: (1)(a) "Accumulated contributions" for plan 1 members, means the sum ...

41.32.013 Substitute teachers -- Application for service credit -- Procedures
Substitute teachers may apply to the department to receive service credit or credit for earnable compensation or both after the end of the last day ...

41.32.020 Name of system
The name of the retirement system provided for in this chapter shall be the "Washington State Teachers' Retirement System" and by this name all of ...

41.32.025 Department's power to determine eligibility
The department is empowered within the limits of this chapter and, with regard to restoration of service credit under RCW 41.50.165(2), to decide on all ...

41.32.032 Membership in system -- Service credit of educational staff associates
(1) Any teacher, as defined under RCW 41.32.010, who is first employed by a public school on or after June 7, 1984, shall become a ...

41.32.035 Employer contribution rates -- Computation and payment
The amount paid by each employer shall be computed by applying the rates established under chapter 41.45 RCW to the total earnable compensation of the ...

41.32.042 Validity of deductions -- Interest
The deductions from salaries of members of the retirement system for their contributions to the system are not considered diminution of pay and every member ...

41.32.044 Retired teacher may reenter system -- Benefit limitations
A retired teacher upon returning to service in the public schools of Washington may elect to again become a member of the retirement system: PROVIDED, ...

41.32.052 Exemption from taxation and judicial process -- Exceptions -- Nonassignability -- Deductions authorized
(1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3) of this section, the right of a person to a pension, an annuity, a retirement allowance, or disability ...

41.32.053 Death benefit -- Course of employment -- Occupational disease or infection
(1) A one hundred fifty thousand dollar death benefit shall be paid to the member's estate, or such person or persons, trust or organization as ...

41.32.054 Disability retirement -- Criminal conduct
A member shall not receive a disability retirement benefit under RCW 41.32.540, 41.32.550, 41.32.790, or 41.32.880 if the disability is the result of criminal conduct ...

41.32.055 Falsification -- Penalty
(1) Any person who shall knowingly make false statements or shall falsify or permit to be falsified any record or records of the retirement system, ...

41.32.062 Effect of certain accumulated vacation leave on retirement benefits
RCW 43.01.044 shall not result in any increase in retirement benefits. The rights extended to state officers and employees under RCW 43.01.044 are not intended ...

41.32.063 Benefit calculation -- Limitation
(1) The annual compensation taken into account in calculating retiree benefits under this system shall not exceed the limits imposed by section 401(a)(17) of the ...

41.32.064 Establishing, restoring service credit
Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, persons who fail to: (1) Establish allowable membership service not previously credited; (2) Restore all or a part of ...

41.32.0641 Disabled in the line of duty -- Continuation of service credit -- Conditions
Those members subject to this chapter who became disabled in the line of duty and who received or are receiving benefits under Title 51 RCW ...

41.32.065 Election to use out-of-state service credit to calculate time at which the member may retire
A member who has not purchased service credit under the provisions of RCW 41.32.813 or 41.32.868 may elect under this section to apply service credit ...

41.32.066 Purchase of additional service credit -- Costs -- Rules
(1) A member eligible to retire under RCW 41.32.480, 41.32.765, or 41.32.875 may, at the time of filing a written application for retirement with the ...

41.32.067 Purchase of additional benefits -- Conditions
A member may purchase additional benefits subject to the following: (1) The member shall pay all reasonable administrative and clerical costs; and (2) The member ...

41.32.215 Provisions applicable to plan 1
RCW 41.32.240 through *41.32.575 shall apply only to members of plan 1.[1992 c 72 § 5; 1991 c 35 § 103.]Notes: *Reviser's note: RCW 41.32.575 ...

41.32.240 Membership in system
(1) All teachers employed full time in the public schools shall be members of the system except alien teachers who have been granted a temporary ...

41.32.260 Credit for military service or as state legislator
Any member whose public school service is interrupted by active service to the United States as a member of its uniformed services, or to the ...

41.32.263 State legislators and state officials eligible for retirement benefits
A member of the retirement system who is a member of the state legislature or a state official eligible for the combined pension and annuity ...

41.32.267 Service credit for paid leave of absence -- Application to elected officials of labor organizations
(1) A member who is on a paid leave of absence authorized by a member's employer shall continue to receive service credit as provided under ...

41.32.270 Teaching service, how credited
Service rendered for four-fifths or more of the official school year of the school district or institution in which a teacher is employed shall be ...

41.32.300 Limitation on credit for out-of-state service
(1) Henceforth a total of not more than four years of service outside of the state shall be credited to a member who establishes or ...

41.32.310 Time limit for claiming service credit -- Payments
(1) Any member desiring to establish credit for services previously rendered, must present proof and make the necessary payments on or before June 30 of ...

41.32.330 Credit for professional preparation subsequent to becoming teacher
The department may allow credit for professional preparation to a member for attendance at institutions of higher learning, or for a scholarship or grant under ...

41.32.340 Creditable service, what to consist of
Creditable service of a member at retirement shall consist of the membership service rendered for which credit has been allowed, and also, if a prior ...

41.32.345 "Earnable compensation" defined for certain part-time employees -- Adoption of rules
(1) Subject to the limitations contained in this section, for the purposes of *RCW 41.32.010(10)(a)(ii), earnable compensation means the compensation the member would have received ...

41.32.350 Purchase of additional annuity
A member may make an additional lump sum payment at date of retirement, not to exceed the member's accumulated contributions, to purchase additional annuity. A ...

41.32.360 Basis of contributions to disability reserve fund
For each year of employment, each member who is employed on a full time basis shall have transferred from his or her contributions a sum ...

41.32.366 Basis of contributions to death benefit fund
During each fiscal year that a member is employed on a full time basis, the department shall transfer from the member's contributions a sum that ...

41.32.380 Source of pension reserve -- Contributions
There shall be placed in the pension reserve all appropriations made by the legislature for the purpose of paying pensions and survivors' benefits and of ...

41.32.390 Contributions for prior service credits
At least twenty percent of the total amount due for prior service credit must be paid before an application for credit may be presented to ...

41.32.470 Eligibility for retirement allowance
A member who is not a dual member under RCW 41.54.010 must have established or reestablished with the retirement system at least five years of ...

41.32.480 Qualifications for retirement
(1) Any member who separates from service after having completed thirty years of creditable service may retire upon the approval by the department of an ...

41.32.483 Annual increase amount -- Legislature's rights reserved
(1) Beginning July 1, 2009, the annual increase amount as defined in RCW 41.32.010(46) shall be increased by an amount equal to $0.40 per month ...

41.32.485 Minimum retirement allowance -- Cost-of-living adjustment -- Post-retirement adjustment -- Computation
(1) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, effective July 1, 1989, as a cost-of-living adjustment, no beneficiary receiving a retirement allowance pursuant to ...

41.32.4851 Minimum retirement allowance -- Annual adjustment -- Persons who become beneficiaries after June 30, 1995
(1) No one who becomes a beneficiary after June 30, 1995, shall receive a monthly retirement allowance of less than twenty-four dollars and twenty-two cents ...

41.32.4872 Permanent increase for specified beneficiaries age seventy or over
(1) The amount of the July 1, 1993, increase to the retirement allowance of beneficiaries under this chapter as a result of the temporary adjustment ...

41.32.489 Retirement allowance -- Annual increases -- Eligibility
(1) Beginning July 1, 1995, and annually thereafter, the retirement allowance of a person meeting the requirements of this section shall be increased by the ...

41.32.4931 Additional special pension for former members not receiving social security
(1) The benefits provided under subsection (2) of this section shall be available only to former members who have reached age sixty-five or are disabled ...

41.32.4945 Limitation as to earnable compensation of member as member of the legislature
Notwithstanding any other provision of RCW 41.32.010, 41.32.260, 41.32.497, 41.32.498 and this section, when the salary of any member as a member of the legislature ...

41.32.497 Retirement allowance for members entering system before April 25, 1973 -- Election
Any person who became a member on or before April 25, 1973 and who qualifies for a retirement allowance shall, at time of retirement, make ...

41.32.498 Retirement allowance for members entering system after April 25, 1973, or in lieu of allowance under RCW 41.32.497
Any person who becomes a member subsequent to April 25, 1973 or who has made the election, provided by RCW 41.32.497, to receive the benefit ...

41.32.4986 Members with thirty years of service -- Irrevocable election
A member may make the irrevocable election under this section no later than six months after attaining thirty years of service. The election shall become ...

41.32.4991 Permanent retirement allowance adjustment
The dollar amount of the temporary postretirement allowance adjustment granted by section 1, chapter 519, Laws of 1993 shall be provided as a permanent retirement ...

41.32.500 Termination of membership
Membership in the retirement system is terminated when a member retires for service or disability, dies, or withdraws his or her accumulated contributions. The prior ...

41.32.510 Payment on withdrawal -- Reentry
(1) Should a member cease to be employed by an employer and request upon a form provided by the department a refund of the member's ...

41.32.520 Payment on death before retirement or within sixty days following application for disability retirement
(1) Except as specified in subsection (3) of this section, upon receipt of proper proofs of death of any member before retirement or before the ...

41.32.522 Death benefits
(1) The department shall pay a death benefit of six hundred dollars to a member's estate or to the persons, trust, or organization the member ...

41.32.523 Death benefits -- Members not qualified for benefits under RCW 41.32.522 and retired former members
Upon receipt of proper proof of death of a member who does not qualify for the death benefit of six hundred dollars under RCW 41.32.522, ...

41.32.530 Options available -- Retirement allowance adjustment -- Court-approved property settlement
(1) Upon an application for retirement for service under RCW 41.32.480 or retirement for disability under RCW 41.32.550, approved by the department, every member shall ...

41.32.540 Disability allowance -- Temporary
Upon application of a member in service or of his or her employer or of his or her legal guardian or of the legal representative ...

41.32.550 Options and allowances on report that disability will be permanent -- Reexamination
(1) Should the director determine from the report of the medical director that a member employed under an annual contract with an employer has become ...

41.32.555 Persons with annual half-time contracts -- Eligibility for benefits under RCW 41.32.550
Persons who were under an annual half-time contract with an employer anytime during the period of September 1, 1986, through August 31, 1987, shall be ...

41.32.570 Postretirement employment--Reduction or suspension of pension payments
(1)(a) If a retiree enters employment with an employer sooner than one calendar month after his or her accrual date, the retiree's monthly retirement allowance ...

41.32.581 End of participation in judicial retirement account plan -- Newly elected or appointed judges
Beginning January 1, 2007, any newly elected or appointed supreme court justice, court of appeals judge, or superior court judge, who is a member of ...

41.32.584 Additional benefit for justices or judges -- One-time irrevocable election
(1) Between January 1, 2007, and December 31, 2007, a member of plan 1 employed as a supreme court justice, court of appeals judge, or ...

41.32.587 Justices or judges retirement allowance -- In lieu of RCW 41.32.498
(1) In lieu of the retirement allowance provided under RCW 41.32.498, the retirement allowance payable for service as a supreme court justice, court of appeals ...

41.32.755 Provisions applicable to plan 2
RCW 41.32.760 through 41.32.825 shall apply only to plan 2 members.[1992 c 72 § 7; 1977 ex.s. c 293 § 2.]Notes: Effective date -- 1977 ...

41.32.760 Computation of the retirement allowance
A member of the retirement system shall receive a retirement allowance equal to two percent of such member's average final compensation for each year of ...

41.32.762 Lump sum retirement allowance -- Reentry -- Conditions for reinstatement of service
(1) On or after June 10, 1982, the director may pay a beneficiary, subject to the provisions of subsection (5) of this section, a lump ...

41.32.765 Retirement for service
(1) NORMAL RETIREMENT. Any member with at least five service credit years of service who has attained at least age sixty-five shall be eligible to ...

41.32.768 Member with terminal illness -- Removal from system
(1) Upon application of the member, a member who is diagnosed with a terminal illness shall be removed from the system subject to the following ...

41.32.770 Post-retirement cost-of-living
Beginning July 1, 1979, and every year thereafter, the department shall determine the following information for each retired member or beneficiary whose retirement allowance has ...

41.32.780 Teachers required to be members
All teachers who become employed by an employer in an eligible position on or after October 1, 1977, shall be members of the retirement system ...

41.32.785 Options for payment of retirement allowances -- Retirement allowance adjustment -- Court-approved property settlement
(1) Upon retirement for service as prescribed in RCW 41.32.765 or retirement for disability under RCW 41.32.790, a member shall elect to have the retirement ...

41.32.790 Earned disability allowance -- Eligibility -- Disposition upon death of recipient
(1) A member of the retirement system who becomes totally incapacitated for continued employment by an employer as determined by the department upon recommendation of ...

41.32.795 Application for and effective date of retirement allowances
Any member or beneficiary eligible to receive a retirement allowance under the provisions of RCW 41.32.765, 41.32.790, or 41.32.805 shall be eligible to commence receiving ...

41.32.800 Suspension of retirement allowance upon reemployment -- Reinstatement
(1) Except as provided in RCW 41.32.802, no retiree under the provisions of plan 2 shall be eligible to receive such retiree's monthly retirement allowance ...

41.32.802 Reduction of retirement allowance upon reemployment -- Reestablishment of membership
(1)(a) If a retiree enters employment with an employer sooner than one calendar month after his or her accrual date, the retiree's monthly retirement allowance ...

41.32.805 Death benefits
(1) Except as provided in RCW 11.07.010, if a member or a vested member who has not completed at least ten years of service dies, ...

41.32.810 Service credit for paid leave of absence, officers of labor organizations, unpaid leave of absence, military service
(1) A member who is on a paid leave of absence authorized by a member's employer shall continue to receive service credit as provided for ...

41.32.812 Service credit for half-time employment from October 1, 1977, through December 31, 1986
The department of retirement systems shall credit at least one-half service credit month for each month of each school year, as defined by RCW 28A.150.040, ...

41.32.813 One-time purchase of service credit -- Conditions -- Payment -- Rules
(1) An active member who has completed a minimum of two years of creditable service in the teachers' retirement system may, upon written application to ...

41.32.815 Vested membership
A member who separates or has separated after having completed at least five years of service may remain a member during the period of such ...

41.32.817 Transfer to plan 3 -- Irrevocable option
(1) Every plan 2 member employed by an employer in an eligible position may make an irrevocable option to transfer to plan 3. (2) Any ...

41.32.818 Public employees' retirement system members who previously declined membership in the teachers' retirement system -- Transfer to plan 3 -- Irrevocable option
Any member of the public employees' retirement system plan 2 who is employed in an eligible position as an educational staff associate and who elected ...

41.32.820 Refund of contributions on termination
A member who ceases to be an employee of an employer except by service or disability retirement may request a refund of the member's accumulated ...

41.32.825 Reentry
(1) A member, who had left service and withdrawn the member's accumulated contributions, shall, upon reestablishment of membership under RCW 41.32.240, receive service credit for ...

41.32.831 Provisions applicable to plan 3 -- Plan 3 elements
(1) RCW 41.32.831 through 41.32.895 shall apply only to plan 3 members. (2) Plan 3 shall consist of two separate elements: (a) A defined benefit ...

41.32.835 Choice of membership in plan 2 or plan 3
(1) All teachers who first become employed by an employer in an eligible position on or after July 1, 2007, shall have a period of ...

41.32.837 Right to waive benefit -- Irrevocable choice
Any member receiving or having received a distribution under chapter 41.34 RCW may make an irrevocable choice to waive all rights to a benefit under ...

41.32.840 Computation of the retirement allowance
(1) A member of the retirement system shall receive a retirement allowance equal to one percent of such member's average final compensation for each service ...

41.32.8401 Additional payment
(1) Anyone who requests to transfer under RCW 41.32.817 before January 1, 1998, and establishes service credit for January 1998, shall have their member account ...

41.32.845 Postretirement cost-of-living allowance
Retirement allowances paid under the defined benefit portion of plan 3 shall have a postretirement cost-of-living allowance calculated and paid as provided in RCW 41.32.770.[1995 ...

41.32.851 Options for payment of retirement allowances -- Court-approved property settlement
(1) Upon retirement for service as prescribed in RCW 41.32.875 or retirement for disability under RCW 41.32.880, a member shall elect to have the retirement ...

41.32.855 Application for and effective date of retirement allowances
Any member or beneficiary eligible to receive a retirement allowance under the provisions of RCW 41.32.875, 41.32.880, or 41.32.895 shall be eligible to commence receiving ...

41.32.860 Suspension of retirement allowance upon reemployment -- Reinstatement
(1) Except under RCW 41.32.862, no retiree shall be eligible to receive such retiree's monthly retirement allowance if he or she is employed in an ...

41.32.862 Reduction of retirement allowance upon reemployment -- Reestablishment of membership
(1)(a) If a retiree enters employment with an employer sooner than one calendar month after his or her accrual date, the retiree's monthly retirement allowance ...

41.32.865 Service credit for paid leave of absence, officers of labor organizations, unpaid leave of absence, military service
(1) A member who is on a paid leave of absence authorized by a member's employer shall continue to receive service credit. (2) A member ...

41.32.867 Purchased service credit -- Allocation
(1) Contributions on behalf of the employer paid by the employee to purchase plan 3 service credit shall be allocated to the defined benefit portion ...

41.32.868 One-time purchase of service credit -- Conditions -- Payment -- Rules
(1) An active member who has completed a minimum of two years of creditable service in the teachers' retirement system may, upon written application to ...

41.32.870 Lump sum payments -- Reentry
(1) The director may pay a member eligible to receive a retirement allowance or the member's beneficiary a lump sum payment in lieu of a ...

41.32.875 Retirement eligibility
(1) NORMAL RETIREMENT. Any member who is at least age sixty-five and who has: (a) Completed ten service credit years; or (b) Completed five service ...

41.32.878 Member with terminal illness -- Removal from system
(1) Upon application of the member, a member who is diagnosed with a terminal illness shall be removed from membership in the system subject to ...

41.32.880 Earned disability allowance -- Eligibility -- Disposition upon death of recipient
(1) A member of the retirement system who becomes totally incapacitated for continued employment by an employer as determined by the department shall be eligible ...

41.32.892 Restored, purchased service credit under plan 2 -- Transfer to plan 3
(1) Any member who elects to transfer to plan 3 and has eligible unrestored withdrawn contributions in plan 2, may restore such contributions under the ...

41.32.895 Death benefits
(1) If a member dies prior to retirement, the surviving spouse or eligible child or children shall receive a retirement allowance computed as provided in ...