For a discussion of concurrent service under two or more reciprocal retirement systems, see 5.50 D Concurrent Reciprocal Service Credit.
Concurrent service under the same plan
One type of concurrent service occurs when a member is reported under the same plan by more than one employer for the same month.
Under this type of concurrent service, the member's wages for the month are combined, and, by law, the member is credited with one month of service.
Although the member receives only one month of service credit, the salaries are combined for that month. Therefore, if the concurrent service occurs during the member's final rate of earnings (FRE) period, it can increase the amount of his or her pension.
FRE is one factor used to calculate the amount of an IMRF pension. Under Regular Tier 1, the FRE is the average monthly earnings over the highest consecutive 48 months of earnings within the last 10 years of IMRF service.
Example:
A member is reported under the Regular Plan by two school districts for May, June, July, and August. For these 4 months,
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|
School District A reports Regular Plan earnings of |
$1,500 |
|
+ |
School District B reports Regular Plan earnings of |
$3,200 |
|
|
Total Regular earnings reported |
$4,700 |
The member earns 4 months of Regular Plan service credit.
Concurrent service under different plans
When a member is reported under different plans by more than one employer for the same month, the concurrent service is treated as one month of service and the member’s wages are recorded separately under each plan for the calculation of benefits
Example:
A member is reported under the Regular Plan by a park district for May, June, July, and August and under SLEP by a county for May, June, July, and August. For these 4 months,
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|
The Park District reports Regular Plan earnings of |
$1,500 |
|
|
The County reports SLEP earnings of |
$3,200 |
The member earns: 4 months of service
The Regular formula is applied to his Regular earnings
The SLEP formula is applied to the SLEP earnings
However, if a member is reported concurrently under the Regular Plan and SLEP plan and vests for a SLEP pension, when the pensions are calculated, each concurrent month will be treated as one month of service in two plans. When the member’s pension is calculated, the calculation will apply the Regular formula to those months with Regular wages and the SLEP formula to those months with SLEP wages.