Converting Military Service

for IMRF Employers
Firefighter

IMRF members who earned military service before participating in IMRF, or did not return to IMRF participation within 90 days of discharge, can convert up to four years of military service to IMRF service.

What does the employer have to do?

Allowing your IMRF members to convert military service to IMRF service is optional. If your employer wants to allow its IMRF members to convert military service to IMRF service, your employer’s governing body needs to pass a military service resolution.

If your employer's governing body previously adopted a resolution making its IMRF members eligible to convert two years of military service, its members remain eligible to convert up to two years of military service to IMRF service.

To learn which resolutions an employer's governing body has adopted, review your Employer Access account or call an IMRF Member Services Representative at 1-800-ASK-IMRF (275-4673).

If your employer's governing body previously adopted a resolution, it can repeal that resolution.

Member and Employer Costs

For this type of military service, the member cost is calculated using member and “normal” employer contributions plus interest at the current rate. The member's first IMRF salary will be used in the calculation.

Online Spreadsheets to Estimate Costs

The cost to the member of converting military service to IMRF service varies widely depending on:

IMRF has developed spreadsheets that allow you to estimate the total cost for this program: The member cost and the resulting difference—which is the employer cost. Instructions for using the spreadsheets are included in the spreadsheets themselves.

To download and use these Excel spreadsheets, you need to have Microsoft Excel installed on your computer.