HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1694        FILED ON: 2/10/2021

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2705

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_________________

PRESENTED BY:

Michael P. Kushmerek and John J. Cronin

_________________

To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act to preserve the practice of including annual payments in lieu of vacation as regular compensation for current retirees and active retirement system members where such benefit existed as of May 2018.

_______________

PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1694        FILED ON: 2/10/2021

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2705

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 4133 OF 2019-2020.]

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_______________

In the One Hundred and Ninety-Second General Court
(2021-2022)

_______________

An Act to preserve the practice of including annual payments in lieu of vacation as regular compensation for current retirees and active retirement system members where such benefit existed as of May 2018.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, a retirement allowance, as defined in section 1 of chapter 32 of the General Laws, to a member inactive, as defined in section 3 of said chapter 32, that included in its calculation the annual amounts paid in lieu of vacation leave upon which contributions or deductions were made to the applicable retirement system, shall not be reduced, modified or changed because of the inclusion of such contributions or deductions.

SECTION 2. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, any amount paid annually to a member in service, as defined in section 3 of chapter 32 of the General Laws, in lieu of vacation pursuant to any applicable collective bargaining agreement, individual contract for employment, or municipal plan or ordinance in effect on May 1, 2018 and for which the applicable retirement system was accepting regular contributions or deductions as of May 1, 2018, shall be considered regular compensation, as defined in section 1 of said chapter 32. Such payments in lieu of vacation leave shall continue to qualify as regular compensation as long as said payments in lieu of vacation leave are permitted under an applicable collective bargaining agreement, individual contract, or municipal plan or ordinance. To qualify as regular compensation, such annual payments in lieu of vacation leave shall be to a member who consistently participates in a program that is available to all similarly situated employees and shall not have been made primarily in the final three years of employment or as a result of providing retirement notice.

SECTION 3. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the retirement systems subject to the requirements in sections 1 and 2 of this act shall regard any payments in lieu of vacation leave that were made to members in service subsequent to May 1, 2018 as regular compensation and the systems shall take appropriate measures to effectuate this provision.