HOUSE  .  .   .   .   .   .   .  No. 4925

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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                            HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, July 31, 2020.                         

The committee on Ways and Means, to whom was referred the Bill 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 (House, No. 4276), reports recommending that the same ought to pass with an amendment substituting therefor the accompanying bill (House, No. 4925).

For the committee,

AARON MICHLEWITZ.

        FILED ON: 7/31/2020

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 4925

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-First General Court
(2019-2020)

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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:
 

Chapter 32 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following section:-

Section 106. (a) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, a retirement allowance to a member inactive 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.

(b) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, any amount paid annually to a member who was, as of May 1, 2018, in service in lieu of vacation leave 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. Such payments in lieu of vacation leave subsequent to May 1, 2018 shall continue to qualify as regular compensation only for members who were in service as of May 1, 2018, 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 3 years of employment or as a result of providing retirement notice.

(c) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the retirement systems subject to the requirements of subsection (a) and (b) shall regard as regular compensation any payment made subsequent to May 1, 2018 that was in lieu of vacation leave to a member who was in service as of May 1, 2018 and the systems shall take appropriate measures to effectuate this provision.

(d) Subsections (b) and (c) shall apply only to members who were: (i) in service as of May 1, 2018; and (ii) had started receiving payment in lieu of vacation leave prior to May 1, 2018.