The 1958 amendments authorized States to extend coverage to services performed after
1958 by employees in positions simultaneously under more than one retirement system
(and at the State's option, for prior periods). An employee who is in a position under
more than one retirement system is covered under the State's agreement when the employee’s
retirement system coverage group is brought under the agreement unless the employee:
-
•
is not a member of the retirement system being covered, and
-
•
is a member of the non-covered retirement system.
Member for this purpose means an actual member of the retirement system. It does not
include an optional who is deemed to be a member of the retirement system.
This provision applies as of the applicable date of coverage (the Section 218(e)(2)
date) in the agreement/modification for the retirement system coverage group, or the
date that a position under a non-covered retirement sytem is brought under a covered
retirement system, whichever is later. It applies only to individuals whose positions
are under a retirement system on the pertinent date. Employees hired after the applicable
date are not excluded from coverage under Section 218(d)(8) of the Act solely by virtue
of membership in a non-covered retirement system.
Example 1: Employees of City X may join either the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS)
or the City Employees' Retirement System (CERS). Thus, all employees of City X occupy
positions under both systems. After a favorable referendum was conducted, a modification
was executed on September 6, 1983 to provide Social Security coverage for all employees
of City X in positions under CERS with no optional exclusions.
Employee A, who was employed by City X on the applicable date of the modification,
in this case September 6, 1983, was a member of PERS on that date. Services performed
in positions under PERS are not covered under the State's agreement. Thus, A's services
are not covered under the State's agreement with the CERS coverage group because A
was not a member of that system on September 6, 1983, and was a member of PERS, on
that date.
Employee B was hired by City X on October 3, 1983, and then joined PERS. Employee
B's services for City X are covered under the State's agreement because Employee B
was not a member of PERS on September 6, 1983, the applicable date.
Example 2: All State employees occupy positions under the State Employees' Retirement System
(SERS), which was included under the State agreement on a majority vote basis by a
modification executed in 1956. On November 1, 1983, the State takes over the county
hospital, a separate political subdivision, and the employees become State employees.
Before that date, employees of the hospital were members of the County Employees'
Retirement (CERS), a non-covered retirement system. Individuals employed by the hospital
on 11/1/83 had the option to continue their membership in CERS or join SERS.
Employee A elected to continue membership in CERS. Employee B elected to join SERS.
Employee A is excluded from coverage because on 11/1/83, the date Employee A's position
first came under SERS, Employee A was not a member of the covered system and was a
member of CERS. Employee B is covered because Emplolyee B became a member of SERS,
a covered retirement system.