(1) A member may purchase creditable service for up to 2 work years of authorized leaves of absence, including any leaves of absence covered under the Family Medical Leave Act, if:

(a) The member has completed the years of creditable service required for vesting, excluding periods for which a leave of absence was authorized;

Terms Used In Florida Statutes 121.121

  • Administrator: means the secretary of the Department of Management Services. See Florida Statutes 121.021
  • Calendar month: means one of the 12 divisions of a year as determined by the Gregorian calendar (e. See Florida Statutes 121.021
  • Compensation: means the monthly salary paid a member by his or her employer for work performed arising from that employment. See Florida Statutes 121.021
  • Employer: means any agency, branch, department, institution, university, institution of higher education, or board of the state, or any county agency, branch, department, board, district school board, municipality, metropolitan planning organization, or special district of the state which participates in the system for the benefit of certain of its employees, or a charter school or charter technical career center that participates as provided in…. See Florida Statutes 121.021
  • Leave of absence: means a leave of absence from employment under the Florida Retirement System, subsequent to November 30, 1970, for which retirement credit may be received in accordance with…. See Florida Statutes 121.021
  • Member: means any officer or employee who is covered or who becomes covered under this system in accordance with this chapter. See Florida Statutes 121.021
  • Regularly established position: means :
    (a) With respect to a state employer, a position that is authorized and established pursuant to law and is compensated from a salaries and benefits appropriation pursuant to…. See Florida Statutes 121.021
  • system: means the general retirement system established by this chapter, including, but not limited to, the defined benefit program administered under this part, referred to as the "Florida Retirement System Pension Plan" or "pension plan" and the defined contribution program administered under part II of this chapter, referred to as the "Florida Retirement System Investment Plan" or "investment plan. See Florida Statutes 121.021
  • vesting: means the guarantee that a member is eligible to receive a future retirement benefit upon completion of the required years of creditable service for the employee's class of membership, even though the member may have terminated covered employment before reaching normal or early retirement date. See Florida Statutes 121.021
  • Work year: means the period of time an employee is required to work during the plan year to receive a full year of retirement credit, as provided by rule. See Florida Statutes 121.021
  • writing: includes handwriting, printing, typewriting, and all other methods and means of forming letters and characters upon paper, stone, wood, or other materials. See Florida Statutes 1.01
(b) The leave of absence is authorized in writing by the employer of the member and approved by the administrator;
(c) The member returns to active employment performing service with a Florida Retirement System employer in a regularly established position immediately upon termination of the leave of absence and remains on the employer’s payroll for 1 calendar month, except that a member who retires on disability while on a medical leave of absence may not be required to return to employment. A member whose work year is less than 12 months and whose leave of absence terminates between school years is eligible to receive credit for the leave of absence if he or she returns to the employment at the beginning of the next school year and remains on the employer’s payroll for 1 calendar month; and
(d) The member makes the required contributions for service credit during the leave of absence, which shall be 8 percent until January 1, 1975, and 9 percent thereafter of his or her rate of monthly compensation in effect immediately before the commencement of such leave for each month of such period, plus 4 percent interest until July 1, 1975, and 6.5 percent interest thereafter on such contributions, compounded annually each June 30 from the due date of the contribution to date of payment.

1. Effective July 1, 1980, any leave of absence purchased pursuant to this section is at the contribution rates specified in s. 121.071 or s. 121.71 in effect at the time the leave is granted for the class of membership from which the leave of absence was granted; however, any member who purchased leave-of-absence credit before July 1, 1980, for a leave of absence from a position in a class other than the regular membership class, may pay the appropriate additional contributions plus compound interest thereon and receive creditable service for such leave of absence in the membership class from which the member was granted the leave of absence.
2. Effective July 1, 2011, any leave of absence purchased by the member pursuant to this section shall be at the employer and employee contribution rates specified in s. 121.71 in effect during the leave for the class of membership from which the leave of absence was granted.
(2) A member who is required to resign his or her office as a subordinate officer, deputy sheriff, or police officer because he or she is a candidate for a public office which is currently held by his or her superior officer who is also a candidate for reelection to the same office, in accordance with s. 99.012(5), shall, upon return to covered employment, be eligible to purchase retirement credit for the period between his or her date of resignation and the beginning of the term of office for which he or she was a candidate as a leave of absence without pay, as provided in subsection (1).
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