Public Act 098-0596
 
SB2196 EnrolledLRB098 03936 HLH 33955 b

    AN ACT concerning State government.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
University of Illinois School of Labor and Employment Relations
Act.
 
    Section 5. School of Labor and Employment Relations;
autonomy. The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
shall operate the School of Labor and Employment Relations as a
distinct and autonomous entity within the University of
Illinois for the purpose of offering curricula and other
educational programs, at the Urbana-Champaign and Chicago
campuses and through extension services, in all phases of
industrial and labor relations to promote research in those
fields by maintaining a school dedicated solely to the
faithful, honest, and impartial inquiry into labor-management
problems of all types, and for the securement of such advances
as will lay the foundations for future progress in the field of
labor relations.
 
    Section 900. The Illinois Pension Code is amended by
changing Sections 15-126.1, 15-139, 15-139.5, and 15-168.2 as
follows:
 
    (40 ILCS 5/1-160)
    Sec. 1-160. Provisions applicable to new hires.
    (a) The provisions of this Section apply to a person who,
on or after January 1, 2011, first becomes a member or a
participant under any reciprocal retirement system or pension
fund established under this Code, other than a retirement
system or pension fund established under Article 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
15 or 18 of this Code, notwithstanding any other provision of
this Code to the contrary, but do not apply to any self-managed
plan established under this Code, to any person with respect to
service as a sheriff's law enforcement employee under Article
7, or to any participant of the retirement plan established
under Section 22-101. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary
in this Section, for purposes of this Section, a person who
participated in a retirement system under Article 15 prior to
January 1, 2011 shall be deemed a person who first became a
member or participant prior to January 1, 2011 under any
retirement system or pension fund subject to this Section. The
changes made to this Section by this amendatory Act of the 98th
General Assembly are a clarification of existing law and are
intended to be retroactive to the effective date of Public Act
96-889, notwithstanding the provisions of Section 1-103.1 of
this Code.
    (b) "Final average salary" means the average monthly (or
annual) salary obtained by dividing the total salary or
earnings calculated under the Article applicable to the member
or participant during the 96 consecutive months (or 8
consecutive years) of service within the last 120 months (or 10
years) of service in which the total salary or earnings
calculated under the applicable Article was the highest by the
number of months (or years) of service in that period. For the
purposes of a person who first becomes a member or participant
of any retirement system or pension fund to which this Section
applies on or after January 1, 2011, in this Code, "final
average salary" shall be substituted for the following:
        (1) In Article 7 (except for service as sheriff's law
    enforcement employees), "final rate of earnings".
        (2) In Articles 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12, "highest average
    annual salary for any 4 consecutive years within the last
    10 years of service immediately preceding the date of
    withdrawal".
        (3) In Article 13, "average final salary".
        (4) In Article 14, "final average compensation".
        (5) In Article 17, "average salary".
        (6) In Section 22-207, "wages or salary received by him
    at the date of retirement or discharge".
    (b-5) Beginning on January 1, 2011, for all purposes under
this Code (including without limitation the calculation of
benefits and employee contributions), the annual earnings,
salary, or wages (based on the plan year) of a member or
participant to whom this Section applies shall not exceed
$106,800; however, that amount shall annually thereafter be
increased by the lesser of (i) 3% of that amount, including all
previous adjustments, or (ii) one-half the annual unadjusted
percentage increase (but not less than zero) in the consumer
price index-u for the 12 months ending with the September
preceding each November 1, including all previous adjustments.
    For the purposes of this Section, "consumer price index-u"
means the index published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of
the United States Department of Labor that measures the average
change in prices of goods and services purchased by all urban
consumers, United States city average, all items, 1982-84 =
100. The new amount resulting from each annual adjustment shall
be determined by the Public Pension Division of the Department
of Insurance and made available to the boards of the retirement
systems and pension funds by November 1 of each year.
    (c) A member or participant is entitled to a retirement
annuity upon written application if he or she has attained age
67 and has at least 10 years of service credit and is otherwise
eligible under the requirements of the applicable Article.
    A member or participant who has attained age 62 and has at
least 10 years of service credit and is otherwise eligible
under the requirements of the applicable Article may elect to
receive the lower retirement annuity provided in subsection (d)
of this Section.
    (d) The retirement annuity of a member or participant who
is retiring after attaining age 62 with at least 10 years of
service credit shall be reduced by one-half of 1% for each full
month that the member's age is under age 67.
    (e) Any retirement annuity or supplemental annuity shall be
subject to annual increases on the January 1 occurring either
on or after the attainment of age 67 or the first anniversary
of the annuity start date, whichever is later. Each annual
increase shall be calculated at 3% or one-half the annual
unadjusted percentage increase (but not less than zero) in the
consumer price index-u for the 12 months ending with the
September preceding each November 1, whichever is less, of the
originally granted retirement annuity. If the annual
unadjusted percentage change in the consumer price index-u for
the 12 months ending with the September preceding each November
1 is zero or there is a decrease, then the annuity shall not be
increased.
    (f) The initial survivor's or widow's annuity of an
otherwise eligible survivor or widow of a retired member or
participant who first became a member or participant on or
after January 1, 2011 shall be in the amount of 66 2/3% of the
retired member's or participant's retirement annuity at the
date of death. In the case of the death of a member or
participant who has not retired and who first became a member
or participant on or after January 1, 2011, eligibility for a
survivor's or widow's annuity shall be determined by the
applicable Article of this Code. The initial benefit shall be
66 2/3% of the earned annuity without a reduction due to age. A
child's annuity of an otherwise eligible child shall be in the
amount prescribed under each Article if applicable. Any
survivor's or widow's annuity shall be increased (1) on each
January 1 occurring on or after the commencement of the annuity
if the deceased member died while receiving a retirement
annuity or (2) in other cases, on each January 1 occurring
after the first anniversary of the commencement of the annuity.
Each annual increase shall be calculated at 3% or one-half the
annual unadjusted percentage increase (but not less than zero)
in the consumer price index-u for the 12 months ending with the
September preceding each November 1, whichever is less, of the
originally granted survivor's annuity. If the annual
unadjusted percentage change in the consumer price index-u for
the 12 months ending with the September preceding each November
1 is zero or there is a decrease, then the annuity shall not be
increased.
    (g) The benefits in Section 14-110 apply only if the person
is a State policeman, a fire fighter in the fire protection
service of a department, or a security employee of the
Department of Corrections or the Department of Juvenile
Justice, as those terms are defined in subsection (b) of
Section 14-110. A person who meets the requirements of this
Section is entitled to an annuity calculated under the
provisions of Section 14-110, in lieu of the regular or minimum
retirement annuity, only if the person has withdrawn from
service with not less than 20 years of eligible creditable
service and has attained age 60, regardless of whether the
attainment of age 60 occurs while the person is still in
service.
    (h) If a person who first becomes a member or a participant
of a retirement system or pension fund subject to this Section
on or after January 1, 2011 is receiving a retirement annuity
or retirement pension under that system or fund and becomes a
member or participant under any other system or fund created by
this Code and is employed on a full-time basis, except for
those members or participants exempted from the provisions of
this Section under subsection (a) of this Section, then the
person's retirement annuity or retirement pension under that
system or fund shall be suspended during that employment. Upon
termination of that employment, the person's retirement
annuity or retirement pension payments shall resume and be
recalculated if recalculation is provided for under the
applicable Article of this Code.
    If a person who first becomes a member of a retirement
system or pension fund subject to this Section on or after
January 1, 2012 and is receiving a retirement annuity or
retirement pension under that system or fund and accepts on a
contractual basis a position to provide services to a
governmental entity from which he or she has retired, then that
person's annuity or retirement pension earned as an active
employee of the employer shall be suspended during that
contractual service. A person receiving an annuity or
retirement pension under this Code shall notify the pension
fund or retirement system from which he or she is receiving an
annuity or retirement pension, as well as his or her
contractual employer, of his or her retirement status before
accepting contractual employment. A person who fails to submit
such notification shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor and
required to pay a fine of $1,000. Upon termination of that
contractual employment, the person's retirement annuity or
retirement pension payments shall resume and, if appropriate,
be recalculated under the applicable provisions of this Code.
    (i) (Blank).
    (j) In the case of a conflict between the provisions of
this Section and any other provision of this Code, the
provisions of this Section shall control.
(Source: P.A. 97-609, eff. 1-1-12; 98-92, eff. 7-16-13.)
 
    (40 ILCS 5/15-108.2)
    Sec. 15-108.2. Tier 2 member. "Tier 2 member": A person who
first becomes a participant under this Article on or after
January 1, 2011, other than a person in the self-managed plan
established under Section 15-158.2, unless the person is
otherwise a Tier 1 member. The changes made to this Section by
this amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly are a
correction of existing law and are intended to be retroactive
to the effective date of Public Act 96-889, notwithstanding the
provisions of Section 1-103.1 of this Code. A participant under
this Article, other than a participant in the self-managed plan
under Section 15-158.2, who on or after January 1, 2011, first
becomes a participant or member under any reciprocal retirement
system or pension fund established under this Code.
(Source: P.A. 98-92, eff. 7-16-13.)
 
    (40 ILCS 5/15-126.1)  (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 15-126.1)
    Sec. 15-126.1. Academic year. "Academic year": The
12-month period beginning on the first day of the fall term as
determined by each employer, or if the employer does not have
an academic program divided into terms, then beginning
September 1. For the purposes of Section 15-139.5 and
subsection (b) of Section 15-139, however, "academic year"
means the 12-month period beginning September 1.
(Source: P.A. 84-1472.)
 
    (40 ILCS 5/15-139)  (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 15-139)
    Sec. 15-139. Retirement annuities; cancellation; suspended
during employment.
    (a) If an annuitant returns to employment for an employer
within 60 days after the beginning of the retirement annuity
payment period, the retirement annuity shall be cancelled, and
the annuitant shall refund to the System the total amount of
the retirement annuity payments which he or she received. If
the retirement annuity is cancelled, the participant shall
continue to participate in the System.
    (b) If an annuitant retires prior to age 60 and receives or
becomes entitled to receive during any month compensation in
excess of the monthly retirement annuity (including any
automatic annual increases) for services performed after the
date of retirement for any employer under this System, that
portion of the monthly retirement annuity provided by employer
contributions shall not be payable.
    If an annuitant retires at age 60 or over and receives or
becomes entitled to receive during any academic year
compensation in excess of the difference between his or her
highest annual earnings prior to retirement and his or her
annual retirement annuity computed under Rule 1, Rule 2, Rule
3, or Rule 4 of Section 15-136, or under Section 15-136.4, for
services performed after the date of retirement for any
employer under this System, that portion of the monthly
retirement annuity provided by employer contributions shall be
reduced by an amount equal to the compensation that exceeds
such difference.
    However, any remuneration received for serving as a member
of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board shall be
excluded from "compensation" for the purposes of this
subsection (b), and serving as a member of the Illinois
Educational Labor Relations Board shall not be deemed to be a
return to employment for the purposes of this Section. This
provision applies without regard to whether service was
terminated prior to the effective date of this amendatory Act
of 1991.
    "Academic year", as used in this subsection (b), means the
12-month period beginning September 1.
    (c) If an employer certifies that an annuitant has been
reemployed on a permanent and continuous basis or in a position
in which the annuitant is expected to serve for at least 9
months, the annuitant shall resume his or her status as a
participating employee and shall be entitled to all rights
applicable to participating employees upon filing with the
board an election to forgo all annuity payments during the
period of reemployment. Upon subsequent retirement, the
retirement annuity shall consist of the annuity which was
terminated by the reemployment, plus the additional retirement
annuity based upon service granted during the period of
reemployment, but the combined retirement annuity shall not
exceed the maximum annuity applicable on the date of the last
retirement.
    The total service and earnings credited before and after
the initial date of retirement shall be considered in
determining eligibility of the employee or the employee's
beneficiary to benefits under this Article, and in calculating
final rate of earnings.
    In determining the death benefit payable to a beneficiary
of an annuitant who again becomes a participating employee
under this Section, accumulated normal and additional
contributions shall be considered as the sum of the accumulated
normal and additional contributions at the date of initial
retirement and the accumulated normal and additional
contributions credited after that date, less the sum of the
annuity payments received by the annuitant.
    The survivors insurance benefits provided under Section
15-145 shall not be applicable to an annuitant who resumes his
or her status as a participating employee, unless the
annuitant, at the time of initial retirement, has a survivors
insurance beneficiary who could qualify for such benefits.
    If the participant's employment is terminated because of
circumstances other than death before 9 months from the date of
reemployment, the provisions of this Section regarding
resumption of status as a participating employee shall not
apply. The normal and survivors insurance contributions which
are deducted during this period shall be refunded to the
annuitant without interest, and subsequent benefits under this
Article shall be the same as those which were applicable prior
to the date the annuitant resumed employment.
    The amendments made to this Section by this amendatory Act
of the 91st General Assembly apply without regard to whether
the annuitant was in service on or after the effective date of
this amendatory Act.
(Source: P.A. 97-933, eff. 8-10-12; 97-968, eff. 8-16-12;
98-92, eff. 7-16-13.)
 
    (40 ILCS 5/15-139.5)
    Sec. 15-139.5. Return to work by affected annuitant; notice
and contribution by employer.
    (a) An employer who employs or re-employs a person
receiving a retirement annuity from the System in an academic
year beginning on or after August 1, 2013 must notify the
System of that employment within 60 days after employing the
annuitant. The notice must include a summary copy of the
contract of employment or ; if no written contract of employment
exists, then the notice must specify the rate of compensation
and the anticipated length of employment of that annuitant. The
notice must specify whether the annuitant will be compensated
from federal, corporate, foundation, or trust funds or grants
of State funds that identify the principal investigator by
name. The notice must include the employer's determination of
whether or not the annuitant is an "affected annuitant" as
defined in subsection (b).
    The employer must also record, document, and certify to the
System (i) the number of paid days and paid weeks worked by the
annuitant in the academic year, (ii) the amount of compensation
paid to the annuitant for employment during the academic year,
and (ii) (iii) the amount of that compensation, if any, that
comes from either federal, corporate, foundation, or trust
funds or grants of State funds that identify the principal
investigator by name.
    As used in this Section, "academic year" means the 12-month
period beginning September 1. has the meaning ascribed to that
term in Section 15-126.1; "paid day" means a day on which a
person performs personal services for an employer and for which
the person is compensated by the employer; and "paid week"
means a calendar week in which a person has at least one paid
day.
    For the purposes of this Section, an annuitant whose
employment by an employer extends over more than one academic
year shall be deemed to be re-employed by that employer in each
of those academic years.
    The System may specify the time, form, and manner of
providing the determinations, notifications, certifications,
and documentation required under this Section.
    (b) A person receiving a retirement annuity from the System
becomes an "affected annuitant" on the first day of the
academic year following the academic year in which the
annuitant first meets both of the following condition
conditions:
        (1) (Blank). While receiving a retirement annuity
    under this Article, the annuitant has been employed on or
    after August 1, 2013 by one or more employers under this
    Article for a total of more than 18 paid weeks (which need
    not have been with the same employer or in the same
    academic year); except that any periods of employment for
    which the annuitant was compensated solely from federal,
    corporate, foundation, or trust funds or grants of State
    funds that identify the principal investigator by name are
    excluded.
        (2) While receiving a retirement annuity under this
    Article, the annuitant was employed on or after August 1,
    2013 by one or more employers under this Article and
    received or became entitled to receive during an academic
    year compensation for that employment in excess of 40% of
    his or her highest annual earnings prior to retirement;
    except that compensation paid from federal, corporate,
    foundation, or trust funds or grants of State funds that
    identify the principal investigator by name is excluded.
    A person who becomes an affected annuitant remains an
affected annuitant, except for any period during which the
person returns to active service and does not receive a
retirement annuity from the System.
    (c) It is the obligation of the employer to determine
whether an annuitant is an affected annuitant before employing
the annuitant. For that purpose the employer may require the
annuitant to disclose and document his or her relevant prior
employment and earnings history. Failure of the employer to
make this determination correctly and in a timely manner or to
include this determination with the notification required
under subsection (a) does not excuse the employer from making
the contribution required under subsection (e).
    The System may assist the employer in determining whether a
person is an affected annuitant. The System shall inform the
employer if it discovers that the employer's determination is
inconsistent with the employment and earnings information in
the System's records.
    (d) Upon the request of an annuitant, the System shall
certify to the annuitant or the employer the following
information as reported by the employers, as that information
is indicated in the records of the System: (i) the annuitant's
highest annual earnings prior to retirement, (ii) the number of
paid weeks worked by the annuitant for an employer on or after
August 1, 2013, (iii) the compensation paid for that employment
in each academic year, and (iii) (iv) whether any of that
employment or compensation has been certified to the System as
being paid from federal, corporate, foundation, or trust funds
or grants of State funds that identify the principal
investigator by name. The System shall only be required to
certify information that is received from the employers.
    (e) In addition to the requirements of subsection (a), an
employer who employs an affected annuitant must pay to the
System an employer contribution in the amount and manner
provided in this Section, unless the annuitant is compensated
by that employer solely from federal, corporate, foundation, or
trust funds or grants of State funds that identify the
principal investigator by name.
    The employer contribution required under this Section for
employment of an affected annuitant in an academic year shall
be equal to 12 times the amount of the gross monthly retirement
annuity payable to the annuitant for the month in which the
first paid day of that employment in that academic year occurs,
after any reduction in that annuity that may be imposed under
subsection (b) of Section 15-139.
    If an affected annuitant is employed by more than one
employer in an academic year, the employer contribution
required under this Section shall be divided among those
employers in proportion to their respective portions of the
total compensation paid to the affected annuitant for that
employment during that academic year.
    If the System determines that an employer, without
reasonable justification, has failed to make the determination
of affected annuitant status correctly and in a timely manner,
or has failed to notify the System or to correctly document or
certify to the System any of the information required by this
Section, and that failure results in a delayed determination by
the System that a contribution is payable under this Section,
then the amount of that employer's contribution otherwise
determined under this Section shall be doubled.
    The System shall deem a failure to correctly determine the
annuitant's status to be justified if the employer establishes
to the System's satisfaction that the employer, after due
diligence, made an erroneous determination that the annuitant
was not an affected annuitant due to reasonable reliance on
false or misleading information provided by the annuitant or
another employer, or an error in the annuitant's official
employment or earnings records.
    (f) Whenever the System determines that an employer is
liable for a contribution under this Section, it shall so
notify the employer and certify the amount of the contribution.
The employer may pay the required contribution without interest
at any time within one year after receipt of the certification.
If the employer fails to pay within that year, then interest
shall be charged at a rate equal to the System's prescribed
rate of interest, compounded annually from the 366th day after
receipt of the certification from the System. Payment must be
concluded within 2 years after receipt of the certification by
the employer. If the employer fails to make complete payment,
including applicable interest, within 2 years, then the System
may, after giving notice to the employer, certify the
delinquent amount to the State Comptroller, and the Comptroller
shall thereupon deduct the certified delinquent amount from
State funds payable to the employer and pay them instead to the
System.
    (g) If an employer is required to make a contribution to
the System as a result of employing an affected annuitant and
the annuitant later elects to forgo his or her annuity in that
same academic year pursuant to subsection (c) of Section
15-139, then the required contribution by the employer shall be
waived, and if the contribution has already been paid, it shall
be refunded to the employer without interest.
    (h) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article,
the employer contribution required under this Section shall not
be included in the determination of any benefit under this
Article or any other Article of this Code, regardless of
whether the annuitant returns to active service, and is in
addition to any other State or employer contribution required
under this Article.
    (i) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section to
the contrary, if an employer employs an affected annuitant in
order to continue critical operations in the event of either an
employee's unforeseen illness, accident, or death or a
catastrophic incident or disaster, then, for one and only one
academic year, the employer is not required to pay the
contribution set forth in this Section for that annuitant. The
employer shall, however, immediately notify the System upon
employing a person subject to this subsection (i). For the
purposes of this subsection (i), "critical operations" means
teaching services, medical services, student welfare services,
and any other services that are critical to the mission of the
employer.
    (j) This Section shall be applied and coordinated with the
regulatory obligations contained in the State Universities
Civil Service Act. This Section shall not apply to an annuitant
if the employer of that annuitant provides documentation to the
System that (1) the annuitant is employed in a status
appointment position, as that term is defined in 80 Ill. Adm.
Code 250.80, and (2) due to obligations contained under the
State Universities Civil Service Act, the employer does not
have the ability to limit the earnings or duration of
employment for the annuitant while employed in the status
appointment position.
(Source: P.A. 97-968, eff. 8-16-12.)
 
    (40 ILCS 5/15-145.1)
    Sec. 15-145.1. Survivor's insurance annuities and lump sum
payments benefits for Tier 2 Members; amount. Survivor
eligibility, vesting, and conditions for a survivor's
insurance annuity and lump sum payment amount payable to a
survivor's insurance beneficiary of a deceased Tier 2 member
shall be determined under the provisions of this Article
applicable to survivor's insurance beneficiaries of a deceased
Tier 1 member; however, the amount of a survivor's insurance
annuity, including the annual increases thereon, shall be
calculated pursuant to this Section. The initial survivor's
insurance annuity benefit of a survivors insurance beneficiary
of a Tier 2 annuitant member shall be in the amount of 66 2/3%
of the Tier 2 member's retirement annuity at the date of death.
In the case of the death of a Tier 2 member who has not retired,
eligibility for a survivor's insurance benefit shall be
determined by the applicable Section of this Article. The
initial benefit shall be 66 2/3% of the earned annuity without
a reduction due to age. A survivor's insurance annuity and
shall be increased (1) on each January 1 occurring on or after
the commencement of the annuity if the deceased Tier 2 member
died while receiving a retirement annuity or (2) in other
cases, on each January 1 occurring after the first anniversary
of the commencement of the benefit. Each annual increase shall
be calculated at 3% or one half the annual unadjusted
percentage increase (but not less than zero) in the consumer
price index-u for the 12 months ending with the September
preceding each November 1, whichever is less, of the originally
granted survivor's insurance annuity benefit. If the annual
unadjusted percentage change in the consumer price index-u for
the 12 months ending with the September preceding each November
1 is zero or there is a decrease, then the survivor's insurance
annuity benefit shall not be increased. A beneficiary of a Tier
2 member who elects the Portable Benefit Package provided under
this Article shall not be eligible for the survivor's insurance
annuity benefit that is provided under this Section. If 2 or
more persons are eligible to receive survivor's insurance
annuities benefits as provided under this Section based on the
same deceased Tier 2 member, the calculation of the survivor's
insurance annuities benefits shall be based on the total
calculation of the survivor's insurance annuity benefit and
divided pro rata. The changes made to this Section by this
amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly are a clarification
of existing law and are intended to be retroactive to the
effective date of Public Act 96-889, notwithstanding the
provisions of Section 1-103.1 of this Code.
(Source: P.A. 98-92, eff. 7-16-13.)
 
    Section 999. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.