Section 10.03. Creditable service.

 

(1)  For annual earnings periods beginning on or after January 1, 1985, each participating employer shall determine and report service in hours for each participating employee in the manner prescribed in this section. Earnings which are paid to a teacher, as defined in s. 40.02 (55) , Stats., an educational support personnel employee, as defined in s. 40.02 (22m) , Stats., or a technical college educational support personnel employee, as defined in s. 40.02 (55g) , Stats., who has contracted to receive such payments on either a 9 or 10 month contract basis, and which are paid after the beginning of a school year, as defined in s. ETF 10.01 (4m) , for services rendered in the preceding school year, are deemed to be received by the employee on June 30 of the preceding school year for purposes of reporting service to the department.

(2)  The full-time equivalent of one day of service is 8 hours. If an employer has established workdays of other than 8 hours as full-time employment for some or all of its employees, the number of hours to be reported within a reporting period is determined by the participating employer by dividing the number of hours for which earnings are paid to the employee in the reporting period by the number of hours which would have been worked in that reporting period by a regular full-time employee of that employer in the same kind of employment and multiplying the result by 40 times the number of weeks and fractions of a week in the reporting period.

(3)  For purposes of s. 40.02 (17) , Stats., the full-time equivalent of one year of creditable service for a teacher, as defined in s. 40.02 (55) , Stats., who is not an executive participating employee, as defined in s. 40.02 (30) , Stats., is 1,320 hours and for all other participating employees the full-time equivalent of one year of creditable service is 1,904 hours.

(4)  When a participating employee receives earnings from the same participating employer for employment in more than one of the categories under s. 40.23 (2) (b) , Stats., then the following tests shall be applied by the participating employer when service and earnings are reported:

(a) If employment in each of the categories meets the requirements of s. 40.22 , Stats., by itself then the earnings and service shall be reported separately for each category.

(b) If employment in any one category meets the requirements of s. 40.22 , Stats., and all other employment does not, then earnings and service shall be added to and reported under the one category which meets the eligibility requirements of s. 40.22 , Stats.

(c) If employment in more than one category meets the qualifying requirements of s. 40.22 , Stats., and all other employment does not, then earnings and service for employment in those categories which do not meet the qualifying requirements of s. 40.22 , Stats., shall be added to and reported under:

1. That qualifying category in which the greatest number of hours is worked, or

2. The lowest numbered subdivision under sub. (5) (b) if the greatest number of hours worked is equal in 2 or more qualifying categories.

(d) If employment in none of the categories meets the requirements of s. 40.22 , Stats., separately, but those requirements are met when the employment is added together then earnings and service shall be added to and reported under:

1. That category in which the greatest number of hours is worked, or

2. The lowest numbered subd. under sub. (5) (b) if the greatest number of hours worked is equal in 2 or more categories.

(5)  

(a) Fractions of an hour shall be rounded to the nearest hour prior to crediting and if the fraction is one-half hour then the hours credited shall be rounded up to the next whole number.

(b) If the total number of hours reported for an employee within an annual earnings period exceeds the applicable number specified in sub. (3) service shall be allocated and credited in the following sequence:

1. Service as a protective occupation participant not subject to Titles II and XVIII of the federal social security act whose formula rate is determined under s. 40.23 (2m) (e) 4. , Stats.

2. Service as a protective occupation participant subject to Titles II and XVIII of the federal social security act whose formula rate is determined under s. 40.23 (2m) (e) 3. , Stats.

3. Service as an executive participating employee whose formula rate is determined under s. 40.23 (2m) (e) 2. , Stats.

4. Service as an elected official whose formula rate is determined under s. 40.23 (2m) (e) 2. , Stats.

5. Service as a teacher whose formula rate is determined under s. 40.23 (2m) (e) 1. , Stats.

6. Service of a type not covered under subds. 1. to 5.

(c) The earnings shall be reported and credited in full without regard to any allocation of creditable service under par. (b) .

(6)  

(a) For local elected officials who are participating employees, but serving in positions not considered full-time by the local unit of government, the amount of service shall be determined and reported by the employer as follows:

1. For employment which is essentially ministerial in nature, the number of hours reported shall be the actual number of hours for which the employee is paid if a regular work schedule has been established. If there is no regular work schedule, the number of hours reported may not be greater than the quotient derived from dividing the compensation paid during the reporting period by 2 times the minimum hourly wage rate established by the federal fair labor standards act for non-agricultural employment.

2. For members of governing bodies or other policy-making groups, the number of hours reported shall be the number of hours in actual attendance at meetings of the governing body, the policy-making group or any sub-group thereof and a reasonable amount of time spent in preparation for such meetings, but in no event shall the number of hours determined to have been spent in preparation time exceed twice the number of hours actually spent at the meetings.

(b) In applying the standards set forth in par. (a) , it is the responsibility of the local unit of government to maintain the necessary documentation to justify the reasonableness of the basis used in reporting service for local elected officials.

(c) The department may consider other factors in granting creditable service to local elected officials where circumstances warrant and when satisfactory supporting information is provided.

(7)  

(a) If a participating employee receives earnings for on-call, standby, extracurricular or other service which is incidental to the primary employment, earnings shall be reported and contributions paid on those earnings pursuant to s. 40.05 , Stats. The number of hours determined by the employer and reported pursuant to this subsection shall be the quotient derived from dividing the compensation paid for such service during the annual earnings period by the participating employee's current basic pay rate.

(b) The employer shall maintain the necessary documentation to justify the basis upon which service is reported in applying the standards set forth in par. (a) .

(c) In no event shall the number of hours under par. (a) , combined with the hours under the primary employment, exceed creditable service of one year during the entire calendar year.

Emerg. cr. eff. 1-1-85; cr. Register, March, 1985, No. 351 , eff. 4-1-85; cr. (7), Register, August, 1986, No. 368 , eff. 9-1-86; CR 14-055 : am. (1) Register May 2015 No. 713 , eff. 6-1-15.

Note

This rule requires a form which is available at no charge to reporting officials required to use them. The form can be obtained by writing to: department of employee trust funds, P.O. Box 7931, Madison, WI 53707-7931, or by calling: [phone] or toll free at [phone]. Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1