This bill amends the Code of West Virginia to allow individuals who first become members of the Teachers Retirement System on or after July 1, 2015, to convert their accrued annual and sick leave into retirement service credit. Specifically, for these Tier II members, each day of accrued leave will count as one day of retirement service credit, which will be used to increase their retirement benefits. This change is intended to provide additional benefits to new members of the Teachers Retirement System by recognizing their accrued leave as additional credited service in the computation of their retirement benefits.

The bill also includes a provision that clarifies that the additional credited service from accrued leave cannot be used to meet the initial eligibility criteria for retirement but will only serve as additional service credited beyond that requirement. The language in the bill replaces previous restrictions that prevented Tier II members from applying their accrued leave for retirement service credit, thereby enhancing their retirement benefits. Overall, this legislative change aims to improve the retirement options for new teachers in West Virginia.

Statutes affected:
Introduced Version: 5-16-13