Service Credit

Contributing service credit is the service credit you earn while working for a school or college.

You earn one year of service credit when you complete 120 or more days of paid school employment within a fiscal year (July 1 through June 30).

Key things to know:

• There is no distinction between full-time, part-time, or substitute employment
• Any portion of a workday counts as a full day
• Paid time used, such as sick leave or vacation, counts toward the 120-day requirement

If you are a member of more than one retirement system at the time of retirement, including the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS) or State Teachers Retirement System (STRS), you may have all deposits, salary, and service credit combined for a greater pension.

If you are a member of the Cincinnati Retirement System (CRS), Ohio Highway Patrol Retirement System (HPRS), or Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund (OP&F), and your contributions are still on deposit, they may be transferred to SERS, including any amounts paid for military service, prior to retirement.

If you have service credit with SERS and STRS or OPERS, you have two options at retirement:

• Retire separately from each system, if eligible
• Combine service credit and accounts to receive one pension or disability benefit

When service credit is combined:

• The system with the greatest amount of service credit calculates and pays the benefit
• Salaries earned in the same year are combined
• You cannot receive more than one year of service credit for any 12-month period, even if you worked in multiple systems
• Combined service credit may also be used to determine eligibility for a disability benefit

If you are still working in more than one public retirement system at retirement, reemployment rules may affect your pension and health care coverage.

Explore Reemployment

You may be able to purchase service credit for prior employment covered by the Cincinnati Retirement System (CRS). If your CRS contributions are still on deposit, they may be transferred to SERS, including amounts paid for the purchase of military service. If you withdrew your CRS contributions, you may purchase this service credit after contributing to SERS for 18 months.

The cost to purchase CRS service credit is an amount equal to:

• The amount refunded by CRS for your contributing service and any purchased military service, plus
• Any interest you received when the refund was paid

You may also be able to purchase service credit for prior employment as an Ohio firefighter, police officer, or highway patrol officer.

• If your contributions are still on deposit, they may be transferred to SERS, including amounts paid for military service
• If you withdrew your contributions, you may purchase OP&F or HPRS service credit

The cost for each year of service credit equals:

• The amount refunded by the other retirement system for contributing service and any purchased military service, plus
• Interest from the date of refund to the date of payment

You may be able to purchase service credit for a position in which you were exempt from SERS’ membership, SERS’ membership was optional, or SERS’ membership was compulsory. The credit must be purchased with the system with which you have the most service credit.

Exempt Service

For service after July 1, 1991, you may be able to purchase service credit if:

• SERS’ membership was compulsory
• You were permitted to sign, and did sign, an exemption from membership form

The cost for each year of service credit is 20% of your most recent year’s compensation. Under certain circumstances, you may also purchase STRS or OPERS exempt service credit with SERS. If SERS prepares the estimate, the cost for each year is 20% of your most recent year’s SERS compensation.

This service credit cannot be purchased if your compensation for that service was subject to taxes under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA).

Optional Service

For service before July 1, 1991, you may be able to purchase service credit if:

• SERS’ membership was optional
• You did not choose to become a member at the time

The cost for each year of service credit equals:

• Employee contributions in effect at the time, plus interest
• Employer contributions in effect at the time, plus interest

Compulsory Service

Pre-1991: If you were employed before July 1, 1991, and SERS’ membership was required but contributions were not paid:

• Your employer must pay the employer contributions in effect at the time, plus interest
• You must pay the employee contributions in effect at the time, plus interest

Post-1991: If you were employed on or after July 1, 1991, and membership was compulsory but contributions were not paid:

• Your employer is responsible for paying both employee and employer contributions, plus interest

You may be able to purchase service credit for work performed with:

• A public or private school, college, or university in another state or operated by the federal government, which has been chartered or accredited by the proper government agency
• The federal government or non-Ohio government employers, if comparable Ohio service would have been covered by SERS, STRS, OPERS, OP&F, or HPRS
• An Ohio municipal retirement system, excluding the Cincinnati Retirement System

Important limits apply:

• The maximum service credit that may be purchased is the lesser of five years or your total Ohio service credit
• If you combine SERS service credit with STRS and/or OPERS at retirement, the total combined amount cannot exceed five years
• Service credit cannot be purchased if it is or will be used for another retirement benefit (except Social Security)

For each year purchased, you must pay contributions based on the first year of full-time SERS-covered employment following termination of the service, plus interest from the date of SERS membership to the date of payment.

If an employee was required to resign due to pregnancy or adoption of a child, the employee may purchase service credit for that time.

To qualify, the employee must have:

• Returned to work by the beginning of the third school year after the resignation, and
• Earned a year of contributing service credit after returning

Limits and Costs:

• No more than a total of two years of service credit can be purchased
• For each year of credit, the employee must pay contributions based on the first year of full-time SERS-covered employment after returning to work, plus interest from the date of the return to work to the date of payment
• The employer at the time of resignation is responsible for employer contributions and interest

There are several ways to receive military service credit, depending on when you entered service and returned to public employment.

Interrupted Military Service

If your military service interrupted your SERS-covered employment and you are not eligible for free military credit, you may be able to purchase up to five years of service credit.

You must have:

• Worked for an SERS-covered employer and been an SERS member
• Entered military service while still employed
• Returned to work with the same employer within three months of honorable discharge or release from military service
• Maintained SERS membership

Your cost is only the employee contributions in effect at the time if you had remained on the school’s payroll. Interest is added to the amount of employee contributions. Your employer would pay the employer portion.

Other Military Service

If you are not eligible to receive free or interrupted military service credit, you may purchase:

• Up to five years of active-duty service
• Up to an additional five years for time spent as a prisoner of war

Key limitations apply:

• If you combine SERS service credit with STRS and/or OPERS at retirement, the total amount of military service credit may not exceed five years across all systems
• Service credit cannot be purchased if it is or will be used in any other retirement program except Social Security or retired pay for non-regular service under 10 U.S.C. 12731-12739
• Service credit cannot be purchased if you contributed to SERS during the same period of military service

To complete a purchase, you must provide SERS with a copy of your DD Form 214 or separation notice. The cost for each year of service credit is an amount equal to what applied to your compensation for the first year of full-time employment covered by SERS, STRS, or OPERS following the end of the military service, plus interest from the date of reemployment to the date of payment.

A school board member is a member of a city, local, exempted village, or joint vocational school district board of education, and a governing board member is a member of an educational service center governing board.

If you were a school board member or governing board member before July 1, 1991, you may be eligible to purchase 0.250 years of service credit for each year of board service.

Important conditions:

• You must pay the actual liability for this service
• Credit may be purchased no sooner than 90 days before retirement
• Service cannot be purchased if it overlaps with other SERS service credit

If you were on a school board-approved, unpaid Leave of Absence from a SERS-covered employer, you may be able to purchase service credit for that period.

To purchase LOA service credit:

• You must pay both employee and employer contributions, plus interest
• The LOA period must have started when contributions stopped and ended when the approved leave ended or when you returned to contributing service, whichever happened first

Limits apply:

• Total purchased LOA service credit cannot exceed five years
• Maximum amount of service that may be purchased for a period of leave is two years

Service credit may be purchased for multiple leaves of absence.