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 Teacher
- Benefit Information
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The Maine Public Employees Retirement
System (MainePERS) was established to administer certain
benefits that are available to Maine public school teachers
(including school administrators and other
licensed/certified staff) who are members of the System.
For a general summary of the benefits available, see
MainePERS Benefits for Teachers.
Below is information on main areas of interest within the
plan: |
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Cost-of-Living Adjustment
(COLA)
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Military Time |
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Disability Benefits |
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Purchasing Service Credit |
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Group Life Insurance |
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Qualified Domestic Relations Order |
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Health
Insurance and MainePERS |
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Retirement
Eligibility |
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Life Changes |
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Sick
and Vacation Leave Credit |
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Member Statement |
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Social
Security and MainePERS |
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Membership
Eligibility |
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Substitute
Teachers |
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Taking
Refund of Your Contributions |
Cost of Living Adjustment
(COLA)
There will be no cumulative COLA in September 2011, 2012 or
2013.
By law, the COLA is the change in the Consumer Price Index
for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the 12-month period
ending June 30. The COLA is capped at 3%, unless the
Governor requests and the Legislature approves a higher
amount. When the CPI is negative, there will be no COLA.
COLA is applicable to the first $20,000 of your retirement
benefit (indexed).
State employee and teacher benefit recipients whose normal
retirement age is 60 are eligible to receive a
cost-of-living adjustment in the first September after
having been retired for at least 12 months. For example, if
you retired on or before September 1, 2007, you are eligible
for any COLA in September 2008; if you retired as of October
1, 2007, you are eligible for any COLA in September 2009. If
your normal retirement age is 62 or 65, you are eligible to
receive a COLA effective the first September that is at
least 12 months after you reach your normal retirement age.
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Disability Benefits
See the
Disability section of this website for information about
the Disability Retirement program.
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Group Life Insurance
The MainePERS Group Life Insurance program is available to
Teacher members whose employers participate in the program,
and whose positions are eligible for coverage. If you
complete an application for Group Life Insurance coverage
within the first 31 days of becoming eligible, you may
select coverage for yourself and your dependents without
having to show evidence of insurability. Additional
information can be found in the
Group Life Insurance section on this Web site.
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Health Insurance and MainePERS
MainePERS does not administer health or dental insurance.
Contact your health insurance program for questions
regarding health insurance. Click
here for a reference list of these organizations.
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Life Changes
Certain events in your life may affect your retirement or
beneficiary designations. It is important that you notify
MainePERS immediately when the following life changing
events occur:
• Termination of employment
• Birth/adoption of a child
• Marriage, divorce, legal separation, annulment
• Death of spouse or dependent
• An employment status change for you
• A court order results in the gain or loss of a dependent
Note: To ensure that all information is up-to-date, members
should periodically review their Designation of Beneficiary
forms for both pre-retirement death benefits and Group Life
Insurance.
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Member Statement
MainePERS sends annual Member Statements to most members.
The statement shows the amount of retirement service credit,
retirement plan, normal retirement age, known purchasable
service, as well as current beneficiary information. The
Member Statement information can help you plan for your own
retirement.
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Membership Eligibility
If you are a public school employee and your position falls
under the legal definition of "teacher," membership in
MainePERS is mandatory from the first date of employment.
The exception to this rule is for substitute teachers, for
whom membership is optional. When hired as a substitute, you
make a one-time, irrevocable election whether to participate
in MainePERS. You make an election with each separate
employer that hires you as a substitute. Your election
applies to all current and future optional membership
positions with that employer, even if you terminate and are
later rehired in a different optional membership position.
If at any time you hold a position in which membership is
mandatory (e.g. tutor or classroom teacher), MainePERS
membership for that position will begin from the first day
of employment.
If you are a public school employee who meets
one of the following criteria, your MainePERS teacher
membership is mandatory:
A. You must be an employee of a public school who holds any
position that the Department of Education (DOE) requires be
filled by a person who holds the appropriate certification
or license for that position and who does, in fact, hold
that certification or license; or
B. You must be an employee of a public school who holds any
position, the principal function of which is to introduce
new learning to students. There are two significant
exceptions to this criterion:
Adult Education teachers who teach courses for which DOE
does not require certification who were employed on or after
July 1, 1995, with no other basis for MainePERS membership
as a State employee or teacher member, are excluded from
MainePERS teacher membership from that date forward. Adult
Education teachers who do have another basis for membership
must contribute to the retirement system on their earnings
as adult education teachers.
Coaches hired on or after July 1, 1997, who have no other
basis for MainePERS membership as a State employee or
teacher member, are excluded from MainePERS teacher
membership from that date forward. Coaches who do have
another basis for membership must contribute to the
retirement system on their earnings as coaches.
If you have any questions regarding your membership
eligibility, please
contact the Teacher Unit.
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Military Time
MainePERS members who are on a leave of absence from their
MainePERS-covered positions to serve in the uniformed
services of the United States have, under federal and State
law, specific protections, or eligibility for protections,
with respect to their MainePERS membership and related
benefits. For more information, click
here.
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Purchasing Service Credit
As a contributing member of MainePERS, you may be eligible
to purchase additional service credit. There are
eligibility and verification requirements in order to make
these purchases. For more information,
please see the
Teacher Member handbook.
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QDRO (Qualified Domestic Relations Order)
The purpose of a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO)
is to permit a retirement system to make direct payment to
the party who is not the member, retiree, or beneficiary of
the system. Direct payment by MainePERS is not possible,
even if the court awards an interest in the benefits to the
non-member or retiree, unless the court enters an order that
MainePERS determines is "qualified." Also, even if the order
is a qualified domestic relations order, no payment will be
made to the former spouse until an amount is payable to the
MainePERS member or retiree or beneficiary. A qualified
domestic relations order does not entitle the former spouse
to immediate payment of the portion of the benefit awarded
to him or her by the court. Click
here for more information.
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Retirement Eligibility
You qualify to receive a benefit once you have at least 25
years of service credit.
You qualify to receive a benefit upon reaching your normal
retirement age of 60, 62 or 65, whether or not you are in
service, provided that you have earned creditable service of
5 or 10 years, whichever amount is applicable to you.
You qualify to receive a benefit upon reaching your normal
retirement age of 60, 62 or 65, provided you have earned at
least one year of service credit immediately prior to your
retirement.
For more information on eligibility and qualification to
receive a service retirement benefit, please see the
Teacher Member handbook.
Vesting
If your final termination from MainePERS-covered employment
was before October 1, 1999, you must have at least 10 years
of service credit in order to be eligible to draw a benefit
at normal retirement age.
If your final termination from MainePERS-covered employment
is after September 30, 1999, you must have at least 5 years
of service credit in order to be eligible to draw a benefit
at normal retirement age.
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Unused Sick Leave and Vacation
Leave
For some members, payment for a maximum of 30 days of unused
sick and/or vacation leave can be included in the
calculation of their AFC. (For purposes of this provision,
"a day" is considered your normal working day, up to a
maximum of eight hours; for contract employees, a day is
considered your per diem rate.)
This applies to those Teacher members who:
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had 10 or more years of service as of July 1, 1993, or
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had reached age 60 before July 1, 1993, and had been in
service for at least one year before
July 1, 1993.
However, please note that if the employer
makes such a payment as a retirement incentive/bonus,
MainePERS will not include it in the amount of earnable
compensation used in the calculation of your AFC. For more information on
retirement incentives, see the section titled "Retirement
Incentives" the
Teacher Member handbook.
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Social Security and MainePERS
If you are eligible to receive Social Security retirement
benefits either because you worked in a Social Security
covered job or because your deceased spouse did, the amount
of your Social Security benefit may be affected by your
receipt of a MainePERS benefit.
The relevant Social Security provisions are the
Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), which are Social
Security benefits for your own work; and, the
Government Pension Offset (GPO), which are Social
Security benefits as a spouse or widow(er).
Neither Maine law nor MainePERS policies cause the effects
of these provisions. The effects result from federal law
administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA). To
obtain information about any effect of receiving MainePERS
benefits on your Social Security benefits, please contact
SSA directly.
Social Security Administration (Augusta Office)
Toll-free: 1-866-882-5422
Fax: (207) 622-8398
www.ssa.gov
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Substitute Teachers
Q. What membership options are available to
substitute teachers?
A: Answers are as follows:
A current substitute teacher
who chooses to continue contributing to MainePERS:
Has exercised their right to join the System and will
contribute to MainePERS on all optional membership earnings
with their current employer. Should they be hired in an
optional membership position with a different employer, they
will make a separate election that will apply to optional
membership with that employer.
A current substitute teacher
who chooses to stop contributing to MainePERS on their
substitute earnings:
Has exercised their right not to join the System. This
decision applies to all current and future optional
membership positions they hold with their current employer.
Should they be hired in an optional membership position with
another employer, they will make a separate election that
will apply to optional membership with that employer.
A new substitute teacher who
elects to join MainePERS:
Has exercised their right to join the System and will
contribute to MainePERS on all optional membership earnings
with their current employer. Should they be hired in an
optional membership position with a different employer, they
will make a separate election that will apply to optional
membership with that employer.
A new substitute teacher who
elects not to join MainePERS:
Has exercised their right not to join the System This
decision applies to all current and future optional
membership positions they hold with their current employer.
Should they be hired in an optional membership position with
another employer, they will make a separate election that
will apply to optional membership with that employer.
Q. If an employee was a substitute teacher, but is
now a member in the Teacher or State Plan for a position
other than a substitute teacher, can that member request a
refund of contributions on the prior substitute teacher
position?
A. No. A member must terminate all
MainePERS-covered employment in order to be eligible to
receive a refund of their contributions. A member is not
allowed to obtain a refund of previous contributions when
other basis for membership continues.
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Taking a Refund of Your
Contributions
If you terminate all MainePERS-covered employment, you may
apply for a refund. The
Refund Application Package includes information to
consider before making a decision to request a refund. By
refunding your contributions, you give up your rights to any
MainePERS benefits. Since it may not be in your best
interest to withdraw your contributions, we suggest you
investigate the pros and cons of taking a refund. For more
information, see “Taking a Refund” in the
Teacher Member handbook.
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