2006 Minnesota Statutes

354.094 EXTENDED LEAVES OF ABSENCE.
    Subdivision 1. Service credit contributions. (a) Upon granting any extended leave of
absence under section 122A.46 or 136F.43, the employing unit granting the leave must certify
the leave to the association on a form specified by the executive director. A member granted an
extended leave of absence under section 122A.46 or 136F.43 may pay employee contributions
and receive allowable service credit toward annuities and other benefits under this chapter, for
each year of the leave, provided that the member and the employing board make the required
employer contribution in any proportion they may agree upon, during the period of the leave.
The employer may enter into an agreement with the exclusive bargaining representative of the
teachers in the district under which, for an individual teacher, all or a portion of the employee's
contribution is paid by the employer. Any such agreement must include a sunset of eligibility to
qualify for the payment and must not be a part of the collective bargaining agreement. The leave
period must not exceed five years. A member may not receive more than five years of allowable
service credit under this section. The employee and employer contributions must be based upon
the rates of contribution prescribed by section 354.42 for the salary received during the year
immediately preceding the extended leave.
(b) Employee contribution payments for the years for which a member is receiving service
credit while on extended leave must be made on or before June 30 of each fiscal year for which
service credit is to be received. If payment is to be made by a transfer of pretax assets authorized
under section 356.441, payment is authorized after June 30 of the fiscal year providing that
authorization for the asset transfer has been received by the applicable third party administrator
by June 30, and the payment must include interest at a rate of .708 percent per month from
June 30 through the end of the month in which payment is received. No payment is permitted
after the following September 30.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of any agreements to the contrary, employee and
employer contributions may not be made to receive allowable service credit if the member does
not have full reinstatement rights as provided in section 122A.46 or 136F.43, both during and at
the end of the extended leave.
(d) Any school district paying the employee's retirement contributions under this section
shall forward to the applicable retirement association or retirement fund a copy of the agreement
executed by the school district and the employee.
    Subd. 1a.[Repealed, 1991 c 130 s 38; 1991 c 340 s 34]
    Subd. 1b.[Repealed, 1991 c 130 s 38; 1991 c 340 s 34]
    Subd. 2. Membership; retention. Notwithstanding section 354.49, subdivision 4, clause
(3), a member on extended leave whose employee and employer contributions are paid into the
fund pursuant to subdivision 1 shall retain membership in the association for as long as the
contributions are paid, under the same terms and conditions as if the member had continued to
teach in the district or the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system.
    Subd. 3. Effect of nonpayment. A member on extended leave of absence pursuant to section
122A.46 or 136F.43 who does not pay employee contributions or whose employer contribution is
not paid into the fund in any year shall be deemed to cease to render teaching services beginning
in that year for purposes of this chapter and may not pay employee or employer contributions
into the fund in any subsequent year of the leave. Nonpayment of contributions into the fund
shall not affect the rights or obligations of the member or the member's employer under section
122A.46 or 136F.43.
    Subd. 4. Member who does not resume teaching. A member who pays employee
contributions into the fund for the agreed maximum duration of an extended leave and who does
not resume teaching in the first school year after that maximum duration has elapsed shall be
deemed to cease to render teaching services beginning in that year for purposes of this chapter.
    Subd. 5. Discharge; layoff. The provisions of this section shall not apply to a member who
is discharged or placed on unrequested leave of absence or retrenchment or layoff or whose
contract is terminated while the member is on an extended leave of absence pursuant to section
122A.46 or 136F.43.
    Subd. 6. Limits on other service credit. A member who pays employee contributions and
receives allowable service credit in the association pursuant to this section may not pay employee
contributions or receive allowable service credit for the same fiscal year in any other Minnesota
public employee pension plan, except a volunteer firefighters' relief association governed by
sections 69.771 to 69.776. This subdivision shall not be construed to prohibit a member who pays
employee contributions and receives allowable service credit in the association pursuant to this
section in any year from being employed as a substitute teacher by any school district during that
year. Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 354.091 and 354.42, a teacher may not pay
retirement contributions or receive allowable service credit in the association for teaching service
rendered for any part of any year for which the teacher pays retirement contributions or receives
allowable service credit pursuant to this section or section 354A.091 while on an extended leave
of absence pursuant to section 122A.46.
History: 1977 c 447 art 9 s 3; 1978 c 764 s 116,117; 1979 c 334 art 8 s 14,15; 1980 c 454 s
2-5; 1980 c 618 s 4; 1981 c 358 art 8 s 9-12; 1983 c 314 art 10 s 6-8; 1Sp1985 c 12 art 11 s 5;
1986 c 444; 1987 c 284 art 6 s 5; 1989 c 293 s 77,78; 1989 c 329 art 9 s 20,21; 1991 c 130 s 34;
1991 c 340 s 12; 1992 c 598 art 3 s 1; 1995 c 141 art 3 s 20; 1996 c 305 art 1 s 80; 1998 c 397 art
11 s 3; 2000 c 461 art 3 s 32; 1Sp2001 c 1 art 2 s 22; 1Sp2003 c 12 art 3 s 2; 1Sp2005 c 8 art 3 s 4