Section 24: Violations of contributory retirement laws

Summary

Section 24 provides PERAC with the primary enforcement mechanism for violations of Chapter 32. When PERAC determines that any governmental unit, officer, employee, or retirement board has violated or neglected Chapter 32 requirements, it must notify the appropriate executive authority and, if violations continue, refer the matter to the Attorney General. The Superior Court has equity jurisdiction to compel compliance and restrain violations. Willful refusal or neglect to comply with Chapter 32 or its regulations is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 or up to one year imprisonment, or both.

Statutory Text

Section 24. (1) Enforcement of Provisions. — If the public employee retirement administration commission determines that any governmental unit, any officer or employee thereof, or the state board of retirement, the teachers' retirement board, or any other board subject to the provisions of sections one to twenty-eight, inclusive, or any member or employee of any such board, has violated or neglected to comply with any provisions of such sections, or the rules and regulations established thereunder, he shall give notice thereof to the governor, county commissioners, the mayor, the board of selectmen, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency, the Massachusetts Port Authority, the Blue Hills Regional Vocational School System, the Greater Lawrence Sanitary District, or the Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical School District, as the case may be, and to the board and, thereafter, if such violation or neglect continues, shall forthwith present the facts to the attorney general who shall take appropriate action. The superior court shall have jurisdiction in equity upon petition of the public employee retirement administration commission or any interested party to compel the observance and to restrain the violation of any provision of sections one to twenty-eight, inclusive, and of the rules and regulations established thereunder.

§ 24(2)

Penalties for Violations. — Any person who wilfully refuses or neglects to comply with any provision of sections one to twenty-eight inclusive, or any rule or regulation established thereunder, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.