definitions

Section 1 establishes the definitions for all key terms used throughout Sections 1–28 of Chapter 32, the Massachusetts public employee retirement law. It defines over 60 terms including member classifications, types of deductions, compensation concepts, retirement allowance components, and system-specific vocabulary. Retirement board administrators rely on this section to correctly interpret and apply every other section in the chapter, as terms such as 'regular compensation,' 'creditable service,' and 'accumulated total deductions' appear throughout and carry precise statutory meanings.

PERAC announces amendments to two regulations — 840 CMR 4.00 (Financial Operations/Standard Method of Accounting) and 840 CMR 25.00 (Field Examinations) — effective March 29, 2024. Key changes to 840 CMR 4.00 include a new definitions section, requirements for daily transaction entry and monthly Trial Balance/General Ledger runs, a chart of cash book submission deadlines, and a new mandate that board staff share monthly cash books and quarterly budget comparisons with all board members. Changes to 840 CMR 25.00 clarify the triennial examination process and how PERAC may incorporate CPA examination work while still conducting its own required examination.

The HERO Act (Chapter 178 of the Acts of 2024), signed August 8, 2024, makes substantial changes to veterans' creditable service buybacks under Chapter 32. It replaces the old 180-day window with a new deadline of within one year of vesting (effectively 11 years of creditable service), and creates a one-year grace period — until August 8, 2025 — for active members who missed their original opportunity. Most urgently, boards must send written notice to all active members by November 6, 2024, using the sample notice attached, and must begin providing veterans' buyback information to all new members at enrollment.

Chapter 149 of the Acts of 2024 (effective October 29, 2024) creates a new enhanced accidental disability benefit under G.L. c. 32, § 7 for firefighters, police officers, EMTs, and licensed health care professionals who suffer a catastrophic, life-threatening or life-altering permanent physical injury as the direct result of an intentional violent attack with a dangerous weapon. Qualifying members receive 100% of their regular compensation (reduced to 80% upon reaching mandatory retirement age), rather than the standard 72% pension, with prescribed survivor benefits for spouses and children. Boards must include Findings of Fact with every Violent Act Injury application submitted to PERAC for the required 30-day review.

This memo announces the 2023 federal compensation and benefit limits that apply to Massachusetts public retirement systems under Chapter 46 of the Acts of 2002, which brought G.L. c. 32 into compliance with IRC requirements. The general compensation limit under IRC § 401(a)(17) for 2023 is $330,000, and the annual benefit limit under IRC § 415 is $265,000 for members retiring at age 65 (reduced for earlier retirement). These limits affect only the highest-paid employees and no board action is required beyond awareness that they are in effect.

This memo announces the 2023 regular compensation cap applicable to members who joined a retirement system after January 1, 2011, as established by Section 23 of Chapter 131 of the Acts of 2010. Because the federal IRC § 401(a)(17) limit for 2023 is $330,000 (per Memo #2/2023), the 2023 cap on regular compensation for post-2010 members is $211,200 (64% of $330,000). Boards must ensure that compensation above this threshold is excluded when calculating retirement benefits for affected members.

This memo addresses a change in Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) law — effective November 1, 2023 under Chapter 55 of the Acts of 2023 — which now allows employees on PFML to supplement their benefits with accrued paid leave (sick, vacation, PTO, etc.), up to the employee's Individual Average Weekly Wage. Despite this change, PERAC clarifies that neither PFML benefits nor supplemental accrued leave payments constitute "regular compensation" under Chapter 32, relying on SJC precedent from Vernava I and Vernava II, because the employee is not performing services during leave; therefore, the period of PFML with supplemental pay does not generate creditable service. No board action is required beyond ensuring that retirement benefits are not enhanced based on income received while on PFML leave.

This memo announces the 2022 federal compensation and benefit limits applicable to Massachusetts public retirement systems under Chapter 46 of the Acts of 2002. The general compensation limit under IRC § 401(a)(17) is $305,000 for 2022, while the § 415 benefit limit is $245,000 per year for members retiring at age 65 (reduced for retirement before age 62). These limits affect only the highest-paid employees and are indexed annually.

This memo establishes the 2022 regular compensation cap for members who joined a Massachusetts retirement system after January 1, 2011, pursuant to Section 23 of Chapter 131 of the Acts of 2010. Because the federal § 401(a)(17) compensation limit for 2022 is $305,000, the 2022 cap on regular compensation for post-2010 members is $195,200 (64% of $305,000). Boards must apply this limit when calculating retirement benefits for affected members.

Following the SJC's February 4, 2022 decision in Vernava II (Worcester Regional Retirement Board v. PERAC), this memo provides comprehensive, action-required guidance directing all retirement boards to immediately implement the ruling that supplemental payments of any kind made concurrently with Workers' Compensation benefits do not constitute "regular compensation" under any section of Chapter 32. Boards must identify all active members, inactive members, and retirees who received such supplemental payments, remove previously awarded regular compensation and creditable service for periods of concurrent Section 35 Workers' Compensation receipt, recalculate allowances, and return all deductions taken on those supplemental payments. The memo includes detailed step-by-step instructions for active members, retired members, and their beneficiaries, and notes that PERAC is pursuing legislative relief for affected retirees.

Chapter 80 of the Acts of 2022, signed June 7, 2022, waives the post-retirement earnings and hours restrictions of G.L. c. 32, § 91(b) and (c) for superannuation retirees working in the public sector for calendar year 2022, effective retroactively to January 1, 2022. The waiver will remain in place through December 31, 2022 or up to 90 days after the end of the declared Public Health Emergency, whichever comes first, and does not apply to disability retirees. Compliance with post-retirement restrictions remains the statutory responsibility of the employee and the employer.

This memo advises retirement boards that the COVID-era Open Meeting Law waivers permitting fully virtual meetings were set to expire on July 15, 2022, and instructs boards to prepare to resume in-person meetings with a physical quorum, including the chair, present. Boards that have adopted remote participation policies under 940 CMR 29.10 may still allow some members to participate remotely, but a quorum must be physically present and all votes in such meetings must be taken by roll call. PERAC notes that competing legislative proposals to extend the waiver are pending and commits to notifying boards immediately if the waiver is extended.

This memo updates Memo #18 of 2022 to inform retirement boards that the Legislature and Governor extended the Open Meeting Law virtual meeting waivers through March 31, 2023, via Section 4 of Chapter 107 of the Acts of 2022. Until that date, retirement boards may continue to hold meetings without a physical quorum or the chair physically present, provided remote participation and adequate alternative means of public access are utilized. Boards that choose to meet in a publicly accessible location without alternative means of access must have a physical quorum present.

This memo provides a critical update to Memo #14 of 2022, informing boards that Section 149 of Chapter 126 of the Acts of 2022 (the FY2023 budget), signed July 28, 2022, protects all retirees who retired prior to July 1, 2022 from any reduction, modification, or recoupment of allowances due to the Vernava decisions. As a result, the instructions in Memo #14 regarding retired members and their beneficiaries are hereby superseded, and no retiree who retired before July 1, 2022 will lose their allowance, lose health insurance, or be required to reimburse the retirement system. All instructions in Memo #14 concerning active and inactive members who have not yet retired remain in full effect.

This comprehensive memo addresses the regular compensation status of vacation buyback payments following the enactment of G.L. c. 32, § 106 (Chapter 147 of the Acts of 2022) and the SJC's August 2022 decision in O'Leary v. CRAB. Under the new law, existing retirees whose allowances included vacation buyback payments are protected and their allowances will not be reduced; active members who were participating in such programs as of May 1, 2018, and whose retirement systems accepted contributions on those programs, may continue to have qualifying payments treated as regular compensation going forward. Boards are given detailed implementation instructions covering retirees, active members, and the interaction with CRAB's November 2018 partial stay order, which is now superseded.

This memo answers frequently asked questions from retirement boards following the SJC's December 2019 decision in Plymouth Retirement Board v. CRAB & PERAC (Gomes), which required members to pay for up to five years of creditable service under G.L. c. 32, § 4(2)(b) for prior reserve, permanent-intermittent, or call firefighter/police service. PERAC clarifies that detail pay counts as compensation toward the $5,000 annual threshold, that the "same department" requirement applies only to firefighters (not police officers), and that a member ineligible for § 4(2)(b) service may still purchase prior service on a day-for-day prorated basis under other statutory mechanisms such as § 3(5).

This memo informs boards of the CRAB decision in O'Leary v. Lexington Retirement Board (CR-15-30), which rejected PERAC Memo #39/2012 and held that vacation buyback payments can never constitute regular compensation. Because both PERAC and the member have appealed to Superior Court, the CRAB decision is not final, and boards must continue evaluating vacation buyback plans under Memo #39 during the pendency of those appeals; no current allowances based on such payments should be recalculated in the interim. Payments for unused sick time remain excluded from regular compensation under Fair v. Middlesex County Retirement Board (2016).

This memo supersedes Memo #26/2018 and Memo #39/2012 in light of CRAB's November 6, 2018 partial stay in O'Leary v. Lexington Retirement Board. Under the partial stay: retirees who retired on or before November 6, 2018 are unaffected; active members must no longer have contributions withheld on unused vacation pay going forward (but no refunds of prior contributions pending judicial review); and members retiring on or after November 6, 2018 must have vacation buyback payments excluded from their benefit calculation, with any contributions taken on such payments refunded at retirement. PERAC confirms the Order applies to all 104 retirement boards, not just Lexington.

This memo announces the federal compensation and benefit limits applicable to Massachusetts retirement systems for 2017 under Chapter 46 of the Acts of 2002, which brought state law into compliance with IRS requirements. For 2017, the Section 401(a)(17) compensation limit is $270,000 and the Section 415 annual benefit limit is $215,000 for members retiring at age 65. These limits affect only the highest-paid employees and boards should contact PERAC's actuary with questions.

This memo announces the 2017 regular compensation cap for members who joined a retirement system after January 1, 2011, under pension reform provisions of Chapter 131 of the Acts of 2010. The cap is set at 64% of the federal IRC § 401(a)(17) limit, resulting in a maximum regular compensation of $172,800 for 2017. Boards must apply this limit when calculating contributions and benefits for post-2011 members.