The question in this case is whether police officers hired after 2009 have the right to purchase service credit for time spent on unpaid child care leave in calculating their retirement benefits.
State law distinguishes between members of the state pension system by tier depending on when the member was hired. Basically, police officers hired between 1973 and 2009 are members of Tier II, and police officers hired after 2009 are members of Tier III (or other tiers). The service-credit provision at issue does not make an explicit distinction between these to classes of members; rather, it provides a right to purchase service credit for unpaid child care leave to “any member.” Administrative Code § 13-218(h).
Relying on this text and its review of the legislative history, Supreme Court, New York County (Chan, J.) held that the service-credit provision applied to both Tier II and Tier III members. The First Department reversed, noting that while the provision did not make any express distinction between Tier II and Tier III members on its face, “the broader statutory scheme and legislative history” made clear that the Legislature intended the service-credit provision to apply only to Tier II members. In particular, the court cited the Legislature’s treatment of corrections officers, who are subject to a similar tier system. In 2012, the Legislature passed measures that made Tier III corrections officers ineligible for the child care service credit “in order to equate their benefits with Tier 3 police/fire benefits.” In the court’s view, this was strong proof that the service-credit provision was not intended to apply to Tier III police officers.
The Court of Appeals granted leave to appeal.
Return to the case page for Lynch v. City of New York.