Subd. 1. Service credit contributions.

1. (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.
2. (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.
3. (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.
4. (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.