PURPOSE: This rule describes the effect of a separation from service on a participant’s benefit.

1. (1) Upon separation from service, any participant with less than eight (8) vested years of service shall forfeit all rights under the plan, including the participant’s creditable service as of the date of the participant’s separation from service. This forfeiture shall be applied to reduce the board’s obligation to contribute to the plan. Such a participant will receive a refund of any of his or her contributions upon the receipt by the board or its designee of a termination notice. Such refund shall be made to the participant in a single sum as soon as administratively feasible following receipt of the termination notice by the board (or its designee). For purposes of this section, it shall not be administratively feasible for the board or its designee to disburse a refund until the board or its designee also receives proper verification and reconciled contribution information from the employer.
2. (2) A participant who has a separation from service, before reaching the age of sixty-two (62), after having earned at least eight (8) vested years of service shall be entitled to a deferred vested benefit, determined in accordance with the formula described in 16 CSR 50-2.090. The participant may elect to defer the receipt of his or her deferred vested benefit, until the participant’s attainment of age sixty-two (62), or the participant may elect to begin receiving his or her deferred vested benefit on the first day of any month following the later of the date of separation from service or age fifty-five (55). The amount of the benefit, if paid before the participant’s sixty-second birthday, shall be the actuarial equivalent of the participant’s accrued benefit.
3. (3) Members who terminate employment and then resume employment with an employer within thirty (30) days will not forfeit their prior service, will not be required to receive a refund of their payroll contributions and will not be deemed to have been rehired.

AUTHORITY: section 50.1032, RSMo 2000.* Original rule filed Oct. 11, 1995, effective May 30, 1996. Amended: Filed Sept. 17, 1998, effective March 30, 1999. Rescinded and readopted: Filed Sept. 29, 2000, effective March 30, 2001. Amended: Filed Dec. 10, 2002, effective June 30, 2003. *Original authority: 50.1032, RSMo 1995. 16 CSR 50-2