Pennsylvania § 8327 - Payments by employers.

§ 8327. Payments by employers.

(a) General rule.--Each employer, including the Commonwealth as employer of employees of the Department of Education, State-owned colleges and universities, Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology, Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, Scotland School for Veterans' Children and The Pennsylvania State University, shall make payments to the fund each quarter in an amount equal to one-half the sum of the percentages, as determined under section 8328 (relating to actuarial cost method), applied to the total compensation during the pay periods in the preceding quarter of all its employees who were members of the system during such period, including members on activated military service leave. In the event a member on activated military service leave does not return to service for the necessary time or receives an undesirable, bad conduct or dishonorable discharge or does not elect to receive credit for activated military service under section 8302(b.1)(3) (relating to credited school service), the contributions made by the employer on behalf of such member shall be returned with valuation interest upon application by the employer.

(b) Deduction from appropriations.--

(1) To facilitate the payment of amounts due from any employer to the fund and the trust through the State Treasurer and to permit the exchange of credits between the State Treasurer and any employer, the Secretary of Education and the State Treasurer shall cause to be deducted and paid into the fund and the trust from the amount of any moneys due to any employer on account of any appropriation for schools or other purposes amounts equal to the employer contributions, employer defined contributions, pickup contributions, mandatory participant contributions, voluntary contributions, amounts owed pursuant to section 8327.1 (relating to nonparticipating employer withdrawal liability) and other amounts related to plan administration that an employer is required to pay to the fund and the trust, as certified by the board, and as remains unpaid on the date such appropriations would otherwise be paid to the employer. Such amount shall be credited to the appropriate accounts in the fund and the trust.

(2) To facilitate the payments of amounts due from any charter school, as defined in Article XVII-A of the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, to the fund and the trust through the State Treasurer and to permit the exchange of credits between the State Treasurer and any employer, the Secretary of Education and the State Treasurer shall cause to be deducted and paid into the fund and the trust from any funds appropriated to the Department of Education for public school employees' retirement contributions and basic education of the chartering school district of a charter school equal to the employer contributions, employer defined contributions, pickup contributions, mandatory participant contributions, voluntary contributions, amounts pursuant to section 8327.1 and other amounts related to plan administration that a charter school is required to pay to the fund and the trust, as certified by the board, and as remains unpaid on the date such appropriations would otherwise be paid to the chartering school district or charter school. Such amounts shall be credited to the appropriate accounts in the fund and the trust. Any reduction in payments to a chartering school district made pursuant to this section shall be deducted from the amount due to the charter school district pursuant to the Public School Code of 1949.

(c) Payments by employers after June 30, 1995, and before June 30, 2019.--After June 30, 1995, and before June 30, 2019, each employer, including the Commonwealth as employer of employees of the Department of Education, State-owned colleges and universities, Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology, Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, Scotland School for Veterans' Children and The Pennsylvania State University, shall make payments to the fund and the trust each quarter in an amount computed in the following manner:

(1) For an employer that is a school entity, the amount shall be the sum of the percentages as determined under section 8328 applied to the total compensation during the pay periods in the preceding quarter of all employees who were active members of the system or active participants of the plan during such period, including members or active participants on activated military service leave. In the event a member on activated military service leave does not return to service for the necessary time or receives an undesirable, bad conduct or dishonorable discharge or does not elect to receive credit for activated military service under section 8302(b.1)(3), the contribution made by the employer on behalf of such member shall be returned with valuation interest upon application by the employer.

(2) For an employer that is not a school entity, the amount computed under subsection (a).

(3) For any employer, whether or not a school entity, in computing the amount of payment due each quarter, there shall be excluded from the total compensation referred to in this subsection and subsection (a) any amount of compensation of a noneligible member on the basis of which member or participant contributions have not been made by reason of the limitation under IRC § 401(a)(17), except as otherwise provided in this part. Any amount of contribution to the fund paid by the employer on behalf of a noneligible member on the basis of compensation which was subject to exclusion from total compensation in accordance with the provisions of this paragraph shall, upon the board's determination or upon application by the employer, be returned to the employer with valuation interest. Any amount of contribution to the trust paid by the employer on behalf of a noneligible member on the basis of compensation that was subject to exclusion from total compensation in accordance with the provisions of this paragraph shall, upon the board's determination or upon application by the employer, be returned to the employer plus interest and investment gains or losses on such amount but minus investment fees and administrative charges.

(d) Payments by employers after June 30, 2019.--After June 30, 2019, each employer, including the Commonwealth as employer of employees of the Department of Education, State-owned colleges and universities, Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology, Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, Scotland School for Veterans' Children and The Pennsylvania State University, shall make payments to the fund and the trust within 30 days after the end of each quarter, or as determined by the board, in an amount computed in the following manner:

(1) For an employer that is a school entity, the amount shall be the sum of the percentages as determined under section 8328 applied to the total compensation during the pay periods in the preceding quarter of all employees who were active members of the system during such period, including members on activated military service leave and USERRA leave. In the event a member on activated military service leave or USERRA leave does not return to service for the necessary time or receives an undesirable, bad conduct or dishonorable discharge or does not elect to receive credit for activated military service under section 8302(b.1)(3), the contribution made by the employer on behalf of such member shall be returned with valuation interest upon application by the employer.

(2) For an employer that is not a school entity, the amount computed under subsection (a).

(3) For any employer, whether or not a school entity, in computing the amount of payment due each quarter, there shall be excluded from the total compensation referred to in this subsection and subsection (a) any amount of compensation of a noneligible member or participant on the basis of which member or participant contributions have not been made by reason of the limitation under IRC § 401(a)(17). Any amount of contribution to the fund paid by the employer on behalf of a noneligible member or participant on the basis of compensation that was subject to exclusion from total compensation in accordance with the provisions of this paragraph shall, upon the board's determination or upon application by the employer, be returned to the employer with valuation interest.

(e) Agreement.--The agreement of an employer listed in the definition of school employee under section 8102 (relating to definitions) or any other law to make contributions to the fund or to enroll its employees as members in the system shall be deemed to be an agreement to make contributions to the trust or enroll its employees in the plan.

(f) Contributions.--The employer employing a participant shall pick up the required mandatory participant contributions by a reduction in the compensation of the participant.

(g) Reemployed from USERRA leave.--When a school employee reemployed from USERRA leave makes the member contributions required to be granted school service credit for the USERRA leave after June 30, 2019, either by actual payment or by actuarial debt under section 8325 (relating to incomplete payments), the employer that employed the school employee when the member contributions are made, or the last employer before termination in the case of payment under section 8325, shall make the employer contributions that would have been made under this section if the employee making the member contributions after he is reemployed from USERRA leave continued to be employed in his school office or position instead of performing USERRA leave.

(June 13, 1985, P.L.40, No.19, eff. imd.; Aug. 5, 1991, P.L.183, No.23, eff. imd.; Apr. 29, 1994, P.L.159, No.29, eff. July 1, 1995; Dec. 20, 1995, P.L.689, No.77, eff. July 1, 1996; May 17, 2001, P.L.26, No.9, eff. imd.; Nov. 23, 2010, P.L.1269, No.120, eff. July 1, 2011; June 12, 2017, P.L.11, No.5, eff. imd.; July 2, 2019, P.L.434, No.72, eff. 60 days)

2019 Amendment. Act 72 amended subsecs. (b) and (d). See section 6.2 of Act 72 in the appendix to this title for special provisions relating to severability.

2009 Partial Repeal. Section 7 of Act 50 of 2009 provided that section 8327 is repealed insofar as it is inconsistent with Act 50.

1994 Amendment. See section 18 of Act 29 in the appendix to this title for special provisions relating to applicability to 1995-1996 and succeeding school years.

Cross References. Section 8327 is referred to in sections 8326, 8327.1, 8502, 8506, 8535, 8535.1 of this title.