Public Safety and Security Committee
Labor and Public Employees Committee
Planning and Development Committee
AN ACT CONCERNING POLICE OFFICERS WHO ACCEPT EMPLOYMENT WITH ANOTHER POLICE DEPARTMENT AND MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES' ELIGIBILITY FOR DISABILITY RETIREMENT
SUMMARY: This act makes changes in the laws affecting (1) retirement benefits for municipal employees and elected officers under the Municipal Employees Retirement Fund (MERF) and (2) police officers who move from one Connecticut police department to work with another Connecticut police department.
The act broadens the circumstances under which a retired municipal employee or elected officer may simultaneously collect a salary and MERF pension benefits. Under prior law, a person rehired by a municipality participating in MERF could collect a pension only if he or she worked for fewer than 90 days in a calendar year. A rehired employee who worked for a longer period had to reimburse the MERF for the pension payments received during the 90 days. The act additionally allows a rehired worker to collect his or her pension if he or she is working for up to 20 hours a week, for an unlimited period. The act applies to anyone who retired on or after January 1, 2000.
The act broadens the circumstances under which a municipal employee or elected officer may collect a disability pension. Prior law required the person to (1) have completed at least 10 years of continuous service and (2) be permanently and totally disabled from engaging in any gainful employment with the municipality. The act allows a disabled worker or elected officer to collect a disability pension and hold a position where he or she customarily works up to 20 hours per week. The provision applies to anyone who retired on or after January 1, 2000. (By law, unchanged by the act, application for a disability pension must be submitted within one year after the disability is incurred. )
The act also allows police officers certified by the Police Officer Standards and Training Council (POST) and working at a Connecticut police department to accept employment with another Connecticut police department without having to repeat minimum basic training, as required by POST, which establishes minimum qualifications for municipal police officers and enforces professional standards for certifying and decertifying them. The act does not affect the council's requirement that officers meet entry-level requirements.
EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage for the retirement provisions and applicable to members who retire on or after January 1, 2000; October 1, 2011 for the remaining provisions.
BACKGROUND
POST Regulations
POST regulations require POST-certified police officers who move to a different department in the state to be certified anew. This is defined as “lateral certification. ” The candidate must meet all of the council's entry-level requirements for an original certification. He or she must also satisfactorily complete a POST-approved police basic training program, except when his or her last appointment to a similar position was (1) within Connecticut, (2) followed by at least two years of continuous service, and (3) interrupted by no more than three years absence from the law enforcement unit where last appointed (Conn. Agencies Reg. § 7-294e-1 & 2).
Entry-level requirements for municipal police include the following: personal interview, fingerprint examination, background investigation, psychological examination, criminal history record check, controlled substance screen, and physical fitness and medical tests (Conn. Agencies Reg. § 7-294e16). At a minimum, the basic training consists of “the curriculum, skill training and hours deemed necessary by the Council, and the supervised departmental training program adopted by the Council” (Conn. Agencies Reg. § 7-294e-3). POST may, at its discretion, grant a full or partial waiver of the basic training requirement (Conn. Agencies Reg. § 7-294e-1 & 2).
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