N.J. Admin. Code § 17:3-3.2 - Computation of insurance benefits

(a) A 10-month member will be credited with three months' participation if the member is enrolled in the contributory insurance program in September.

(b) A member's insurance death benefit shall be based upon the base salary that is attributable to the 12 months or 26 biweekly pay periods immediately preceding the member's death upon which contributions to the annuity savings fund were made.

(c) For the purpose of calculating the member's insurance death benefit, months or pay periods in which no salary was paid shall not be used in the calculation.

(d) Full salary credit will be given for the monthly or biweekly pay period in which a member dies, if the member was paid salary to date of death and the salary paid was sufficient to permit a full normal monthly or biweekly pension and insurance contribution deduction, provided such deduction was made by the employer.

(e) If a member dies during the first year following the member's date of enrollment, or if the member has contributed pension contributions for less than a year although the member's enrollment has been in effect for more than a year, the contributory insurance benefit shall be two times the member's annual base salary on which the member contributed or would have contributed immediately prior to death. The noncontributory insurance benefit shall be 1 1/2 times the actual base salary upon which contributions to the Annuity Savings Fund were due from the date of enrollment to the date of death.

(f) Where post-death audits establish that the insurance benefits were underpaid, an additional check shall be sent to the beneficiary for the value of the underpayment. Should any change or error in the records result in any member receiving from the pension fund more than he or she would have been entitled to receive had the records been correct, the Board of Trustees shall correct such error, as best as practicable, and shall adjust the payments payable to the member's designated beneficiary or estate, pursuant to N.J.A.C. 17:1-2.10.

(g) Refunds of a deceased member's pension contributions will be made to the member's designated beneficiary or the employer after written confirmation is received from the employer setting forth the reason for the refund of pension contributions to either the beneficiary or to the employer.

(h) Members who prove their insurability for the group life insurance benefits shall have their insurance benefit calculated on the basis of the salary upon which pension contributions were based during their last year (10 or 12 months) of service prior to death, regardless of their effective date of insurance coverage.

(i) In computing the salary upon which pension contributions were based during a member's last year of service, in the case of a 12-month employee reported 12 months a year on a biweekly basis, a total of 26 biweekly pays will be used, including any retroactive salary payments made within the prescribed period. The total salary will be adjusted by multiplying the total by the factors supplied by the actuary; such adjustment will compensate for biweekly payroll schedules.

(j) In computing (i) above in the case of employees reported on a 10-month basis, the total biweekly pays will include those pay periods in the third quarter of each year in which a member does not receive salary. The adjustment as specified in (i) above shall not be made.

(k) If a member was reported on a biweekly basis or any combination of 10 and 12-month contract years, the last year's salary prior to death shall be determined on a proportional basis.

Notes

N.J. Admin. Code § 17:3-3.2

R.1973 d.49, effective 2/14/1973.
See: 5 New Jersey Register 20(b), 5 New Jersey Register 95(b).
Amended by R.1985 d.431, effective 9/3/1985.
See: 17 New Jersey Register 1252(a), 17 New Jersey Register 2144(c).
(a) substantially amended.
Recodified from N.J.A.C. 17:3-3.3 and amended by R.2002 d.352, effective 11/4/2002.
See: 34 New Jersey Register 1997(a), 34 New Jersey Register 3782(c).
Rewrote the section. Former N.J.A.C. 17:3-3.2, Participation in the program, repealed. Amended by 55 N.J.R. 957(a), effective 5/1/2023