35 IAC 14-9-3 Disability retirement

Sec. 3. (a) To be eligible to receive disability retirement benefits, a member must have been employed under a uniform or supplemental contract, receiving workers' compensation disability benefits, on leave pursuant to the Family Medical Leave Act, or on a leave approved by the school board on the date the Social Security Administration determines the member becomes disabled. (b) For the purpose of IC 5-10.2-4-6(a), "while receiving a salary" includes: (1) the last check date for a member, but does not include any checks received later than thirty (30) days from the last day the member was paid for physical work, for used sick time, for used compensatory time, or while on other leave or vacation; or (2) that a member will be deemed to be receiving a salary for a period of thirty (30) days from the last day the member was paid for work, for used sick time, for used compensatory time, or for other leave or vacation; or the member's termination of employment related to the illness or injury resulting in the disability and not more than thirty (30) days has elapsed between the employment termination date and Social Security Administration (SSA) disability onset date. INPRS in its sole discretion will determine whether there was a relationship between the injury or illness causing the disability and the termination of covered employment by the participant. Example one: Penny becomes ill while in-service in a covered position and exhausts all leaves and terminates employment due to the illness on July 1. Because of this illness, Penny received a SSA disability onset of July 28 of the same year. Penny meets the "while receiving a salary" definition because there was nexus between the illness and her employment and the onset date is within thirty (30) days of termination. Example two: Peter terminated covered service on July 1 and was paid his final compensation on July 15; on July 28 Peter is involved in an automobile accident while on vacation causing a disability. Peter does not meet the requirement for disability benefits because there is no nexus between the cause of the disability and work and he was not otherwise receiving salary or on leave. (c) A member seeking or receiving disability retirement benefits may execute a waiver authorizing the Social Security Administration to annually release to the fund information regarding the member's eligibility to continue receiving Social Security disability insurance payments.