84-1321.01. Termination of employment; account forfeited; when; State Employer Retirement Expense Fund; created; use; investment.

(1) For a member who has terminated employment and is not vested, the balance of the member's employer account or employer cash balance account shall be forfeited. The forfeited account shall be credited to the State Employees Retirement Fund and shall first be used to meet the expense charges incurred by the retirement board in connection with administering the retirement system, which charges shall be credited to the State Employees Defined Contribution Retirement Expense Fund, if the member participated in the defined contribution option, or to the State Employees Cash Balance Retirement Expense Fund, if the member participated in the cash balance option, and the remainder, if any, shall then be used to restore employer accounts or employer cash balance accounts. Except as provided in subsection (3) of section 84-1314 and subdivision (4)(c) of section 84-1319, no forfeited amounts shall be applied to increase the benefits any member would otherwise receive under the State Employees Retirement Act.

(2) If a member ceases to be an employee due to the termination of his or her employment by the state and a grievance or other appeal of the termination is filed, transactions involving forfeiture of his or her employer account or employer cash balance account and transactions for payment of benefits under sections 84-1317 and 84-1321 shall be suspended pending the final outcome of the grievance or other appeal.

(3) The State Employer Retirement Expense Fund is created. The fund shall be administered by the Public Employees Retirement Board. Prior to July 1, 2012, the fund shall be used to meet expenses of the State Employees Retirement System of the State of Nebraska whether such expenses are incurred in administering the member's employer account or in administering the member's employer cash balance account when the funds available in the State Employees Defined Contribution Retirement Expense Fund or State Employees Cash Balance Retirement Expense Fund make such use reasonably necessary. On July 1, 2012, or as soon as practicable thereafter, any money in the State Employer Retirement Expense Fund shall be transferred by the State Treasurer to the State Employees Retirement Fund and credited to the cash balance benefit established in section 84-1309.02.

(4) Prior to July 1, 2012, the director of the Nebraska Public Employees Retirement Systems shall certify to the Accounting Administrator of the Department of Administrative Services when accumulated employer account forfeiture funds are available to reduce the state contribution which would otherwise be required to fund future service retirement benefits or to restore employer accounts or employer cash balance accounts referred to in subsection (1) of this section. Following such certification, the Accounting Administrator shall transfer the amount reduced from the state contribution from the Imprest Payroll Distributive Fund to the State Employer Retirement Expense Fund. Expenses incurred as a result of the state depositing amounts into the State Employer Retirement Expense Fund shall be deducted prior to any additional expenses being allocated. Any remaining amount shall be allocated in accordance with subsection (3) of this section. Any money in the State Employer Retirement Expense Fund available for investment shall be invested by the state investment officer pursuant to the Nebraska Capital Expansion Act and the Nebraska State Funds Investment Act.

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