18A:66-4 Membership.

18A:66-4. a. The membership of the retirement system shall consist of:

(a) all members of the teachers' pension and annuity fund enrolled as such as of December 31, 1955;

(b) any person becoming a teacher on or after January 1, 1956, except any person who has attained the age of 60 years prior to becoming a teacher after June 30, 1958 but before July 1, 1968;

(c) every teacher veteran as of January 1, 1956, who is not a member of the "Teachers' Pension and Annuity Fund" as of such date and who shall not have notified the board of trustees within 30 days of such date that he does not desire to become a member; (d) any teacher employed on January 1, 1956, who is not a member of the Teachers' Pension and Annuity Fund and who elects to become a member under the provisions of N.J.S.18A:66-10.

b. (1) Before or on November 1, 2008, no person in employment, office or position, for which the annual salary or remuneration is fixed at less than $500.00 shall be eligible to become a member of the retirement system.

(2) After November 1, 2008, a person who was a member of the retirement system on that date and continuously thereafter shall be eligible to be a member of the retirement system in employment, office or position, for which the annual salary or remuneration is fixed at $500 or more.

(3) After November 1, 2008 and before or on the effective date of P.L.2010, c.1, a person who was not a member of the retirement system on November 1, 2008, or who was a member of the retirement system on that date but not continuously thereafter, and who is in employment, office or position, for which the annual salary or remuneration is certified by the applicable public entity at $7,500 or more, shall be eligible to become a member of the retirement system. The $7,500 minimum annual salary or remuneration amount shall be adjusted annually by the Director of the Division of Pensions and Benefits, by regulation, in accordance with changes in the Consumer Price Index but by no more than 4 percent. "Consumer Price Index" means the average of the annual increase, expressed as a percentage, in the consumer price index for all urban consumers in the New York City and Philadelphia metropolitan statistical areas during the preceding calendar year as reported by the United States Department of Labor.

(4) After the effective date of P.L.2010, c.1, no person in an employment, office or position of the State, or an agency, board, commission, authority or instrumentality of the State, for which the hours of work are fixed at fewer than 35 per week shall be eligible to become a member of the retirement system; and no person in employment, office or position with a board of education or other education employer for which the hours of work are fixed by a resolution of the board of education or other education employer at fewer than 32 per week shall be eligible to become a member of the retirement system. Any hour or part thereof, during which the person does not work due to the person's participation in a voluntary or mandatory furlough program shall not be deducted in determining if a person's hours of work are fixed at fewer than 35 or 32 per week, as appropriate, for the purpose of eligibility.

amended 1968, c.229, s.1; 2008, c.89, s.5; 2010, c.1, s.1.