43:3C-15 State-administered pension systems, requirements for employers.

1. The boards of trustees of the Teachers' Pension and Annuity Fund, established pursuant to N.J.S.18A:66-1 et seq., the Public Employees' Retirement System, established pursuant to P.L.1954, c.84 (C.43:15A-1 et seq.), the Police and Firemen's Retirement System, established pursuant to P.L.1944, c.255 (C.43:16A-1 et seq.), and the State Police Retirement System, established pursuant to P.L.1965, c.89 (C.53:5A-1 et seq.), and the State House Commission in the case of the Judicial Retirement System, established pursuant to P.L.1973, c.140 (C.43:6A-1 et seq.), shall require a certifying officer to complete training on eligibility for enrollment in the pension fund or retirement system in accordance with the provisions of the laws governing those funds or systems and the rules or regulations promulgated thereto. The Division of Pensions and Benefits shall develop, and the respective board or commission shall approve, the form and content of the training and each board or commission shall determine when a certifying officer shall complete the training. Each board or commission may require the training to include such additional pension fund or retirement system matters as it deems necessary to ensure compliance. The training shall be provided through the Internet and shall be accessible from the official Internet site of the State. A certifying officer required to complete the training shall submit to the division an acknowledgement of such completion in the manner required by the division.

Each board of trustees or commission shall require a certifying officer and the officer's immediate supervisor to certify in writing or electronically, at the time of an enrollment of a member and annually for each member of the retirement system, that the person enrolled is eligible for enrollment in the pension fund or retirement system in accordance with the relevant law and the rules or regulations promulgated thereto. The certification shall require the certifying officer and the officer's immediate supervisor to acknowledge that any person who knowingly makes a false statement, or falsifies or permits to be falsified any record, application, form, or report of a pension fund or retirement system, in an attempt to defraud the fund or system as a result of such act shall be guilty of a crime of the fourth degree. Each board or commission may require a similar certification for any other record, application, form, or report as it may deem necessary to ensure compliance.

As used in this section, "certifying officer" means an officer or employee of the State or an employer other than the State who is responsible for submitting to a pension fund or retirement system such information, and for performing the duties relating to matters concerning the pension fund or retirement system with respect to each of the employees of the employer, as required of the employer by law and the rules or regulations promulgated thereto, and by the division and the board of trustees or the State House Commission, as appropriate.

L.2011, c.52, s.1.