{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-61.543","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 61.543","heading":"Deduction or pick-up of employee  contributions -- Service credit --","body":"Educational leave.\n(1) (a) Employee  contributions shall be deducted each payroll period from the\ncreditable compensation of each employee of an agency participating in\nthe retirement system while he is classified as regular full-time as defined\nin KRS 61.510 unless the employee did not elect to become a member  as\nprovided by subsection (2) of KRS  61.525 or is not eligible to participate\nin the system as provided by KRS 61.522.\n(b) After August 1, 1982, employee contributions shall be picked up by the\nemployer pursuant to KRS  61.560(4). Service credit will be allowed for\neach month the contributions are deducted or picked up during a fiscal or\ncalendar year, if the member  receives creditable compensation for an\naverage of one hundred (100) hours or more of work per month. If the\naverage number of hours of work is less than one hundred (100) per\nmonth, the member  shall be allowed credit only for those months he\nreceives creditable compensation for one hundred (100) hours of work.\n(2) Employee  contributions shall not  be  deducted  from  the  creditable\ncompensation  of an employee or picked up by the employer while he is\nseasonal, emergency, temporary, or part-time. No service credit will be earned.\n(3) Contributions shall not be made or picked up by the employer and no service\ncredit will be earned by a member  while on leave except:\n(a) A  member  on  military leave shall be  entitled to service credit in\naccordance with KRS 61.552;\n(b) A  member  on educational leave, approved by the Personnel Cabinet,\nwho  is receiving seventy-five percent (75%) or more of full salary, shall\nreceive service credit and shall pay employee  contributions, or the\ncontributions shall be picked up in accordance with KRS  61.560 and his\nemployer  shall pay employer contributions in accordance with KRS\n61.565. If a tuition agreement is broken by the member, the member  and\nemployer contributions paid or picked up during the period of educational\nleave shall be refunded; and\n(c) An employee on educational leave, approved by the appointing authority,\nnot to exceed one (1) year, or with additional approval of one (1)\nadditional year, and not to exceed two (2) years within a five (5) year\nperiod, who is receiving a salary of less than seventy-five percent (75%)\nof full salary, may elect to retain membership in the system during the\nperiod of leave. If the employee elects to retain membership  in the\nsystem, he shall receive service credit by having employee contributions\npicked up in accordance with KRS  61.560. His employer shall pay\nemployer  contributions in accordance with KRS  61.565. If a tuition\nagreement  is broken by the member,  the employee  and  employer\ncontributions paid or picked up during the period of educational leave\nshall be refunded to the contributor and no service credit shall be earned\nfor the period of leave.\n(4) The retirement office, upon detection, shall refund any erroneous employer and\nemployee  contributions made  to the retirement system and  any interest\ncredited in accordance with KRS 61.575.\n(5) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section and KRS  61.560, employees\nengaged  pursuant to KRS  148.026 and 56.491 in a regular full-time position as\ndefined in KRS  61.510(21) prior to January 1, 1993, shall be allowed service\ncredit for each month the employee received creditable compensation for an\naverage of one hundred (100) or more hours of work, if the employee pays to\nthe retirement system the contributions that would have been deducted for the\nperiod of employment. The contributions shall be credited to the member's\naccount and shall not be picked up pursuant to KRS  61.560(4). The employer\ncontributions for the period, plus interest calculated at the actuarial rate, shall\nbe  due within thirty (30) days of notice of receipt of payment  from the\nemployee.","path":["KRS Chapter 61"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=50821","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:49:15Z","sha256":"b385fc101601c0d2d12f73c7041edd85d4de77a77251c7ac2d65b267cfb07b90","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-61.542","next":"us-ky/krs-61.545"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}