{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-78.5522","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 78.5522","heading":"Disability retirement for person whose  last date of employment  was","body":"in nonhazardous  position.\nThe disability retirement provisions contained in this section shall apply to a person\nwhose  last date of paid employment was in a nonhazardous position.\n(1) Any  person may  qualify to retire on  disability, subject to the following\nconditions:\n(a) The person shall have sixty (60) months of service, twelve (12) of which\nshall be current service credited under KRS  16.543(1), 61.543(1), or\n78.615(1);\n(b) For a person whose membership date is prior to August 1, 2004, the\nperson shall not be eligible for an unreduced retirement allowance;\n(c) The  person's application shall be on file in the retirement office no later\nthan  twenty-four (24) months  after the person's last day  of paid\nemployment in a regular full-time position, as defined in KRS 78.510; and\n(d) The  person shall receive a satisfactory determination pursuant to KRS\n61.665.\n(2) A person's disability reapplication based on the same claim of incapacity shall\nbe accepted and reconsidered for disability if accompanied by new objective\nmedical evidence. The reapplication shall be on file in the retirement office no\nlater than twenty-four (24) months  after the person's last day  of paid\nemployment in a regular full-time position.\n(3) Upon  the examination of the objective medical evidence by licensed physicians\npursuant to KRS 61.665, it shall be determined that:\n(a) The  person, since his or her last day of paid employment, has been\nmentally or physically incapacitated to perform the job, or jobs of like\nduties, from which he or she received his or her last paid employment. In\ndetermining whether the person may return to a job of like duties, any\nreasonable accommodation  by the employer as provided in 42 U.S.C.\nsec. 12111(9) and 29 C.F.R. pt. 1630 shall be considered;\n(b) The incapacity is a result of bodily injury, mental illness, or disease. For\npurposes of this section, \"injury\" means any physical harm or damage  to\nthe human organism other than disease or mental illness;\n(c) The incapacity is deemed to be permanent; and\n(d) The  incapacity does not result directly or indirectly from bodily injury,\nmental illness, disease, or condition which pre-existed membership in the\nsystem or reemployment, whichever is most recent. For purposes of this\nsubsection, reemployment shall not mean  a change  of employment\nbetween employers participating in the Kentucky Retirement Systems or\nthe County Employees Retirement System with no loss of service credit.\n(4) Subsection (3)(d) of this section shall not apply if:\n(a) The  incapacity is a result of bodily injury, mental illness, disease, or\ncondition which has been  substantially aggravated by an  injury or\naccident arising out of or in the course of employment; or\n(b) The  person has at least sixteen (16) years' current or prior service for\nemployment  with employers participating in the Kentucky Retirement\nSystems or the County Employees Retirement System.\n(5) (a) 1. An  incapacity shall be deemed  to be permanent if it is expected to\nresult in death or can be expected to last for a continuous period of\nnot less than twelve (12) months from the person's last day of paid\nemployment in a regular full-time position.\n2. The determination of a permanent incapacity shall be based on the\nmedical evidence contained in the member's file and the member's\nresidual functional capacity and physical exertion requirements.\n(b) The  person's residual functional capacity shall be the person's capacity\nfor work activity on a regular and continuing basis. The person's physical\nability shall be assessed in light of the severity of the person's physical,\nmental, and other impairments. The person's ability to walk, stand, carry,\npush, pull, reach, handle, and other physical functions shall be considered\nwith regard to physical impairments. The person's ability to understand,\nremember,  and  carry out instructions and  respond appropriately to\nsupervision, coworkers, and work pressures in a work setting shall be\nconsidered with regard to mental impairments. Other impairments,\nincluding skin impairments, epilepsy, visual sensory impairments, postural\nand  manipulative limitations, and environmental restrictions, shall be\nconsidered in conjunction with the person's physical and  mental\nimpairments to determine residual functional capacity.\n(c) The  person's physical exertion requirements shall be determined based\non the following standards:\n1. Sedentary work shall be work that involves lifting no more than ten\n(10) pounds at a time and occasionally lifting or carrying articles\nsuch as large files, ledgers, and small tools. Although a sedentary\njob primarily involves sitting, occasional walking and standing may\nalso be required in the performance of duties.\n2. Light work shall be work that involves lifting no more than twenty\n(20) pounds at a time with frequent lifting or carrying of objects\nweighing up to ten (10) pounds. A job shall be in this category if\nlifting is infrequently required but walking and  standing are\nfrequently required, or if the job primarily requires sitting with\npushing and pulling of arm or leg controls. If the person has the\nability to perform substantially all of these activities, the person shall\nbe deemed  capable of light work. A person deemed  capable of light\nwork shall be deemed  capable of sedentary work unless the person\nhas additional limitations such as the loss of fine dexterity or inability\nto sit for long periods.\n3. Medium  work shall be work that involves lifting no more than fifty\n(50) pounds at a time with frequent lifting or carrying of objects\nweighing up to twenty-five (25) pounds. If the person is deemed\ncapable of medium  work, the person shall be deemed  capable of\nlight and sedentary work.\n4. Heavy  work shall be work that involves lifting no more than one\nhundred (100) pounds at a time with frequent lifting or carrying of\nobjects weighing up to fifty (50) pounds. If the person is deemed\ncapable of heavy work, the person shall also be deemed  capable of\nmedium, light, and sedentary work.\n5. Very heavy work shall be work that involves lifting objects weighing\nmore  than one hundred (100) pounds at a time with frequent lifting\nor carrying of objects weighing fifty (50) or more pounds. If the\nperson is deemed  capable of very heavy work, the person shall be\ndeemed  capable of heavy, medium, light, and sedentary work.\n(6) Upon  disability retirement, an employee may  receive a disability retirement\nallowance during his or her lifetime which shall be:\n(a) For a member  who began participating prior to August 1, 2004, an annual\nretirement allowance payable monthly and  determined in the same\nmanner  as for retirement at his or her normal retirement date with years of\nservice and final compensation being determined as of the date of his or\nher disability, except that service credit shall be added to the person's\ntotal service beginning with his or her last date of paid employment and\ncontinuing to his or her sixty-fifth birthday; however, the maximum  service\ncredit added shall not exceed the total service the person had upon his or\nher last day of paid employment, and the maximum  combined service\ncredit for calculating his or her disability retirement allowance, including\ntotal service and added service, shall not exceed twenty-five (25) years.\nIf, however, a person covered by this paragraph has accumulated\ntwenty-five (25) or more years of total service, he or she shall receive\nadded  service necessary to bring his or her combined service credit,\nincluding total and added service, to twenty-seven (27) years;\n(b) For a member  who began participating on or after August 1, 2004, but\nprior to January 1, 2014, the higher of twenty percent (20%) of the\nmember's  monthly final rate of pay or the monthly retirement allowance\ndetermined in the same  manner as for retirement at his or her normal\nretirement date with years of service and final compensation being\ndetermined as of the date of his or her disability; or\n(c) For a member  who begins participating on or after January 1, 2014, in the\nhybrid cash balance plan as provided by KRS  78.5512, the higher of\ntwenty percent (20%) of the member's monthly final rate of pay or the\nretirement allowance determined in the same manner as for retirement at\nhis or her normal retirement date under KRS 78.5512.\n(7) No  benefit provided in this section shall be reduced as a result of any change\nin the extent of disability of any retired member  who is normal retirement age or\nolder.\n(8) A person whose last day of paid employment was in a nonhazardous position\nwho  is totally and permanently disabled due to a duty-related injury may be\neligible for benefits based upon the definitions, criteria, and requirements\nspecified by KRS 61.621.","path":["KRS Chapter 78"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=50779","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:49:38Z","sha256":"64119defd42ab5a3a35a4a984f77e8ab9e459924768e06cc11168a29a7059f33","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-78.5520","next":"us-ky/krs-78.5524"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}