Service credit is an important factor in determining your retirement benefit. “Service credit” is based on the number of hours of compensated employment reported by your employer.
You earn one service credit month for every calendar month in which you are compensated for 70 or more hours of employment. You may not earn more than one month’s service credit in a month, even if you work more than 70 hours for each of two or more employers. Beginning September 1, 1991, if you are compensated for fewer than 70 hours in a month, you earn one quarter of a service credit month. Service credit years are calculated by dividing the total service credit months by 12.
Suppose you were hired September 1, 1975, and worked for a covered employer until March 16, 2002, and then you retired. In each month you were compensated for at least 70 hours.
Your service credit will be as follows:
| Period | Months |
|---|---|
| September 1975 — December 1975 | 4 |
| January 1976 — December 2001 | 312 |
| January — March 2002 | 3 |
| Total | 319 |
319 months ÷ 12 months = 26.5833 years, or 26 years and 7 months of service credit.
If you are employed by a school district, educational service district, the State School for the Blind, the Washington School for the Deaf, or an institution of higher learning, you may receive 12 service credit months for the school year if you:
You may recover service credit for a six-month probationary period served between October 1, 1947 and June 30, 1965, by making contributions for that period. To learn if you are eligible and what your payment might be, contact DRS. Be prepared to provide:
You may be able to combine your PERS service credit with credit earned in other Washington State retirement systems in order to qualify for retirement. For more information, see “What if I’ve previously been a member of another retirement system?”
You may be eligible to acquire service credit at no charge for up to five years of time spent in the military. To determine if you are eligible for interruptive or non-interruptive military service credit, contact DRS.
Interruptive military service credit is available to those who interrupt their PERS service to serve in the U.S. military. You may receive credit for interruptive military service if you:
Note: Effective July 24, 2005, a member who becomes totally incapacitated for continued employment as a result of service in the uniformed services of the United States, or the surviving spouse or eligible children of a member who dies while serving in the uniformed services of the United States, may apply for interruptive military service credit. Contact DRS for more information.
Non-interruptive military service credit is available to those who served in the U.S. military prior to becoming PERS members. To receive credit for military service performed prior to becoming a PERS Plan 1 member, you must:
If you think you meet these requirements, contact DRS to apply. You can also find more information about military service credit requirements by reading the PERS 1 Interruptive Military Service Credit, or PERS 1 Non-Interruptive Military Service Credit publications.
When you have five or more service credit years in PERS, you have a vested right to a retirement benefit when you meet the plan’s age requirement, even if you leave covered employment.Your benefit will depend in part on how many service credit years you have earned (“How is my benefit calculated?”). If you withdraw your contributions and terminate your membership, you give up your right to retirement benefits.