AN ACT relating to disability retirement benefits in the County Employees Retirement System.

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AN ACT relating to disability retirement benefits in the County Employees 1
Retirement System. 2
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 3
Section 1. KRS 78.5522 is amended to read as follows: 4
The disability retirement provisions contained in this section shall apply to a person 5
whose last date of paid employment was in a nonhazardous position. 6
(1) Any person may qualify to retire on disability, subject to the following conditions: 7
(a) The person shall have sixty (60) months of service, twelve (12) of which shall 8
be current service credited under KRS 16.543(1), 61.543(1), or 78.615(1) . 9
The service requirement shall be waived if the person is working in a 10
nonhazardous position that could be certif ied as a hazardous position based 11
upon KRS 78.5520, and is injured in line of duty resulting in an incapacity 12
to continue as an employee in the position that could be certified as a 13
hazardous position; 14
(b) For a person whose membership date is prior to August 1, 2004, the person 15
shall not be eligible for an unreduced retirement allowance; 16
(c) The person's application shall be on file in the retirement office no later than 17
twenty-four (24) months after the pe rson's last day of paid employment in a 18
regular full-time position, as defined in KRS 78.510; and 19
(d) The person shall receive a satisfactory determination pursuant to KRS 61.665. 20
(2) A person's disability reapplication based on the same claim of incapacit y shall be 21
accepted and reconsidered for disability if accompanied by new objective medical 22
evidence. The reapplication shall be on file in the retirement office no later than 23
twenty-four (24) months after the person's last day of paid employment in a regu lar 24
full-time position. 25
(3) Upon the examination of the objective medical evidence by licensed physicians 26
pursuant to KRS 61.665, it shall be determined that: 27
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(a) The person, since his or her last day of paid employment, has been mentally 1
or physically inc apacitated to perform the job, or jobs of like duties, from 2
which he or she received his or her last paid employment. In determining 3
whether the person may return to a job of like duties, any reasonable 4
accommodation by the employer as provided in 42 U.S.C . sec. 12111(9) and 5
29 C.F.R. pt. 1630 shall be considered; 6
(b) The incapacity is a result of bodily injury, mental illness, or disease. For 7
purposes of this section, "injury" means any physical harm or damage to the 8
human organism other than disease or mental illness; 9
(c) The incapacity is deemed to be permanent; and 10
(d) The incapacity does not result directly or indirectly from bodily injury, mental 11
illness, disease, or condition which pre -existed membership in the system or 12
reemployment, whichever is mos t recent. For purposes of this subsection, 13
reemployment shall not mean a change of employment between employers 14
participating in the Kentucky Retirement Systems or the County Employees 15
Retirement System with no loss of service credit. 16
(4) Subsection (3)(d) of this section shall not apply if: 17
(a) The incapacity is a result of bodily injury, mental illness, disease, or condition 18
which has been substantially aggravated by an injury or accident arising out of 19
or in the course of employment; or 20
(b) The person ha s at least sixteen (16) years' current or prior service for 21
employment with employers participating in the Kentucky Retirement 22
Systems or the County Employees Retirement System. 23
(5) (a) 1. An incapacity shall be deemed to be permanent if it is expected to result 24
in death or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less 25
than twelve (12) months from the person's last day of paid employment 26
in a regular full-time position. 27
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2. The determination of a permanent incapacity shall be based on the 1
medical evidence contained in the member's file and the member's 2
residual functional capacity and physical exertion requirements. 3
(b) The person's residual functional capacity shall be the person's capacity for 4
work activity on a regular and continuing basis. T he person's physical ability 5
shall be assessed in light of the severity of the person's physical, mental, and 6
other impairments. The person's ability to walk, stand, carry, push, pull, reach, 7
handle, and other physical functions shall be considered with re gard to 8
physical impairments. The person's ability to understand, remember, and carry 9
out instructions and respond appropriately to supervision, coworkers, and 10
work pressures in a work setting shall be considered with regard to mental 11
impairments. Other impairments, including skin impairments, epilepsy, visual 12
sensory impairments, postural and manipulative limitations, and 13
environmental restrictions, shall be considered in conjunction with the 14
person's physical and mental impairments to determine residual f unctional 15
capacity. 16
(c) The person's physical exertion requirements shall be determined based on the 17
following standards: 18
1. Sedentary work shall be work that involves lifting no more than ten (10) 19
pounds at a time and occasionally lifting or carrying arti cles such as 20
large files, ledgers, and small tools. Although a sedentary job primarily 21
involves sitting, occasional walking and standing may also be required 22
in the performance of duties. 23
2. Light work shall be work that involves lifting no more than twent y (20) 24
pounds at a time with frequent lifting or carrying of objects weighing up 25
to ten (10) pounds. A job shall be in this category if lifting is 26
infrequently required but walking and standing are frequently required, 27
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or if the job primarily requires sitting with pushing and pulling of arm or 1
leg controls. If the person has the ability to perform substantially all of 2
these activities, the person shall be deemed capable of light work. A 3
person deemed capable of light work shall be deemed capable of 4
sedentary work unless the person has additional limitations such as the 5
loss of fine dexterity or inability to sit for long periods. 6
3. Medium work shall be work that involves lifting no more than fifty (50) 7
pounds at a time with frequent lifting or carrying of ob jects weighing up 8
to twenty-five (25) pounds. If the person is deemed capable of medium 9
work, the person shall be deemed capable of light and sedentary work. 10
4. Heavy work shall be work that involves lifting no more than one 11
hundred (100) pounds at a time with frequent lifting or carrying of 12
objects weighing up to fifty (50) pounds. If the person is deemed 13
capable of heavy work, the person shall also be deemed capable of 14
medium, light, and sedentary work. 15
5. Very heavy work shall be work that involves lifti ng objects weighing 16
more than one hundred (100) pounds at a time with frequent lifting or 17
carrying of objects weighing fifty (50) or more pounds. If the person is 18
deemed capable of very heavy work, the person shall be deemed capable 19
of heavy, medium, light, and sedentary work. 20
(6) Upon disability retirement, an employee may receive a disability retirement 21
allowance during his or her lifetime which shall be: 22
(a) For a member who began participating prior to August 1, 2004, an annual 23
retirement allowance payable monthly and determined in the same manner as 24
for retirement at his or her normal retirement date with years of service and 25
final compensation being determined as of the date of his or her disability, 26
except that service credit shall be added to the person's total service beginning 27
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with his or her last date of paid employment and continuing to his or her 1
sixty-fifth birthday; however, the maximum service credit added shall not 2
exceed the total service the person had upon his or her last day of paid 3
employment, and the maximum combined service credit for calculating his or 4
her disability retirement allowance, including total service and added service, 5
shall not exceed twenty -five (25) years. If, however, a person covered by this 6
paragraph has accumulated twenty-five (25) or more years of total service, he 7
or she shall receive added service necessary to bring his or her combined 8
service credit, including total and added service, to twenty-seven (27) years; 9
(b) For a member who began participating on or after August 1, 2004, but prior to 10
January 1, 2014, the higher of twenty percent (20%) of the member's monthly 11
final rate of pay or the monthly retirement allowance determined in the same 12
manner as for retirement at his or her normal retirement date with years of 13
service and final compensation being determined as of the date of his or her 14
disability; or 15
(c) For a member who begins participating on or after January 1, 2014, in the 16
hybrid cash balance plan as provided by KRS 78.5512, the higher of twenty 17
percent (20%) of the member's monthly final rate of pay or the retirement 18
allowance determined in the same manner as for retirement at his or her 19
normal retirement date under KRS 78.5512. 20
(7) No benefit provided in this section shall be reduced as a result of any change in the 21
extent of disability of any retired member who is normal retirement age or older. 22
(8) A person whose last day of paid employment was in a nonhazardous positio n who 23
is totally and permanently disabled due to a duty -related injury may be eligible for 24
benefits based upon the definitions, criteria, and requirements specified by KRS 25
61.621. 26
Section 2. Notwithstanding KRS 16.505 to 16.652, 61.510 to 61.705, 78.510 to 27
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78.852, or any provision of Section 1 of this Act to the contrary, a person whose last day 1
of paid employment was in a nonhazardous position on or after January 1, 2022, but prior 2
to the effective date of this Act, that could be certified as a hazardous position pursuant to 3
KRS 78.5520, who is injured in line of duty may apply for disability retirement benefits 4
pursuant to Section 1 of this Act if the person submits an application on or before January 5
1, 2027, using an a pplication form and process developed by the Kentucky Public 6
Pensions Authority. 7