Post Type: Archive

Two new laws – Chapter 55 and Chapter 56 of the Laws of 2024 – that were recently passed as part of the New York State Budget, may impact certain NYCERS members and retirees.

Chapter 56 of the Laws of 2024, effective April 20, 2024, reduces the number of years used in the Final Average Salary (FAS) calculation for certain Tier 3 and Tier 6 members who retire on or after April 20, 2024. If the law applies to you, NYCERS will automatically update your FAS calculation in our system.

Local Law 12 of 2023 requires every New York City agency to create and publish a plan that describes their strategy to address the access needs of people with disabilities. The plan, known as a Five-Year Accessibility Plan, outlines the agency’s accessibility efforts in the areas of Digital Accessibility, Workplace Inclusion, Effective Communication, Physical Accessibility, and Programmatic Access.

Please click here to read NYCERS’ Five-Year Accessibility Plan.

Governor Hochul recently signed into law, eight new bills related to the retirement systems’ membership. NYCERS is reviewing the specifics and will provide information shortly. Please check back for further updates.

Chapter 782 of the Laws of 2022 amends GML section 208-f to permit the parents of a member to collect the Special Accidental Death Benefit (SADB) if the member has no spouse or child under the age of 18 (or 23 if the child is a student).

Chapter 783 of the Laws of 2022, extends the provisions of the COVID Accidental Death Benefit for an additional two years to apply to members who died on or before December 31, 2024.

The deadline to file a Notice of Participation in WTC Rescue, Recovery or Clean-Up Operations is September 11, 2026.

This law amends the Retirement and Social Security Law (RSSL) § 361-a(c) and General Municipal Law (GML) § 208-f(c) by increasing the deceased member’s salary used in the computation of the special accidental death benefit by adding to it an additional percentage. The beneficiaries of the following NYCERS members are covered: Correction Officers, Housing and Transit Police, Uniformed Sanitation members, certain EMTs and TBTA members.

This law is effective as of July 1, 2022. 

Legislation affecting NYCERS members can be found at nycers.org/legislation.

In a joint statement, the five New York City retirement systems today announced Marek Tyszkiewicz as New York City’s new Chief Actuary. The Chief Actuary is the legally-designated technical advisor to the five Boards of Trustees, overseeing the actuarial calculations for City employees’ post-employment benefits.

This act amends the provisions of Chapter 77 of the Laws of 2021 and extends the ability for NYC and NYS employees to get 4 (four) hours of paid leave per COVID injection to December 31, 2023.