Public Act (PA) 300 of 1980 is the Michigan Public School Employees’ Retirement Act. It’s also called the Retirement Act. This law gives retirement benefits to employees of Michigan public schools. These workers are members of the Michigan Public School Employees’ Retirement System. The law also includes other legal requirements signed into law by the governor.
The Michigan Legislature publishes the Retirement Act in PDF (471 KB) and HTML formats. They update the text when changes are made to the law.
The Defined Benefit retirement plan is funded in several ways. These include employer contributions, member contributions, payments to buy service credit, and investment earnings. Members here refer to workers with a Defined Benefit Plan or a hybrid plan, like Pension Plus or Pension Plus 2 plans.
An actuary firm reviews the Defined Benefit retirement plan each year. An actuary is a financial expert who studies long-term costs and risks. The firm sets the contribution rates each year.
Plans with a defined contribution part are funded through investments the worker or their representative select, through our third-party partner, Voya Financial.
Michigan public schools receive the next year’s annual contribution rates between February and April. The new rates start on Oct. 1. This date is the start of the state fiscal year. Member contribution rates are set by law.
The Retirement Act explains who is part of the retirement system. It also defines which types of pay reporting units report for workers in the Defined Benefit and hybrid plans, and the Defined Contribution Plan. Some pay types aren’t reported.
The Defined Benefit Plan pays a pension when the worker meets the requirements and retires. A hybrid plan provides both a pension and savings plans. The Defined Contribution Plan provides savings plans that invest money from the employer and worker until they stop working for a reporting unit.
In 2012, some workers chose to change from the Defined Benefit Plan to the Defined Contribution Plan. These workers may qualify for a pension when they retire based on their time worked. They also have savings plans. Since the change, they and their employer have contributed money only to these savings plans. In the ORS system, these plans are called Basic DC Converted and MIP DC Converted.
The Retirement Act also explains service credit. Service credit is the time members earn toward retirement benefits. ORS calculates service credit using the hours the reporting unit reports.
Administrative rules
The Michigan Administrative Hearing System (MAHS) maintains the rules for the Michigan Public School Employees’ Retirement System (MPSERS). These rules are part of the Michigan Administrative Code. MAHS handles contested case hearings under its General Hearing Rules.
The administrative rules are divided into three parts:
