Definitions

As used in this article, unless the context otherwise requires:

(a)“Defined contribution system” means the Government of Guam Defined Contribution Retirement System created and established by this Article;

(b)“Existing retirement system” means the Government of Guam Retirement Fund established in Article 1 of this Chapter;

(c)“Existing employer” means any employer who employed or employs a member of the existing retirement system;

(d)“Board” means the Board of Trustees of the government of Guam Retirement Fund, which is responsible for the direction and operation of the affairs and business of the system. Title to all assets of the Retirement Fund shall be held for the Retirement Fund by the Board or its qualified agent’s bank trustee;

(e)“Year of employment” for vesting purposes means each Plan Year (the twelve-month period ending on September 30) during which a member has completed at least one-thousand (1,000) hours of service for which a member is directly or indirectly provided compensation or is entitled to compensation by the government for the performance of duties for the government during the Plan Year. For purposes of determining Hours of Service, each month during which a member has completed at least one

(1)hour of Service shall be equivalent to one hundred seventy-five

(175)hours of service; CH. 8 RETIREMENT OF PUBLIC EMPLOYEES

(f)“Employer” means each and every line department or agency of the Executive Branch, every autonomous and semi-autonomous agency or instrumentality, public corporations, every educational institution whether secondary or post-secondary, the Judicial Branch, the Legislative Branch, Public Defender Corporation, and every public entity hereafter to be created by law, within Guam which has employed or employs a member;

(g)“Member contribution” means an amount deducted from the member’s regular base pay, and deposited into the member’s individual annuity account within the Defined Contribution Retirement System;

(h)“Employer contribution” means an amount deposited into the member’s individual annuity account or, as applicable, ancillary benefit account on a periodic basis coinciding with the employee’s base payroll period by an employer from its own funds;

(i)“Account” means an account established for each member to record the deposit of member contributions, employer contributions, and interest, dividends or other accumulations credited on behalf of the member;

(j)“Retirement” means a member’s withdrawal from the active employment of a participating employer and completion of all conditions precedent to such withdrawal;

(k)“Plan Document” means the Defined Contribution Retirement System Plan and Trust Agreement, as approved and adopted by the Board of Trustees, pursuant to this Article, as from time to time amended.

(l)“Base Pay” means an employee’s stated rate of pay;

(m)“Member of the Defined Contribution Retirement System” means any person who is eligible to participate and participates in the Defined Contribution Retirement System in accordance with §§ 8206, 8206.1 and 8207.

(n)[No text]

(1)“Ancillary Benefit Account” means a pool account established for all members to record the deposit of employer contributions, interest and/or other accumulations credited on behalf of all members, the balance of which shall be used solely for the payment of insurance premiums associated with the disability benefits to the extent they were offered under the Defined Contribution Retirement System. The Ancillary Benefit Account, as distinguished from the “Account,” as defined in § 8201(i), shall not be subject to any distributions to members as prescribed in § 8210, nor be included in any account statements as prescribed in § 8214.

(2)Subsequent to the creation of the Welfare Benefit Account established under Article 4 of this Chapter, the Ancillary Benefit Account shall remain operative until all balances have been depleted for the payment of insurance premiums associated with the pre-retirement disability benefits and survivor death benefits offered under the Defined Contribution Retirement System. Under no circumstances shall contributions already deposited into the Ancillary Benefit Account be reimbursed or reverted to any Employer.

(o)“Transfer Incentive Reserve” means an account established for the benefit of the member under a trust agreement to record the deposit of rollover funds received from the Employer’s Contribution Reserve in accordance with § 8164(b) of this Chapter, and shall include subsequent interest, dividends, and/or other accumulations credited or debited on behalf of the member, all of which shall be segregated from member and employer contributions and shall be subject to distribution limitations in accordance with this Article and as set forth in rules promulgated by the Board. CH. 8 RETIREMENT OF PUBLIC EMPLOYEES