16.582 Disability retirement.
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/ky/chapter-16/16-582A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
(a)Total and permanent disability means a disability which results in the
member's incapacity to engage in any occupation for remuneration or
profit. Loss by severance of both hands at or above the wrists, or both
feet at or above the ankles, or one
(1)hand above the wrist and one
foot above the ankle, or the complete, irrevocable loss of the sight of both
eyes shall be considered as total and permanent.
(b)Hazardous disability means a disability which results in the member's
total incapacity to continue as a regular full-time officer or as an employee
in a hazardous position, as defined in KRS 61.592, but which does not
result in the member's total and permanent incapacity to engage in other
occupations for remuneration or profit.
(c)In determining whether the disability meets the requirement of this
section, any reasonable accommodation provided by the employer as
provided in 42 U.S.C. sec. 12111(9) and 29 C.F.R. pt. 1630 shall be
considered.
(d)If the board determines that the total and permanent disability of a
member receiving a retirement allowance under this section has ceased,
then the board shall determine if the member has a hazardous disability.
(2)Any person may qualify to retire on disability, subject to the following:
(a)The person shall have sixty
(60)months of service, twelve
(12)of which
shall be current service credited under KRS 16.543(1), 61.543(1), or
78.615(1). The service requirement shall be waived if the disability is a
total and permanent disability or a hazardous disability and is a direct
result of an act in line of duty;
(b)For a person whose membership date is prior to August 1, 2004, the
person shall not be eligible for an unreduced retirement allowance;
(c)The person's application shall be on file in the retirement office no later
than twenty-four
(24)months after the person's last day of paid
employment, as defined in KRS 16.505, as a regular full-time officer or in
a regular full-time hazardous position under KRS 61.592;
(d)The person shall receive a satisfactory determination pursuant to KRS
61.665; and
(e)A person's disability application based on the same claim of incapacity
shall be accepted and reconsidered for disability if accompanied by new
objective medical evidence. The application shall be on file in the
retirement office no later than twenty-four
(24)months after the person's
last day of paid employment as a regular full-time officer or in a regular
full-time hazardous position.
(3)Upon the examination of the objective medical evidence by licensed physicians
pursuant to KRS 61.665, it shall be determined that:
(a)The incapacity results from bodily injury, mental illness, or disease. For
purposes of this section, "injury" means any physical harm or damage to
the human organism other than disease or mental illness;
(b)The incapacity is deemed to be permanent; and
(c)The incapacity does not result directly or indirectly from:
1. Injury intentionally self-inflicted while sane or insane; or
2. Bodily injury, mental illness, disease, or condition which pre-existed
membership in the system or reemployment, whichever is most
recent, unless:
a. The disability results from bodily injury, mental illness, disease,
or a condition which has been substantially aggravated by an
injury or accident arising out of or in the course of employment;
or
b. The person has at least sixteen
(16)years' current or prior
service for employment with employers participating in the
retirement systems administered by the Kentucky Retirement
Systems or the County Employees Retirement System.
For purposes of this subparagraph, "reemployment" shall not mean
a change of employment between employers participating in the
retirement systems administered by the Kentucky Retirement
Systems or the County Employees Retirement System with no loss
of service credit.
(a)1. An incapacity shall be deemed to be permanent for the purpose of
hazardous disability if it is expected to result in death or can be
expected to last for a continuous period of not less than twelve
months from the person's last day of paid employment in a position
as a regular full-time officer or a hazardous position.
2. The determination of a permanent incapacity for the purpose of
hazardous disability shall be based on the medical evidence
contained in the member's file and the member's residual functional
capacity and physical exertion requirements.
3. The determination of a total and permanent incapacity shall be
based on the medical evidence contained in the member's file and
the member's residual functional capacity.
(b)The person's residual functional capacity shall be the person's capacity
for work activity on a regular and continuing basis. The person's physical
ability shall be assessed in light of the severity of the person's physical,
mental, and other impairments. The person's ability to walk, stand, carry,
push, pull, reach, handle, and other physical functions shall be considered
with regard to physical impairments. The person's ability to understand,
remember, and carry out instructions and respond appropriately to
supervision, coworkers, and work pressures in a work setting shall be
considered with regard to mental impairments. Other impairments,
including skin impairments, epilepsy, visual sensory impairments, postural
and manipulative limitations, and environmental restrictions, shall be
considered in conjunction with the person's physical and mental
impairments to determine residual functional capacity.
(c)The person's physical exertion requirements shall be determined based
on the following standards:
1. Sedentary work shall be work that involves lifting no more than ten
(10)pounds at a time and occasionally lifting or carrying articles
such as large files, ledgers, and small tools. Although a sedentary
job primarily involves sitting, occasional walking and standing may
also be required in the performance of duties.
2. Light work shall be work that involves lifting no more than twenty
(20)pounds at a time with frequent lifting or carrying of objects
weighing up to ten
(10)pounds. A job shall be in this category if
lifting is infrequently required but walking and standing are
frequently required, or if the job primarily requires sitting with
pushing and pulling of arm or leg controls. If the person has the
ability to perform substantially all of these activities, the person shall
be deemed capable of light work. A person deemed capable of light
work shall be deemed capable of sedentary work unless the person
has additional limitations such as the loss of fine dexterity or inability
to sit for long periods.
3. Medium work shall be work that involves lifting no more than fifty
(50)pounds at a time with frequent lifting or carrying of objects
weighing up to twenty-five
(25)pounds. If the person is deemed
capable of medium work, the person shall be deemed capable of
light and sedentary work.
4. Heavy work shall be work that involves lifting no more than one
hundred
(100)pounds at a time with frequent lifting or carrying of
objects weighing up to fifty
(50)pounds. If the person is deemed
capable of heavy work, the person shall also be deemed capable of
medium, light, and sedentary work.
5. Very heavy work shall be work that involves lifting objects weighing
more than one hundred
(100)pounds at a time with frequent lifting
or carrying of objects weighing fifty
(50)or more pounds. If the
person is deemed capable of very heavy work, the person shall be
deemed capable of heavy, medium, light, and sedentary work.
(a)The disability retirement allowance shall be determined as provided in
KRS 16.576, except if the member's total service credit on his or her last
day of paid employment in a regular full-time position is less than twenty
(20)years, service shall be added beginning with his or her last date of
paid employment and continuing to his or her fifty-fifth birthday. The
maximum service credit added shall not exceed the total service the
member had on his or her last day of paid employment, and the maximum
service credit for calculating his or her retirement allowance, including his
or her total service and service added under this section, shall not exceed
twenty
(20)years.
(b)For a member whose participation begins on or after August 1, 2004, but
prior to January 1, 2014, the disability retirement allowance shall be the
higher of twenty-five percent (25%) of the member's monthly final rate of
pay or the retirement allowance determined in the same manner as for
retirement at his or her normal retirement date with years of service and
final compensation being determined as of the date of his disability.
(c)For a member who begins participating on or after January 1, 2014, in the
hybrid cash balance plan as provided by KRS 16.583, the disability
retirement allowance shall be the higher of twenty-five percent (25%) of
the member's monthly final rate of pay or the retirement allowance
determined in the same manner as for retirement at his or her normal
retirement date under KRS 16.583.
(6)If the member receives a satisfactory determination of hazardous disability
pursuant to KRS 61.665 and the disability is the direct result of an act in line of
duty as defined in KRS 16.505, the member's retirement allowance shall be
calculated as follows:
(a)For the disabled member, benefits as provided in subsection
(5)of this
section except that the monthly retirement allowance payable shall not be
less than twenty-five percent (25%) of the member's monthly final rate of
pay; and
(b)For each dependent child of the member on his or her disability
retirement date, who is alive at the time any particular payment is due, a
monthly payment equal to ten percent (10%) of the disabled member's
monthly final rate of pay; however, total maximum dependent children's
benefit shall not exceed forty percent (40%) of the member's monthly final
rate of pay. The payments shall be payable to each dependent child, or to
a legally appointed guardian or as directed by the system.
(7)If the member receives a satisfactory determination of total and permanent
disability pursuant to KRS 61.665 and the disability is the direct result of an act
in line of duty as defined in KRS 16.505, the member's retirement allowance
shall be calculated as follows:
(a)For the disabled member, the benefits as provided in subsection
(5)of
this section except that the monthly retirement allowance payable shall
not be less than seventy-five percent (75%) of the member's monthly
average pay; and
(b)For each dependent child of the member on his or her disability
retirement date, who is alive at the time any particular payment is due, a
monthly payment equal to ten percent (10%) of the disabled member's
monthly average pay, except that:
1. Member and dependent children payments under this subsection
shall not exceed one hundred percent (100%) of the member's
monthly average pay; and
2. Total maximum dependent children's benefits shall not exceed
twenty-five percent (25%) of the member's monthly average pay
while the member is living and forty percent (40%) of the member's
monthly average pay after the member's death. The payments shall
be payable to each dependent child, or to a legally appointed
guardian or as directed by the system, and shall be divided equally
among all dependent children.
(8)No benefit provided in this section shall be reduced as a result of any change
in the extent of disability of any retired member who is the age of normal
retirement or older.
(9)If a regular full-time officer or hazardous position member has been approved
for benefits under a hazardous disability, the board shall, upon request of the
member, permit the member to receive the hazardous disability allowance
while accruing benefits in a nonhazardous position, subject to proper medical
review of the nonhazardous position's job description by the system's medical
examiner.
(10)For a member of the State Police Retirement System, in lieu of the allowance
provided in subsection
(5)to
(7)of this section, the member may be retained
on the regular payroll and receive the compensation authorized by KRS
16.165, if he or she is qualified.