§ 43:15A-143 — Membership in Workers Compensation Judges Part; service dates.

2. a. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, workers compensation judges shall be members of the Workers Compensation Judges Part, established pursuant to this act, P.L.2001, c.259 (C.43:15A-142 et seq.), of the Public Employees' Retirement System, established pursuant to P.L.1954, c.84 (C.43:15A-1 et seq.), and shall be subject to the same membership and benefit provisions as State employees, except as provided by P.L.2001, c.259. Membership in the retirement system shall be a condition of employment for service as a judge of compensation. b. A Workers' Compensation Judge of the Division of Workers' Compensation in the Department of Labor and Workforce Development who is a participant in the Defined Contribution Retirement Program, established pursuant to P.L.2007, c.92 (C.43:15C-1 et seq.), on the effective date of P.L.2021, c.140 shall be transferred and enrolled in the Workers' Compensation Judges Part of the Public Employees' Retirement System within 90 days following that effective date. The account in the Defined Contribution Retirement Program or the Public Employees' Retirement Program for each judge transferred and enrolled shall be transferred to the Workers' Compensation Judges Part of the Public Employees' Retirement System and each judge shall be given service credit in the Workers' Compensation Judges Part of the Public Employees' Retirement System for service starting on the judge's date of appointment. The unfunded liability for the benefits provided by the transfer and enrollment of such judges shall be paid by transfers from the Second Injury Fund as provided by section 13 of P.L.2001, c.259 (C.43:15A-154) to the Workers' Compensation Judges Part of the Public Employees' Retirement System. Service credit transferred from a participant in the Defined Contribution Retirement Program under this subsection shall be recognized as service credit to determine eligibility for employer-paid health care benefits in retirement pursuant to P.L.1961, c.49 (C.52:14-17.25 et seq.), or any other law, rule or regulation. The actuary for the Public Employees' Retirement System shall determine the unfunded accrued liability resulting from the transfer and coverage of judges under this subsection a. of this section in the same manner provided for the determination of the unfunded accrued liability of the retirement system by section 24 of P.L.1954, c.84 (C.43:15A-24). This unfunded accrued liability shall be amortized in the manner provided by section 24 over an amortization period of 20 years. Accrued liability and normal contributions for workers compensation judges shall be paid by transfers from the Second Injury Fund as provided by subsection j. of R.S.34:15-94. The Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development may, with the authorization of and appropriation by the Legislature, pay the unfunded accrued liability in a lump sum or over a period of time shorter than 20 years. c. The value of the account of a workers' compensation judge who is transferred out of the program shall be transferred from the Defined Contribution Retirement Program to the Public Employees' Retirement System in accordance with the relevant provisions of the federal Internal Revenue Code and Internal Revenue Service guidance as a direct trustee-to-trustee transfer. The transfer shall be in accordance with a rule, method, or process that shall not result in the transfer being deemed a distribution includible in federal gross income for the workers' compensation judge. d. A workers compensation judge who retired on or after May 20, 2021 and who was not transferred and enrolled pursuant to this subsection shall be retroactively transferred and enrolled in the Workers Compensation Judges Part of the Public Employees' Retirement System pursuant to this section and the retirement allowance calculated and paid from the date of retirement based on that enrollment in Workers Compensation Judges Part of the Public Employees' Retirement System, provided the retiree complies with any terms and conditions for that transfer, enrollment, and calculation as required by the Division of Pensions and Benefits and the board of trustees of the Public Employees' Retirement System. The retroactive provision in this subsection shall only apply to those workers compensation judges who have not received a distribution from the judge's Defined Contribution Retirement Program account. L.2001, c.259, s.2; amended 2007, c.92, s.22; 2021, c.140, s.3.