Service credit is one of the major factors in calculating your NYSLRS pension. You earn a year of service credit for each year of full-time employment with a participating employer. In some cases, you may also be able to request additional credit for past service, which could increase your pension amount.
You can request credit for past service if you:
- Worked for a participating employer before joining NYSLRS;
- Worked for a public employer that later participated in NYSLRS; or
- Received an honorable discharge from active military duty.
In most cases, you have to pay to receive additional service credit. The sooner you purchase your credit, the less it will generally cost. You must apply for any additional service credit that you wish to receive before you retire. After you apply, we’ll determine whether you’re eligible for the credit and how much it would be.
Credit for Previous Public Employment
Additional service credit includes work for an employer who later joined NYSLRS, or for public employment before you became a NYSLRS member.
Example:
You worked at the town library while going to school and, as a part-time employee, you chose not to join NYSLRS. When you graduated and took a full-time job at the Town Supervisor’s office, you were required to join. You can request credit for the part-time service at the library.
When you apply, you’ll be asked for the name of the employer and the approximate dates you worked there. We encourage you to submit any proof you may have of your previous service. We will also reach out to your former employer, but you may be able to expedite the process by providing payroll records such as W-2 forms or pay stubs to NYSLRS when you apply.
You must earn two years of service credit as a member before additional service can be credited to you.
Military Service Credit
If you served in the U.S. armed forces, you may be eligible to purchase credit toward your retirement for your military service, regardless of whether your military service was before or after you joined NYSLRS.
There are different sections of the law that allow credit for military service. The amount of military service credit you can receive, and the cost (if any), will vary depending on which section of the law allows the credit. Reserve and National Guard service may qualify if it’s considered active duty.
For requests for military service credit, you will need to include a copy of your Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty (DD-214).
For certain military service, you must have five years of member service credit before you can apply.
How to Request Additional Service Credit
You can apply for additional service credit and military service credit in Retirement Online. Sign in to your account, scroll down to the ‘My Account Summary’ section of your Account Homepage and click the “Manage My Service Purchases” button, then click “Request Additional Service Credit.” If you are applying for military service credit, select “Article 20 Military” when asked for your employer.
You can also complete and submit a Request to Purchase Service Credit form (RS5042). You can attach your form (and any supporting documents) to our secure contact form or mail it to NYSLRS, 110 State Street, Albany, NY 12244-0001.
More Information
There may be other ways to increase your retirement service credit. If you had a previous membership in a New York State public retirement system and it was terminated, you may be able to reinstate your membership. If you still have an active membership in another public retirement system, but you are no longer working for the employer that participates in that retirement system, you may be able to transfer that membership to NYSLRS.
A word of caution — there are certain situations where purchasing additional service credit will not increase your pension. For example, special retirement plans for police officers and firefighters allow retirement after 20 or 25 years of service regardless of age, but not all types of public employment count toward the 20 or 25 years in these plans. Contact us if you have questions.
For more information about purchasing additional credit:
- Consult your retirement plan publication;
- Visit our Military Service Credit page; or
- Read our publication Service Credit for Tiers 2 through 6 (VO1854).
I retired in November 2010 am I instilled to additional coverage
Requests for additional service credit must be received by NYSLRS before a member retires.
If you have questions about your NYSLRS account, please call our customer service representatives at 866-805-0990, press 2, then follow the prompts. You can also message them using our secure contact form. Filling out the secure form allows them to safely contact you about your personal account information.
I worked for 2 years as a college student for SUNY ATC Canton and they found copies of the timesheets . I also worked for 5 years at a SUNY college from 2006-2011 (5 years ) full time and HR told me to join UUP Union and TIACREFF . I do have an older signed paper showing my 5 years of service . I then began working full time for 6 months and joined the retirement, and then part time as a NYS substitute and 2 weeks as a fill in village clerk. I sent in everything and they said it would take 2 years to determine if I could get into the retirement and buy back those service years. I have since had to stop working . Can anyone help me buy that time for credit to see if I can get a small pension?
For assistance, please call our customer service representatives at 866-805-0990, press 2, then follow the prompts. You can also message them using our secure contact form. One of our representatives can review your account and respond to your questions. Filling out the secure form allows them to safely contact you about your personal account information.
Any word on purchasing service credit for
volunteer fire fighter?
(where does that bill stand right now?)
The decision on whether to adopt benefit enhancements comes from the State Legislature and the Governor. The retirement system (NYSLRS) administers legislation and programs that are signed into law. You may want to contact your state legislative representatives.
I applied for additional service credit in September of 2021 but have not received anything from retirement yet. Does it normally take this long?
For help with your service credit purchase, please call our customer service representatives at 866-805-0990, press 2, then follow the prompts. You can also message them using our secure contact form. Filling out the secure form allows them to safely contact you about your personal account information.
I retired in March of 2023. I have worked for the County for 24 years part-time. I resigned for one day, was re-instated and continue to work. Do I get any more toward retirement.
For information about your situation, please call our customer service representatives at 866-805-0990, press 2, then follow the prompts. You can also message them using the secure contact form on our website. Filling out the secure form allows them to safely contact you about your personal account information.
How do i get on the web site ?????
NYSLRS members and retirees and can sign up for a Retirement Online account.
For security reasons, you will be asked to identify yourself, confirm your Social Security number and verify your identity. Then you’ll be asked to create your user ID and password. You can find help with registering in the Tools & Tips section of the Retirement Online page.
If you need help with Retirement Online, please contact the NYSLRS Call Center at 866-805-0990, press 2 and follow the prompts. The Call Center is available Monday through Friday from 7:30 am – 5:00 pm.
If you go to the account summary there is no manage my services section.
If you are an active (not retired) NYSLRS member, you can request to purchase service or manage your service credit purchases by clicking the Manage My Service Credit Purchases button in Retirement Online.
If you need help with Retirement Online, please call our customer service representatives at 866-805-0990, press 2, then follow the prompts.
I retired in May2022 with 1500 hrs. Sick leave. I have not had that credit applied to my pension calculation. When can I expect it?
When you retire, your pension payment is based on the salary and service information we have on file for you at retirement. In some cases — such as with service credit for unused, unpaid sick leave at retirement — slight adjustments are made to the initial amount after we receive and process final payroll information from your employer. These recalculations are processed in date order and are generally minimal compared to the overall benefit amount.
Once we have all the information we need and we finalize your benefit amount, if your payment increases, you will receive a retroactive payment for the amount you are owed back to your date of retirement.
I understand that the adjustment may be minimal but I was wondering what 5e approximate wait time for that adjustment is. I had six months of sick time and five weeks of vacation to be factored in for that adjustment and I’ve been retired for 2.5 years and there has been no adjustment. No matter how minor that adjustment is, it’s still my money so I was just wondering about how long it takes.
We are working hard to recalculate pension amounts and provide retroactive payments as quickly as possible. We apologize for the length of time this has taken for some retirees.
Howard,
I retired in September of 2020, and still have not received the recalculation for my 1500 sick hours.
Virtually all initial pension payments are made timely by the end of the month following retirement. NYSLRS often receives adjustments to earnings for retirees well after the date of retirement and is working hard to recalculate pension amounts and provide retroactive payments as quickly as possible. We apologize for the length of time this has taken for some retirees. Thank you for your patience.
If I am allowed to purchase service credit for part-time work at my local school district in 2009 and I did not join the NYSLRS at the time, how come I can’t be reinstated to a different tier than the one I am in now (Tier 6 for NYS Police & Fire)?
Your tier is based on the date you joined NYSLRS. If you didn’t join NYSLRS at the time, you won’t be eligible to reinstate an earlier tier.
I bought back my time for (2) positions I had in the late 1980s and 1990 which allowed me to become a member of Tier 4. My issue is with the insurance coverage that I may, or may, not have had during my time in those positions.
I’m being told that: the two (2) jobs which I purchased time back for needed to have had NYSHIP coverage, even if I did not enroll in it, they simply had to have had it offered. If they didn’t have NYSHIP, I will lack 409 days from being able to retire. This doesn’t make and sense to me. If I didn’t enroll in the coverage, then why would it make a difference whether or not it was offered at all?
NYSLRS doesn’t administer health insurance programs for its members or retirees. Please check with your employer’s health benefits administrator for questions about health benefit.
If you are a New York State employee, the New York State Department of Civil Service will handle your health benefits after you retire. You can contact the Department of Civil Service (http://www.cs.ny.gov/home/contact.cfm) or visit their website at http://www.cs.ny.gov to learn more.