In most cases, you receive a month of service credit for each month of employment when your earned salary is greater than or equal to 80 times the federal minimum wage hourly rate in effect at the time of service. For salary that is less than this amount, service credit is prorated. Currently, the federal minimum wage rate is $7.25 per hour. Any member whose salary is at least $580 ($7.25 × 80) during the month would generally receive one month of service credit.  You cannot earn more than 12 months of service credit in a 12-month period. Service credit for members of the Denver Public Schools (DPS) benefit structure was calculated differently prior to January 1, 2010.  

The amount of service credit needed to qualify for a monthly benefit depends on when you began your membership and which benefit structure you retire under, either PERA or Denver Public Schools (DPS). The service requirement for retirement eligibility varies with age. See the Retirement Eligibility fact sheet for more details.

Yes, you can purchase service credit based on your refunded account. The eligibility and cost to purchase is dependent on the benefit structure of the refunded account and your current benefit structure (PERA or DPS benefit structure). Please review the Purchasing Service Credit booklet for more information.  

Yes, but there are different requirements to be eligible to purchase, different costs depending on your age, limits on the amount of time that can be purchased, and other requirements related to the purchase. You can learn more about the requirements in the Purchasing Service Credit booklet.