New York City Employee Retirement System

The New York City Employees' Retirement System (NYCERS) was founded by the New York State Legislature in 1920 with 13,331 members. Today, NYCERS has grown into the largest municipal public employee retirement system in the United States with over 300,000 active members and retirees including civilian employees such as clerical workers, accountants and social workers, and uniformed employees such as New York City Correction Officers and Sanitation Workers. NYCERS is a defined benefit retirement plan. Defined benefit retirement plans for public sector employees offer benefits which are defined in law. Generally, retirement allowances payable from such plans are based on a member's years of service, age and compensation base. Other types of benefits such as loans, disability and death benefits are also offered and specified in law. All benefits payable are funded by employee and employer contributions and from earnings on the invested assets of the system. NYCERS is a cost-sharing, multiple employer public employee retirement system. In addition to the City of New York (various agencies, boards and commissions), members are employed by public benefit corporations such as the NYC Transit Authority and the NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation. NYCERS performs many functions for active members and retirees alike. Among other things, each year NYCERS issues approximately 50,000 loans and processes thousands of refunds and buy-back applications. For retirees, NYCERS verifies retirement allowances, calculates Cost-of-Living-Adjustments, and much more. NYCERS is dedicated to a client-centered approach to quality service delivery. Whether it's upgrading Information Technology infrastructure, facilitating access to information, developing customer service upgrades or instituting advanced security measures, NYCERS is committed to sustaining quality service delivery for all our members, retirees and beneficiaries.