(a) An employee of an employer who joins the Vermont Municipal Employees' System may become a member of the System on the effective date of participation of said employer or at a later date if he or she has completed three or more years of continuous service as an employee. If an employee does not elect to join on the effective date of the System, he or she may join on the first of any subsequent month.

(b) Any employee who is hired subsequent to the effective date of participation of his or her employer shall become a member of the System on the date the employee is hired.

(c) A municipality may elect to join the Vermont Municipal Employees' Retirement System by a vote of the legislative body of such municipality for all its employees or for employees of one or more groups of employees that have a similarity of interest, needs, and general conditions of employment or dates of hire, as determined by the legislative body and approved by the Board. The effective date of participation for such employers shall be designated by the Retirement Board. The vote by the legislative body of a municipality to join the Vermont Municipal Employees' Retirement System shall be irrevocable.

(d) The Retirement Board may, upon application of the legislative body and an employee, exempt individual employees from membership in the System, provided that the Board determines that the employee is participating in an alternative retirement system, including a retirement plan qualifying under Section 401(a) or 457 of the Internal Revenue Code, which better meets the retirement needs of the employee. (Added 1973, No. 251 (Adj. Sess.), § 3. 1974; amended 1977, No. 205 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 1987, No. 39, § 2; 1989, No. 11, § 6, eff. July 1, 1990; 1991, No. 233 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 1995, No. 118 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1999, No. 53, § 12; 1999, No. 158 (Adj. Sess.), § 17; 2007, No. 13, § 38; 2009, No. 24, § 9; 2013, No. 115 (Adj. Sess.), § 3.)