(a) “System” shall mean the Employees Retirement System of the Government of the United States Virgin Islands.
(b) “Government” shall mean the Government of the United States Virgin Islands and its agencies and instrumentalities.
(c) “Employer” shall mean the Government of the United States Virgin Islands and its agencies and instrumentalities including all autonomous and semiautonomous agencies of the Government of the Virgin Islands.
(d) “Board” shall mean the Board of Trustees provided for herein to administer the system.
(e) “Employee” shall mean an official or employee in the service of the employer who is employed by the employer for compensation.
(f) “Member” shall mean any employee included in the membership of the system and participating therein as herein provided.
(g) “Service” shall mean employment as an employee of the employer for salary, wages or compensation.
(h) “Prior service” shall mean service as an employee of the employer prior to October 1, 1959.
(i) “Membership service” shall mean service as an employee of the employer on and after October 1, 1959 while a member of the system.
(j) “Credited service” shall mean prior service and membership service as herein provided.
(k) “Regular interest” shall mean interest at such rate as shall be determined by the Board from the experience of the system which shall be not less than two percent nor more than four percent per annum. For the first five fiscal years of operations of the system regular interest shall be at the rate of three percent per annum.
(l) “Accumulated contributions” shall mean the amounts contributed by a member as a deduction from compensation, without interest.
(m) “Military service” shall mean service in any of the armed services of the United States.
(n) “Compensation” shall mean amounts received as pay, salary or remuneration for services rendered, provided that the maximum amount of compensation to be used for contributions by the members or in the computation of any annuity or benefit hereunder shall be $65,000. Overtime pay or compensation for special services shall not be included as compensation.
(o) “Average compensation” shall mean the average rates of annual compensation for any five highest years of credited service within the last ten years of service, subject to the maximum salary limitations in effect during such service.
(p) “In service” shall mean: (a) actual employment as an employee for partial or total compensation; (b) an employee in military service; or (c) an employee on leave of absence approved by the employer on account of sickness, disability or other cause provided such leave of absence shall not have extended continuously for more than one year prior to the date of establishment.
(q) “Retirement” shall mean the acceptance of a retirement annuity by a member upon withdrawal from service of the employer.
(r) “Withdrawal from service” shall mean complete severance of employment of any member as an employee of the employer, by resignation, discharge, dismissal or death.
(s) “Fiscal year” shall mean the period beginning on October 1 in any year and ending on September 30th of the subsequent year.
(t) The masculine pronoun, wherever used, shall include the feminine pronoun.
(u) “Policeman” means employees in the Division of Police and Prison of the U.S. Virgin Islands Police Department (V.I.P.D.) who perform traditional police duties or direct others in the performance of these duties, and excludes all other employees in such Division, such as cadets, clerical and housekeeping employees.
(v) “Prison guard” or “corrections officer” means employees in the Bureau of Corrections and the Department of Human Services who perform traditional correctional officer and supervisory correctional officer duties. This definition does not include any others in such Bureau or Department, such as clerical, housekeeping and food service employees or other supervisory or managerial personnel.
(w) “Fireman” means employees in the Division of Fire of the U.S. Virgin Islands Police Department (V.I.P.D.), and similar employees of the Virgin Islands Airport and Industrial Resources Agency, who perform traditional fire fighting or fire prevention duties or direct others in the performance of these duties and excludes all other employees in such Division or Agency, such as clerical and housekeeping employees.
(x) “Eligible employee with the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority” means every production employee working within the power plant, every lineman or plant operator and his support-crew employees for a period of not less than five years as certified by the Executive Director of the Authority for the purposes of this subchapter only.
(y) “Eligible employee working with chlorine, sewage or carcinogens” means any person employed by the Government of the United States Virgin Islands certified by such department's chief executive officer or his designee as having worked continuously and directly for a period of at least five years with chlorine, sewage or a carcinogen as defined by the Second Annual Report on Carcinogens published by the Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, dated December 1981, as revised for the purposes of this subchapter only.
(z) “Salary right” shall mean compensation earned to include benefits or dues as a result of contract negotiations for the time of employment prior to separation from service.