(1) A payment is LEOFF Plan I basic salary if it is part of the basic monthly rate of salary or wages attached to the position or longevity pay. Special salary or wages are not part of the basic monthly rate and do not qualify as basic salary.
(2) Basic salary is earned when the service is rendered, rather than when payment is made.
Example: | If a member works during July but does not receive payment for the work until August, the basic salary was earned during July and must be reported to the department as July earnings. |
(3) Salary characterizations are based upon the nature of the payment. A payment is basic salary if it meets the criteria of subsection (1) of this section. The name given to the payment is not controlling in determining whether the payment is basic salary. The department determines whether a payment is basic salary by considering:
(a) What the payment is for; and
(b) Whether the reason for the payment brings it within the statutory definition of basic salary.
Example: | A payment based upon educational attainment is not basic salary for LEOFF Plan I. Describing the payment as a "longevity" payment does not change the fact that the payment is for educational attainment. The payment will not be counted as basic salary despite being identified by the employer as a longevity payment. |
(c) See the following sections for a discussion and examples of the following types of payments:
(iii) "Payments excluded from basic salary because they are not a salary or wage" - WAC
415-104-340 through
415-104-3406.
[Statutory Authority: RCW
41.50.050 and
41.50.055. WSR 97-01-016, § 415-104-311, filed 12/6/96, effective 1/6/97.]