HARRY HUGHES, Governor

3193

(2) With respect to any person who was employed by the
State on December 31, 1979, eligibility service for service
rendered before that date shall be equal to the creditable
service recognized through December 31, 1979 under the
retirement system as in effect on that date.

[(3) In this section "service" means service as an
employee, whether or not as an employee as defined in § 111
of this subtitle.]

[(4)] (3) Eligibility service shall include periods
while in the military service as specified in Article 65, §
88 of the Code.

[(5)] (4) A period during which an employee is on a
leave of absence approved by the board of trustees, under
rules that apply to all employees similarly situated, shall
be included in eligibility service, if the period of leave
is not included otherwise under this section.

[(6)] (5) If a former member who is not retired is
restored to service without having incurred a break in
service, the eligibility service to which he was previously
entitled shall be restored to him. If a former member who
is not retired has incurred a break in service and is
restored to service and the number of consecutive 1-year
breaks in service does not at least equal the aggregate
number of years of his eligibility service rendered before
the break in service, determined as of the time of the break
in service, excluding any eligibility service disregarded
under this section because of any prior break in service, or
if he was entitled to a vested retirement allowance at the
time of the break in service, the eligibility service to
which he was entitled previously shall be restored to him.

143.

(1) Except as hereinafter provided, all service with a
public school rendered by a teacher on or after January 1,
1980, and before his retirement shall be eligibility service
for the purposes of this pension system. With respect to
any calendar year in which a teacher completes at least 700
hours of service, there shall be included in his eligibility
service a full year of eligibility service. Eligibility
service may not be recognized for any fiscal year in which
the teacher completes less than 700 hours of service. Any
calendar year after the year in which a teacher first
becomes employed during which he does not complete more than
350 hours of service shall be considered a break in service.
Any service rendered before a break in service that occurs
before the year in which a teacher retires, dies, or
otherwise terminates his employment or becomes 62 years old
may not be recognized as eligibility service, until the
teacher completes 1 year of eligibility service following
the break in service. However, if a teacher who has not