Kirsch v. Public School Employees' Retirement Board

In Kirsch v. Public School Employees' Retirement Board, 929 A.2d 663 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2007), appeal granted, 597 Pa. 222, 951 A.2d 257 (2008), school employees on "union leave" received more compensation while working for the union than they would have received as school employees. For retirement purposes, the school districts reported only the compensation the "union leave" employees would have earned as school employees. The "union leave" employees filed grievances but did not prevail, and this court affirmed on appeal. Based on the language in section 8102 of the Public School Employees' Retirement Code (PSERC), which requires that an employer compensate an employee on "union leave" "as if he were in full-time active service," 24 Pa. C.S. 8102, the Court held that the statutory language "compensate as if he were in full-time active service" means that an employer must pay an employee on "union leave" at the salary level commensurate with the position held by the employee in the school district. Kirsch.