All permanent employees of the Town of Wellesley and the Wellesley Housing Authority, scheduled to work more than 1,000 hours a year, and not eligible for the Massachusetts Teachers’ Retirement System, are required to become members of the Wellesley Contributory Retirement System (WCRS). The WCRS is a defined benefit retirement system. If you work long enough to qualify, you may be eligible to receive a retirement allowance based on a formula that factors in your age at retirement, your years of creditable service, and your average regular compensation.

New members are required to contribute 9% of their regular compensation plus an additional 2% on their regular compensation rate in excess of $30,000. Your contributions made to the system will be returned to you either as part of your regular monthly retirement allowance or as a full refund upon termination. In the event of your pre-retirement death, your fund contributions will be made payable as a survivor benefit to the beneficiary you have specified on file.

If you work full time in your department for twelve months out of the calendar year, you will receive 12 months of creditable service for each year of full employment. The WCRS rules and regulations state that creditable service shall be pro-rated for members that do not work on a full-time basis year round. If you only work during the school year, you may only receive 8-9 months of creditable service each year, depending on how many hours you work in your eligible position. To be vested, or eligible to receive a monthly retirement allowance, most members must earn 10 or more years of creditable service.