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          In 2018, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”), in a case commonly known as the Vernava decision, declared that vacation or sick pay used to supplement workers’ compensation payments did not constitute “regular compensation” as defined in M.G.L. c. 32, 1.

          Based on the Vernava decision, PERAC issued a memorandum which interpreted the SJC’s Vernava decision as being limited to the calculation of regular compensation for those members who received accidental disability retirement benefits under M.G.L. c. 32, § 7. PERAC instructed all retirement boards to follow its interpretation of Vernava as outlined in the memorandum but not to apply the SJC’s analysis of regular compensation to ordinary disability or superannuation retirement applications.