§ 530. Elimination of mandatory retirement. a. Notwithstanding any
provision of law, code, rule or regulation to the contrary and except as
provided in subdivisions b and c hereof, no member of a public
retirement system or pension fund maintained by the state or a
municipality thereof, nor any employee who was eligible to join such a
public retirement system but in lieu thereof elected an optional
retirement program to which his or her employer is thereby obligated to
contribute, shall be required to retire or separate from service on the
basis of age.

b. This article shall not apply to any member of a retirement plan
which permits immediate retirement upon a specified period of service of
twenty-five years or less without regard to age, nor shall this article
apply to any employee serving an employer in a position that, if offered
to any individual not having been previously employed by any employer
(as "employer" is defined in this chapter) or by an employer in any of
the public retirement systems funded and maintained by a city, would
qualify any such individual to become a member of a retirement plan
which permits immediate retirement upon a specified period of service of
twenty-five years or less without regard to age.

c. Nothing contained in this article shall be construed to prohibit
mandatory retirement or separation from service on the basis of age
where age is a bona fide occupational qualification reasonably necessary
to the performance of the employee's public duties.

d. Nothing contained in this article shall be construed to extend the
time limitations on payments authorized by section two hundred seven-a
of the general municipal law, as such limitations are set forth in
subdivisions two and four of such section; nor shall anything in this
article be deemed to extend the time limitations on payments authorized
by section two hundred seven-c of the general municipal law, as such
limitations are set forth in subdivision five of such section.

e. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, any
person who was employed by the state of New York or a participating
employer and who was previously denied membership in the New York state
and local employees' retirement system based solely on the mandatory
retirement provisions in effect at the time of commencing employment and
who has met all the salary and service credit requirements for a service
retirement benefit provided by the applicable provisions of this chapter
shall be entitled to file for a service retirement benefit,
notwithstanding the mandatory retirement provisions in effect prior to
the effective date of this section, and shall be entitled to receive
such retirement benefit commencing the day after his or her public
employment ceased.