The Employees' Retirement System of the Government of the Virgin Islands (GERS) is a statutorily created defined benefit pension plan sponsored by the Virgin Islands Government. The statutory mandate of the GERS is to encourage qualified employees to enter and remain in the service of the government by establishing an orderly means whereby those members who become superannuated or incapacitated as a result of disability may retire without suffering economic hardship.
GERS was created by Act 479, and it became operative on October 1, 1959, when contributions by employees and the Virgin Islands Government commenced. In accordance with the mandatory provisions of the Act, all regular employees of the Virgin Islands Government, except those individuals who are excluded, must become members of the Retirement System, within one (1) month of service, as a condition of their employment.
Listed below are three (3) reasons why contributing to the system is very important: