AB 2028,
as amended, Cooper. begin deleteSchool and safety employees: wrongful termination: service credit. end deletebegin insertPublic employees’ retirement: involuntary termination: reinstatement.end insert
Existing law, the Public Employees’ Retirement Law (PERL), creates the Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS) for the purpose of providing pension benefits to state employees and employees of contracting agencies and prescribes the rights and duties of members of the system and their beneficiaries. PERS provides defined benefits to members based on final compensation, credited service, and age at retirement, subject to certain variations.begin insert PERL requires a person who has retired under PERS following an involuntary termination of his or her employment to be reinstated to membership in that system, effective as of the date from which salary is awarded, if the person is reinstated to employment pursuant to an administrative or judicial proceeding and certain other conditions are met, as specified. PERL also requires the assets of the system, including, but not limited to, employee contributions, employer contributions, and investment income, to be deposited into the Public Employees’ Retirement Fund, a continuously appropriated fund.end insert
Under PERL, time during which a member is absent from service without compensation is generally not considered in computing service for the purposes of those benefits. However, as an exception to this general rule, PERL provides that, for all retirement purposes of local safety members or employees of specified local educational entities, if the employee is subject to a mandatory furlough, the employee’s credit for service and compensation earnable includes the amount of service that would have been credited and the compensation earnable that would have been reported had the employee not been subject to the mandatory furlough, as specified.
end deleteThisbegin delete bill, for an employee specified above who is wrongfully terminated, as defined, would require the employee’s credit for service and compensation earnable to include the amount of service that would have been credited and the compensation earnable that would have been reported had the employee not been wrongfully terminated.end deletebegin insert bill would additionally require the reinstatement in PERS of a member, without regard to retirement status, who is involuntarily terminated on or after January 1, 2017, and subsequently reinstated to that employment
pursuant to an administrative, arbitral, or judicial proceeding. The bill would require contributions to be made to the system for any period for which salary is awarded in the proceeding and would provide the member with service credit for that period and reinstatement of benefits effective as of the date from which salary is awarded, as specified.end insert The bill would requirebegin delete theend deletebegin insert anend insert employer of thebegin delete wrongfullyend deletebegin insert involuntarilyend insert terminated employee to notify the board of the final decision orderingbegin delete reinstatement of the employee and would further require the employer to provide the board with any additional information as the board may require,end deletebegin insert
the member’s reinstatement,end insert as specified.begin insert By increasing contributions to be deposited into the Public Employees’ Retirement Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation.end insert By requiring local government employers to provide this notification and information, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.
Vote: majority.
Appropriation: begin deleteno end deletebegin insertyesend insert.
Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
begin insertSection 20969.3 is added to the end insertbegin insertGovernment Codeend insertbegin insert,
2to read:end insert
(a) A member who was involuntarily terminated and
4who is subsequently reinstated to that employment, pursuant to
5an administrative, arbitral, or judicial proceeding, shall be
6reinstated with all retirement benefits that the member otherwise
7would have accrued. Administrative proceedings also include
8proceedings before the governing board of a school district, a
9charter school, a county office of education, or a community
10college district.
11
(b) Reinstatement of benefits shall be effective as of the date
12from which salary is awarded in the administrative, arbitral, or
13judicial proceedings. Contributions shall be made for any period
14for which salary is awarded in the administrative, arbitral, or
15judicial proceedings in the amount that the
member would have
16contributed had his or her employment not been terminated, and
17he or she shall receive credit as state service, as defined in Section
1820069, for the period for which salary is awarded and
19contributions are received.
20
(c) This section shall apply to members who were subject to an
21involuntary termination effective on or after January 1, 2017.
22
(d) An employer of the member described in subdivision (a)
23shall notify the board of the final decision ordering the member’s
24reinstatement to employment within five days of the date the
25decision becomes final. The notification shall include the date of
26involuntary termination and the date on which the member was
27reinstated to employment after the decision.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
29this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
30local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
31pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
324 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
Section 20969.3 is added to the Government
34Code, to read:
(a) For all retirement purposes, including benefit
2eligibility and calculations of retirement allowances under this part
3for a person employed by a county office of education, a school
4district, a school district that is a contracting agency, a community
5college district, or a local safety member, as defined in Section
620420, who was wrongfully terminated, the employee’s credit for
7service and compensation earnable shall include the amount of
8service that would have been credited and the compensation
9earnable that would have been reported had the employee not been
10wrongfully terminated.
11(b) An employer of an employee described in subdivision (a)
12shall notify the
board of the final decision ordering reinstatement
13within five days of the date the decision becomes final. The
14notification shall include the date of wrongful termination and the
15date on which the employee was reinstated after the decision. The
16employer shall provide any additional information as the board
17may require to implement this section.
18(c) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the
19following meanings:
20(1) “Wrongful termination” means any termination action by
21an employer that has been reversed or modified by a final decision
22ordering reinstatement.
23(2) “Final decision ordering reinstatement” means a final
24decision of the employer, a court, an administrative agency, a
25personnel commission,
or an arbitrator, that orders the
26reinstatement of the employee to employment with the employer.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
28this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
29local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
30pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
314 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
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