County employees' retirement: Los Angeles County.

Existing law establishes retirement plans, known as Retirement Plan D and Retirement Plan E, that are applicable in the retirement system in Los Angeles County and prescribe procedures for members to transfer between those plans. Under existing law, a member who transfers from Retirement Plan E to Retirement Plan D, as specified, may retire for service-connected or nonservice-connected disability and receive disability benefits under Retirement Plan D only if he or she has either (1) completed 2 continuous years of active service after his or her most recent transfer date, or (2) earned 5 years of retirement service credit under Retirement Plan D after his or her most recent transfer date. Existing law also provides that a member who becomes disabled and retires before meeting either of these conditions (1) may apply for and receive only a deferred or service retirement allowance, and (2) for the purposes of calculating his or her retirement benefits under this section, shall be credited with service under Retirement Plan E, as specified, during any period he or she is totally disabled and is receiving, or eligible to receive, disability benefits, either during or after any elimination or qualifying period, under a disability plan provided by the employer. This bill would instead provide that a member who transfers from Retirement Plan E to Retirement Plan D, as specified, and who becomes disabled and has not completed the 2 continuous years of active service or earned 5 years of retirement service credit under Retirement Plan D after his or her most recent transfer date (1) may apply for and receive only a deferred or service retirement allowance, or (2) may elect to transfer prospectively back to Retirement Plan E, and for the purposes of calculating his or her retirement benefits under this section, shall in lieu of credit under Retirement Plan D be credited with service under Retirement Plan E, as specified, during any period he or she is totally disabled and is receiving, or eligible to receive, disability benefits, either during or after any elimination or qualifying period, under a disability plan provided by the employer up to the earlier of the date he or she retires or no longer qualifies for disability benefits. Existing law defines the age at time of entrance into the retirement system for a person who enters within 90 days, except as specified, of last rendering service as a member of the Public Employees' Retirement System, another retirement system established under the County Employees Retirement Law of 1937, the State Teachers' Retirement System, or a retirement system of any other public agency of the state that has established reciprocity with the Public Employees' Retirement System subject to specified conditions, and who retains his membership in such other system or systems, as the age at entry into the first such other system. Existing law also defines the member's age at the time of entrance into the retirement system for a person who, after entering, redeposits the contributions he or she withdrew from the Public Employees' Retirement System, and who otherwise meets all requirements for reciprocity under this article by reason of his or her membership in the Public Employees' Retirement System, as his or her age at entry into the Public Employees' Retirement System, commencing with the pay period immediately following receipt of confirmation from the Public Employees' Retirement System that all withdrawn contributions have been redeposited. This bill would authorize a nonretired member to use current, forfeited, and vested membership periods, as specified, when meeting the reciprocity requirements for purposes of determining age of entry. Existing law prohibits a member of Retirement Plan E from being credited with service for any period of time, in excess of 22 consecutive workdays, in which the member is absent from work without pay, except as specified. This bill would instead prohibit a member from being credited with service for any payroll period, in which no compensation is received by the member, except as specified. Existing law requires a member to have completed 10 years of service to be vested under Retirement Plan E. Under existing law, for the purposes of calculating those 10 years of service, an unpaid leave of absence of not to exceed one year, or a leave of absence for which an employee receives any benefit that has been approved by the employer, is not considered an interruption of service, except that the period of time of unpaid leave in excess of 22 consecutive workdays is not considered as service in calculating other specified benefits. This bill would instead provide that a payroll period in which no compensation is received by a member shall not be considered as service in calculating those other benefits.