Public employees' benefits: postemployment benefits.

Existing law establishes the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) and the State Teachers' Retirement System (STRS) for the purpose of providing pension benefits to their employees. Existing law also establishes the Judges' Retirement System II which provides pension benefits to elected judges and the Legislators' Retirement System which provides pension benefits to elective officers of the state other than judges and to legislative statutory officers. The County Employees Retirement Law of 1937 authorizes counties, cities, and districts to establish retirement systems pursuant to its provisions in order to provide pension benefits to employees. The Regents of the University of California have established the University of California Retirement System as a trust for this purpose. This bill would require a public employer, as defined, to reserve the right to subsequently modify or revise any postemployment benefits, including any retirement benefits, and the right not to provide any new comparable advantages if disadvantages to employees result from any modification or revision. The bill would prohibit a public employee from having an implied right to future postemployment benefits and would authorize a public employer to change a retirement benefit formula, employee contribution rate, or retirement eligibility age, except as prohibited by federal law. The bill would prohibit accrued benefits earned for prior service from being reduced without written consent unless otherwise authorized by law.