Public Employees' Retirement System: employment without reinstatement.

Existing law, the Public Employees' Retirement Law (PERL) , creates the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) , which provides pension and disability benefits to its members and prescribes their rights and duties. Existing law, the Public Employees' Pension Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA) , prescribed various limitations on public employees, employers, and retirement systems concerning, among other things, work after retirement. PERL generally prohibits retired PERS members from working for an agency participating in the system without reinstatement in the system, unless that employment is otherwise specifically authorized. PEPRA also prohibits retirees from serving or being employed directly, or through a contract, with a public employer, as defined, in the same retirement system from which they receive their benefits, except as expressly permitted. Both PERL and PEPRA generally prescribe limits on the manner and duration that retired members may be employed without reinstatement. PERL requires a person who is employed in violation of its reinstatement requirements to be reinstated in the member category previously held and on the date on which the unlawful employment occurred. In these circumstances, PERL requires that a retired member reimburse the system for the person's allowance received during the periods of the unlawful employment, to pay to the system employee contributions that otherwise should have been paid, and to contribute for associated administrative expenses, as specified. PERL requires employers in these circumstances to pay to the system the employer contributions that otherwise should have been paid and to contribute for associated administrative expenses, as specified. This bill would eliminate the above-described requirement that a person employed without reinstatement in a manner other than authorized by PERL be reinstated, instead providing that reinstatement is permissive. The bill would limit the circumstances pursuant to which retired members and employers are obligated to pay employee and employer contributions, which would have otherwise been paid, plus interest, to apply only to specified reinstatements. The bill would make conforming changes and make specific reference to the duties of employees and employers regarding reinstatement after retirement in violation of PEPRA.