Revised retired annuitant regulations open for comment until Dec. 16

The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) is considering revised, proposed regulations that would limit the type of work certain retirees can do for public agencies. Previous versions of the regulations generated concern about the ability of public agencies to fill highly technical or seasonal roles.

The League of California Cities successfully secured amendments that address many of cities’ key concerns. While these changes are significant, more flexibility and clarity are needed.

The revised regulations were approved for consideration by the CalPERS Pension and Health Benefits Committee in November and are now up for an additional 15-day comment period. Cal Cities submitted a comment letter requesting additional changes this week. Cities are encouraged to submit their own written comments based on the Cal Cities sample letter. City officials can submit written comments by email or mail until 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 16.

What is Cal Cities asking for?

The proposed regulations specifically seek to define the term “limited duration” for “extra help” positions. These types of “retired annuitant” appointments allow CalPERS retirees to perform part-time, specialized work at public agencies without losing their pensions.

Earlier in 2022, Cal Cities recommended that the regulations be amended to provide additional flexibility and clarity to appointment extensions, allow extensions to be non-consecutive, and remove the requirement that extensions be placed on the consent calendar portion of a public meeting agenda. All three recommendations were accepted.

However, the updated, proposed regulations would still restrict employers from granting retirees an extension beyond 48 months if the request is not submitted within 12 months of that original 48 months. If a retiree is needed for even a very short time after their original appointment has elapsed, they would not be granted an extension, even if the initial appointment was for a short amount of time.

Additional amendments would give public agencies — particularly those in rural areas or working on highly technical projects — the flexibility needed to best serve their communities. Cal Cities’ proposed amendments would retain the existing extension structure but allow for reasonable flexibility that is consistent with the staffing demands of cities.

CalPERS provided a detailed explanation of the proposed regulations in a recent Cal Cities webinar. For additional information, please refer to:

• Notice of Modification to Text
• Revised Text of Proposed Regulation
• Addendum to the Initial Statement of Reasons

For any additional questions about the newest version of the regulations, please contact Legislative Affairs Lobbyist Johnnie Pina.