SECTIONS 21020-21039 - California Statutes

GOVERNMENT CODE

SECTION 21020-21039

21020. "Public service" for purposes of this article means the
following:
(a) The period of time an employee served the state, a school
employer, or a contracting agency prior to becoming a member, when
the service was rendered in a position in which the employee was
excluded provided one of the following conditions is met:
(1) The position has since become subject to compulsory membership
in this system.
(2) The employee was excluded because the employee was serving on
a part-time basis.
(3) The employee was excluded because the employee failed to
exercise the right to elect membership under this part.
(b) Employment in the State Emergency Relief Administration or the
State Relief Administration, regardless of the source of the
compensation paid for that employment.
(c) Employment as an academic employee of the University of
California prior to October 1, 1963.
(d) Employment by the state in which the person was not eligible
for membership in this system if the ineligibility was solely because
his or her compensation was paid from other than state-controlled
funds. However, time spent in work as a work relief recipient under
programs such as, but not limited to, the Works Progress
Administration, the Civil Works Administration, the Federal Emergency
Relief Administration, the National Youth Administration, and the
Civilian Conservation Corps, shall not constitute public service.
(e) Employment in a function formerly performed by a public agency
other than a contracting agency and assumed by a contracting agency
where the employees who performed those functions are or were
transferred to or employed by the contracting agency without change
in occupation or position.
(f) Civilian service as an employee or officer of an agency of the
government of the United States that performed functions the same as
or substantially similar to those performed by this state prior to
January 1, 1942, and that were transferred from the state to that
agency, including military service in any branch of the Armed Forces
of the United States performed by an individual on military leave of
absence from that federal employment, if all the following conditions
exist:
(1) Prior to performing that federal service he or she was
employed by the state.
(2) He or she was laid off from state service or would have been
laid off if he or she had not been absent in military service because
of the transfer of the functions of the state to an agency of the
United States government.
(3) Subsequent to his or her layoff from state service he or she
was employed by the United States government in an agency performing
functions the same as or substantially similar to those of the state
agency from which he or she was laid off.
(4) After his or her separation from federal service, he or she
was employed by a state agency.
(5) In lieu of paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), the United States
government pays to the state or an agency of the state, funds equal
to contributions that would have been made by the state had the
member been in state service for the period of his or her public
service with respect to members who were not employed by the state
prior to entering that federal employment or whose state service
prior to entering that federal employment was terminated for reasons
other than the transfer of the function.
(g) Employment in a district, prior to the time the district
became a subsidiary district of a city, of a person who was employed
by the city following the reorganization to render service to the
district and who became a member in that employment.

21020.5. (a) "Public service" also means time, on or after October
14, 1991, during which a person was employed under the California
Senate Fellows, the Assembly Fellowship, or the Executive Fellowship
programs, and time, on or after January 1, 2003, during which a
person was employed under the Judicial Administration Fellowship
program.
(b) A member may elect at any time prior to retirement to receive
service credit for that public service by making the contributions as
specified in Sections 21050 and 21052.
(c) This section shall not apply to any contracting agency nor to
the employees of any contracting agency until the agency elects to be
subject to this section by contract or by amendment to its contract
made in the manner prescribed for approval of contracts.

21021. "Public service" for the employee of a student body
organization, that is not a contracting agency, of a community
college, means the period of employment prior to becoming a member of
the permanent classified service of the district pursuant to Section
76060 or 88020 of the Education Code.
The county superintendent of schools or superintendent of schools
of an independently contracting community college district shall draw
a requisition against the funds of the community college district
for an amount equal to the total employer contribution that would
have been requisitioned under Section 20617 had that service been
rendered in the employ of the community college district and the
employer rate and member compensation on the date of transfer had
been in effect throughout the period of service credited.
The governing board may, at its discretion, establish a method of
recovering a portion of, or the total liability for, the amount so
requisitioned.

21022. "Public service," with respect to a local member who is a
full-time employee, also means any time on or after January 1, 1981,
but not to exceed 12 months, during which the local member is laid
off. In the event the member becomes subject to membership through
employment in another member classification during the layoff period,
any service credit accumulated through and contributions associated
with the intervening employment shall be revoked upon election by the
member to purchase public service credit as provided by this
section. The service credit provided by this section shall not exceed
one year for each layoff period and shall be provided to any person
who: (1) returns within 12 months of the date of layoff to full-time
employment under the procedures of the employer for returning
laid-off employees to work; (2) elects to purchase the public service
credit within three years of return to work or the effective date of
the contract amendment to become subject to this section; and (3)
redeposits any contributions which had been withdrawn at the
commencement of, or during, the period of the layoff.
This section shall not apply to any contracting agency nor to the
employees of a contracting agency until the agency elects to be
subject to this section by contract or by amendment to its contract
made in the manner prescribed for approval of contracts.

21023. (a) "Public service" with respect to a state member, other
than a university member, also means the following:
(1) Time during which the member was a prisoner of war involving
the United States, plus the time, if any, during which a member was
hospitalized following his or her release from captivity for a
disabling wound, injury, or disease directly attributable to that
captivity but not to include hospitalization after the member's
honorable and permanent medical separation from the armed forces.
(2) Time between the onset of the member's disabling wound,
injury, or disease, directly attributable to service in combat with
the armed forces during a war involving the United States, and the
date of the member's honorable and permanent medical separation from
the armed forces due to the disabling condition, if the member has a
permanent disability rating in excess of 50 percent, that percentage
having been determined under applicable federal law.
(b) For the purposes of this section, a war involving the United
States exists in any of the following circumstances:
(1) Whenever Congress has declared war and peace has not been
formally restored.
(2) Whenever the United States is engaged in active military
operations against any foreign power, whether or not a war has been
formally declared.
(3) Whenever the United States is assisting the United Nations, in
actions involving the use of the armed forces, to maintain or
restore international peace and security.
(c) A member electing to receive credit for public service under
this section shall pay the contributions and interest required
pursuant to Section 21033.
(d) This section shall apply to a member only if the member elects
to receive credit while he or she is a state member, other than a
university member, and he or she is credited with at least 10 years
of service as a state member, other than a university member, on the
date of the election.
(e) The maximum public service credit that may be received
pursuant to this section is five years.
(f) This section shall not apply to any member receiving military
retirement pay as described in Section 20896 or disability retirement
pay as described in Section 20897.
(g) Except as provided in subdivision (f), this section shall
apply to a state member, other than a university member, who leaves
or has left employment with the state, subsequently meets or has
subsequently met the conditions specified in subdivisions (a) and
(b), and thereafter returns or thereafter has returned to service as
a state member, other than a university member, is not entitled to
receive the service credit pursuant to Section 20991 or 20997.

21023.5. (a) "Public service" for purposes of this article also
means time served, not to exceed three years, as a volunteer in the
Peace Corps, AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers In Service To America), or
AmeriCorps.
(b) This section shall not apply to any contracting agency nor to
the employees of any contracting agency until the agency elects to be
subject to this section by contract or by amendment to its contract
made in the manner prescribed for approval of contracts.
(c) Any member electing to receive credit for service under this
section shall make the contributions as specified in Sections 21050
and 21052. This section applies to past and future service in the
Peace Corps, AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers In Service To America), or
AmeriCorps.

21024. (a) "Public service" with respect to a local member, other
than a school member, also means active service with the Armed Forces
or the Merchant Marine of the United States, including time during
any period of rehabilitation afforded by the United States government
other than a period of rehabilitation for purely educational
purposes, and for six months thereafter prior to the member's first
employment by the employer under this section in which he or she was
a member.
(b) Any member electing to receive credit for that public service
shall make the contributions as specified in Sections 21050 and
21052. However, any eligible member who requests costing of service
credit between January 1, 2001, and December 31, 2003, may, instead
of making those contributions, make the payment calculated under this
article as it read on December 31, 2000, which payment shall be made
in the manner described in Section 21050.
(c) The public service under this section shall not include
military service (1) in any period for which credit is otherwise
given under this article or Article 4 (commencing with Section 20990)
or (2) to the extent that total credit under this section would
exceed four years.
(d) Notwithstanding Section 21034, a member may select which of
two or more periods of service entitles him or her to receive public
service under this section.
(e) This section shall apply to a member only if he or she elects
to receive credit while he or she is in state service in the
employment of one employer on or after the date of the employer's
election to be subject to this section.
(f) This section shall not apply to any contracting agency nor to
the employees of any contracting agency until the agency elects to be
subject to this section by amendment to its contract made in the
manner prescribed for approval of contracts or in the case of
contracts made after this section takes effect, by express provision
in the contract making the contracting agency subject to this
section. The amendments to this section made during the second year
of the 1999-2000 Regular Session shall apply to contracts subject to
this section on January 1, 2001.

21024.5. (a) "Public service" with respect to a member who is a
local firefighter also means time served, before becoming a member,
as a permanent career civilian federal firefighter or permanent
career state firefighter in a position whose principal duties consist
of active fire suppression or law enforcement and that service was
terminated as a direct consequence of the closure, downsizing, or
realignment of a federal military installation.
(b) This section shall not apply to any contracting agency nor to
the employees of any contracting agency until the agency elects to be
subject to this section by contract or by amendment to its contract
made in the manner prescribed for approval of contracts.

21025. "Public service" with respect to a local member also means
service rendered to a public agency if that agency or a function of
that agency is assumed by a contracting agency or a public agency
that thereafter becomes a contracting agency.
This section shall not apply to any contracting agency nor to the
employees of any contracting agency until the agency elects to be
subject to this section by contract or by amendment to its contract
made in the manner prescribed for approval of contracts.

21025.5. (a) "Public service" with respect to a school member or a
retired school member also means service rendered on or after June
30, 1977, and prior to June 30, 1982, to an independent data
processing center formed pursuant to former Article 2 (commencing
with Section 10550) of Chapter 6 of Part 7 of Title 1 of the
Education Code, as it read on December 31, 1990, if all of the
following conditions are met:
(1) The member was a school member prior to employment with the
independent data processing center.
(2) The member returned to school employment following termination
of his or her employment with the independent data processing
center.
(3) The member received a refund of the contributions he or she
made to the system during his or her employment with the independent
data processing center.
(b) A retirement allowance of a retired school member who elects
to receive service credit for public service pursuant to this section
shall be increased only with respect to the allowance payable on and
after the first day of the month following the date the election is
received.
(c) A member may elect to receive credit for public service
pursuant to this section at any time.
(d) Any member electing to receive credit for service under this
section shall make the contributions as specified in Sections 21050
and 21052.

21026. "Public service" with respect to a local member also means
service rendered to any California nonprofit corporation whose
function is to serve firefighters employed by state and local
agencies.
This section shall not apply to any contracting agency nor to the
employees of any contracting agency until the agency elects to be
subject to this section by contract or by amendment to its contract
made in the manner prescribed for approval of contracts.

21027. (a) "Public service" with respect to a local member who
retired pursuant to this part before the effective date of the
election of his or her employer to be subject to Section 21024 also
means active service with the Armed Forces or the Merchant Marine of
the United States, including time during any period of rehabilitation
afforded by the United States government other than a period of
rehabilitation for purely educational purposes, and for six months
thereafter prior to the person's first employment by the employer
under this section in which he or she was a member.
(b) Any retired person electing to receive credit for that public
service shall make the contributions as specified in Sections 21050
and 21052. However, any eligible member who requests costing of
service credit between January 1, 2001, and December 31, 2003, may,
instead of making those contributions, make the payment calculated
under this article as it read on December 31, 2000, which payment
shall be made in the manner described in Section 21050.
(c) The public service shall not include military service (1) in
any period for which credit is otherwise given under this article or
Article 4 (commencing with Section 20990) or (2) to the extent that
total credit under this section would exceed four years.
(d) Notwithstanding Section 21034, a retired person may select
which of two or more periods of service entitles him or her to
receive public service under this section.
(e) This section shall apply to a retired person only if he or she
retired immediately following service as a local member, pursuant to
this part, and before the effective date of the election by his or
her employer to be subject to Section 21024.
(f) The retirement allowance of a retired person who elects to
receive service credit pursuant to this section shall be increased
only with respect to the allowance payable on and after the effective
date of the election.
(g) This section shall not apply to any contracting agency nor to
the employees of any contracting agency until the agency has elected
to be subject to Section 21024 and elects to be subject to this
section by amendment to its contract made in the manner prescribed
for approval of contracts or, in the case of contacts made after
January 1, 1988, by express provision in the contract making the
contracting agency subject to both Section 21024 and this section.
The amendments to this section made during the second year of the
1999-2000 Regular Session shall apply to contracts subject to this
section on January 1, 2001.

21028. "Public service" also means service in temporary, seasonal,
limited term, on call, emergency, intermittent, substitute, or other
irregular employment in which a person is excluded from membership.

21029. (a) "Public service" with respect to a state member or a
school member or with respect to a retired former state employee or a
retired former school employee, who retired on or after December 31,
1981, also means active service, prior to entering this system as a
state member or as a school member, of not less than one year in the
Armed Forces of the United States, or, active service, prior to
entering this system as a state or school member, of not less than
one year in the Merchant Marine of the United States prior to January
1, 1950. Public service credit shall not be granted if the service
described above terminated with a discharge under dishonorable
conditions. The public service credit to be granted for that service
shall be on the basis of one year of credit for each year of credited
state service, but shall not exceed a total of four years of public
service credit regardless of the number of years of either that
service or subsequent state service. A state member or a school
member or a retired former state employee or a retired former school
employee electing to receive a credit for that public service shall
have been credited with at least one year of state service on the
date of election or the date of retirement.
(b) An election by a state member or a school member with respect
to public service under this section may be made only while the
member is in state, university, or school employment, and a retired
former employee shall have retired immediately following service as a
state member or as a school member. The retirement allowance of a
retired former state employee or a retired former school employee,
who elects to receive public service credit pursuant to this section
shall be increased only with respect to the allowance payable on and
after the date of election. For the purposes of this section, a
member as described in subdivision (d) of Section 20776, shall also
mean a former state employee or a former school employee, who retired
on or after December 31, 1981.
(c) A member or retired former employee who elects to become
subject to this section shall make the contributions as specified in
Sections 21050 and 21052.
(d) The board has no duty to locate or notify any eligible former
member who is currently retired or to provide the name or address of
any such retired person, agency, or entity for the purpose of
notifying those persons.

21029.5. (a) "Public service" with respect to a state member also
means all periods of service rendered as an officer, warrant officer,
or a person in the enlisted ranks of the California National Guard
prior to electing membership in this system pursuant to Section
20326. "Public service" also means an officer, warrant officer, or a
person in the enlisted ranks of the California National Guard
rendering service authorized by Title 10 of the United States Code.
Public service may not be granted if the service described in this
section was terminated by a discharge under other than honorable
conditions.
(b) A member who elects to purchase service credit for public
service under this section shall pay the contributions described in
Sections 21050 and 21052.

21030. (a) "Public service" for purposes of this article also means
employment under a program sponsored by, and financed at least in
part by, the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973, as
amended.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a member electing
to receive credit for public service under this section shall make
the contributions as specified in Sections 21050 and 21052. However,
any eligible member who requests costing of service credit between
January 1, 2001, and December 31, 2003, may, instead of making those
contributions, make the payment calculated under this article as it
read on December 31, 2000, which payment shall be made in the manner
described in Section 21050.
(c) Benefits arising from service credited to a member under this
section shall become a liability of the employer for which the
service was rendered.

21031. (a) "Public service" also means employment by a contracting
agency before the effective date of its contract with the board, and
is limited to that portion of the service that the agency does not
provide in its contract for inclusion as prior service.
(b) A member electing to receive credit for that public service
shall make the contributions as specified in Sections 21050 and
21051. The election may be made at any time prior to retirement.
(c) If the contracting agency subsequently amends its contract to
include a greater percentage of final compensation as prior service,
the electing member shall be refunded that portion of his or her
contributions made under this section as represents the additional
prior service percentage contracted for by the agency plus interest
at the crediting rate.
(d) If the agency pays all or a portion of the normal
contributions required to be paid by a member, the contributions
required under this section shall be based upon the normal
contribution rate that would be applicable to that member if the
agency were not paying any normal contributions under Section 20690
or 20691.
(e) This section shall not apply to any contracting agency until
the agency elects to be subject to the provision of this section by
amendment to its contract made in the manner prescribed for approval
of contracts, except an election among the employees is not required,
or, in the case of contracts made after March 1, 1982, by express
provision in the contract making the contracting agency subject to
the provisions of this section. The amendments to this section made
during the second year of the 1999-2000 Regular Session shall apply
to contracts subject to this section on January 1, 2001.

21032. A member may elect at any time prior to retirement, in
accordance with regulations of the board, to receive credit for
public service, under any of the definitions in this article, in
addition to his or her current and prior service credit. An election
shall be effective only if accompanied by a lump-sum payment of the
contributions and interest required for the credit or by
authorization for immediate institution of payroll deduction of
installment payment of the contributions and interest. The right of
election is subject to Sections 20894 and 20961, and shall be
ineffective with respect to any time or employment for which the
member subsequently becomes entitled to or eligible to elect to
receive service credit in another system supported in whole or in
part from public funds, in which case accumulated contributions on
deposit for the period of service credit shall be paid to the member.

21033. A member electing to receive credit for public service shall
contribute in a lump sum or by installment payments over that period
and subject to minimum payments as may be prescribed by regulations
of the board an amount equal to (a) the contributions he or she would
have made to this system for the period for which current service
credit is granted, assuming that the rate of contribution under his
or her employer's formula at the rate age applicable to him or her at
the beginning of his or her first subsequent period of service in
membership and his or her compensation earnable on that date had
applied to him or her during the period for which credit is granted,
plus (b) the added contribution that may be specially required under
this article as a condition for crediting particular public service,
plus (c) the interest which would have accrued to those contributions
if they had been deposited at the beginning date of his or her first
subsequent period of service in membership, from that date until the
date of completion of payments, and (d) if he or she elects to
contribute in other than one sum, interest on the unpaid balance of
the amount payable to the retirement fund, beginning on the date of
the election to receive credit. The beginning date of the first
subsequent period of service for purposes of computation of
contribution and interest shall be deemed to be the end of the period
of service credited for a member who has no subsequent return to
service. For a member who is subject to Sections 21076 and 21077, the
service and contribution rate to be used for purposes of computation
shall be deemed to be the service and contribution rate that would
have been used had the member not been subject to Sections 21076 and
21077.

21034. Public service may be credited as current or prior service,
or both, as it would be credited if the member had been in state
service during his or her public service. Credit shall not be granted
for public service which would be credited as prior service unless
the member has contributed for all other "public service" for which
he or she is entitled to elect to receive credit as current service
with the employer where the prior service is to be credited.
Benefits based on credited public service shall be computed
according to the formula determining the member's contribution for
that service credit. "Public service," as defined in subdivisions
(a), (b), and (c) of Section 21020 to a member who at membership
became subject to a reduced or modified retirement allowance formula
because of coordination with the federal system shall be subject to
that modified formula to the extent that the service was rendered to
any contracting agency in which that modified formula applies after
the effective date of coverage under the federal system of members in
the employ of that agency.

21035. Benefits based on service credited under this article in
excess of the portion paid from member contributions shall be paid
from the contributions of the employer in whose employment the
service was rendered or the right to receive the service credit for
an employment constituting public service was acquired, whichever the
case may be.

21037. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the following
shall apply:
(a) A member who has elected to receive credit for service by
contributing in installments and who retires for disability on or
after January 1, 2004, when the election for service credit does not
increase the member's allowance payable, may elect to cancel the
installments prospectively. The member's election may be received by
the system no more than 30 days after the date on which the member's
retirement for disability is approved. The effective date of the
member's election shall be the effective date of the member's
retirement for disability. No refund of contributions paid in
installments prior to the effective date of the member's election may
be payable to a member or retired member as a result of an election
made by a member pursuant to this section.
(b) A member's election pursuant to this section shall be void,
and installment payments shall resume, upon a member's reinstatement
from retirement for disability. The remaining balance due shall be
recalculated to include interest during the disability retirement
period.
(c) On or after January 1, 2004, the survivor of a member who
elected to receive credit for service by contributing in
installments, when the survivor is eligible to receive an allowance
subject to Section 21541, may elect to cancel the installments
prospectively when the election for service credit does not increase
the survivor's allowance payable. The survivor's election shall be
received by the system no more than 30 days after the member's date
of death. The effective date of the survivor's election shall be the
member's date of death. No refund of contributions paid in
installments prior to the member's date of death may be payable as a
result of an election made by a survivor pursuant to this section.
(d) A survivor's election pursuant to this section shall be void,
and installment payments shall resume, upon a determination that the
death was not industrial, following payment of a temporary special
death benefit allowance, provided that the survivor is then entitled
to a monthly allowance under Section 21546, 21547, 21547.7, or 21548.
The remaining balance due shall be recalculated to include interest
during the temporary special death benefit period.
(e) A member who retired for disability prior to January 1, 2004,
or the survivor of a deceased disability retiree who began receiving
a postretirement death benefit allowance prior to January 1, 2004, or
the survivor of a member who began receiving an allowance subject to
Section 21541 prior to January 1, 2004, may elect to cancel
installments prospectively when the election for service credit does
not increase the allowance payable. The effective date of the
election shall be the date that the election is received by this
system. No refund of contributions paid in installments prior to the
effective date of the election may be payable pursuant to this
section.

21038. All contributions of a member under this article shall be
considered to be and shall be administered as normal contributions.

21039. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a safety
member, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 20371, who has
elected to receive credit for service by making contributions in
installment payments and who retires or has retired due to industrial
disability while making those payments, may elect to cancel the
payments prospectively if the election to receive credit for service
does not increase the member's allowance payable. The effective date
of the member's election to cancel payments shall be the first day of
the month following receipt of the election by the system. No refund
of contributions paid in installments prior to the effective date of
the member's election to cancel the payments shall be payable to a
member or retired member as a result of an election made by a member
pursuant to this section.
(b) A member's election pursuant to this section shall be void,
and the installment payments shall resume, upon a member's
reinstatement from retirement for industrial disability. The
remaining balance due shall be recalculated to include interest
during the industrial disability retirement period.
(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit any right
or benefit granted pursuant to Section 20776 or 21037, as amended by
Senate Bill 268 of the 2003-04 Regular Session.