135. Safety Retirement (Non-Peace Officer Classes)

State Safety Retirement is a benefit that provides employees in eligible classes with enhanced retirement, disability, and survivor benefits. In addition, employees and employers are not required to pay Social Security tax.

Benefits

The following benefits are provided to employees in the Safety Retirement category:

  • Earlier retirement (2.5 percent at 55);
  • Improved disability coverage;
  • Employer and employee exclusion from Social Security tax. Employees hired after April 1, 1986 are required to pay 1.45 percent for MediCare, as are their employers. Employees hired prior to this date are exempt from MediCare payments, as are their employers.

Authority

The authority for determining if a class should be placed in the Safety Retirement category is contained in DPA law GC19816.20 and 19816.21 and in CalPERS law GC 20405 and 20405.1.

Responsibility

DPA administers GC Sections 19816.20, 19816.21, and 20405.1. When DPA approves classes for the Safety Retirement Category, it notifies PERS, who in turn notifies SCO. Direct any questions regarding the Safety Retirement Category to your assigned CCD Analyst or the DPA POFF/Safety Retirement Coordinator.

Criteria

Safety retirement is approved based on the duties of a class, not the background of the individual. There are two groups of classifications that are currently in the Safety Retirement Category. The Safety classes are included according to two different legal authorities.

1. Institutional Workers

The first group meets all of the criteria outlined in GC Section 19816.20 and 20405.1. The incumbents in these classes work directly with penal code offenders in an institutional setting. The criteria require that the employees have both:

  • Substantial contact and responsibility for penal code offenders in the Departments of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Mental Health, and in the locked and fenced section of the Porterville Developmental Center, and
  • That the nature of the jobs require the ability to respond to emergencies and protect the public.

2. Bargaining Unit 7 employees

SB 183 revised the Government Code to include Section 19816.21. This section added rank and file classifications in Bargaining Unit 7 that were formerly miscellaneous retirement category members without requiring them to meet any criteria. These classifications are not peace officers.

Background

Prior to 1998, Safety Retirement was governed by GC Sections 18717, 20405, 20407, and 20408, which required that the title of an eligible class be listed in the law. In 1998, GC Section 20405.1 was added to streamline the process. This section governs the current process for inclusion in the State Safety Retirement Category.

Current Process

  • Seek early consultation with assigned CCD analyst. The CCD analyst will consult with the DPA POFF/Safety Retirement Coordinator when considering a change that involves safety retirement.
  • When requested by departments or unions, DPA will make a determination as to whether a class meets the criteria outlined in GC Section 19816.20. The CCD analyst will be responsible for the coordination of Safety Retirement requests. This includes any coordination between divisions, departments, or unions; conducting classification studies; the preparation of necessary Board Items; and for any notification when decisions are made.
  • When DPA receives a request from a union, department, or DPA’s Labor Relations Division (LRD) to include a class or classes in Safety Retirement, the request will be assigned to the CCD analyst responsible for the bargaining unit or the major departmental user of the class(es) or other reasonable considerations. All requests must be coordinated with DPA’s POFF/Safety Retirement Coordinator and the appropriate Labor Relations Officer (LRO).
  • A classification study (Section 100) or an audit of positions must be conducted to determine if the class meets the criteria for the Safety Retirement category. The Safety Retirement Audit Form may be used. Once DPA determines that a class meets the criteria, it may be bargained with the union or a side agreement may be signed
    • .
  • DPA will develop a safety specification. When it is completed, and adopted by the State Personnel Board, the employees in the safety positions will be reallocated into the new classification by board action, effective the date of the board action.

The CCD analyst will provide the DPA POFF/Safety Retirement Coordinator with the class title, class code, and effective date of the approved Safety Retirement. The POFF/Safety Coordinator will notify, in writing, CalPERS with a copy to SCO, the affected departments, and DPA’s LRD with a list of the affected classes.

Note: Safety Retirement effective dates are prospective and do not include all past service. Government Code Sections 20405.1 and 20068 give DPA the authority to determine the effective date. For represented employees, it is a date on or after the date the union and DPA reach agreement.

CalPERS then redesignates the class(es) and moves the employees into the State Safety Retirement category. CalPERS notifies SCO to establish the class(es) as Safety Retirement in the transaction audit tables and sends a confirmation to the department personnel officer and the DPA POFF/Safety Retirement Coordinator. The department may then key in the class transactions without generating errors from SCO and CalPERS databases.

CalPERS sends an election letter to each employee giving them a one-time-only option to retain their current formula or switch to the safety formula. All future employees that are hired into the class will then be automatically placed into the Safety Retirement formula.

Note: Unions will sometimes initiate bills to obtain Safety Retirement for their members when they do not meet existing criteria. The existing bill analysis process will be used with CCD taking the lead with input provided by LRD. DPA will oppose any Safety Retirement legislation if the classes proposed for Safety Retirement have not observed the process outlined by GC Section 19816.20.