One of the many benefits of being a member of the California City Management Foundation (CCMF) is having a community of professionals at your side. When new proposed regulations negatively impact your ability to serve your community, you can rely on CCMF to advocate on your behalf.
As you may have heard, CalPERS introduced new regulations that would define the terms “limited duration” and “extra help” as they relate to the hiring of retired annuitants by public agencies. Retired annuitants are CalPERS retirees who continue to work part-time, specialized roles, or “extra help” positions, without losing their pensions.
Upon introduction, the regulations only allowed retired annuitants to perform work that was either “substantially different” if they were returning to a prior employer or work for an entirely different city/CalPERS employer. Furthermore, the assignments were limited to two consecutive years unless you filed for an extension via an arduous process with ambiguous but inflexible terms.
CCMF board member Jim Lewis found these restrictions troublesome for city managers struggling to recruit for critical positions and was instrumental in working with CalCities to provide additional input to consider. CalPERS welcomed the insight and has since modified its proposal. “I’m grateful for CCMF’s partnership with CalCities, and CalPERS’ willingness to listen to the needs of our profession to lead our cities with the best resources available,” said Lewis.
While they are not full-time regular staff positions, extra help positions are a crucial component of how public agencies make headway on their projects. Cities often rely on the invaluable knowledge and experience that retired annuitants have. The updated regulations define the “limited duration” of an extra help position as an initial period of two years. This appointment could be extended by an additional year, up to two times, for a total of four years if certain requirements are met. These terms can be non-consecutive to meet the fluctuating staffing demands in cities and can be approved with a straight-forward self-certification process.
CCMF will continue to monitor the regulations and serve as the advocate for city managers on this issue, among others. The next board meeting will take place January 17-18, 2023. For more information on the regulations, visit CalPERS’ site.
CalPERS is considering revised, proposed regulations that would limit the type of work certain retirees can do for public agencies. The revised regulations were approved for consideration by the CalPERS Pension and Health Benefits Committee in November and are now up for a public comment period.
As advocates of retired annuitants, CCMF invites the city management community to participate during this public comment period. City officials can submit written comments by email or mail until 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 16. Comments may be submitted by e-mail to: Regulation_Coordinator@calpers.ca.gov or mailed to the following address:
Andrew White, Regulation Coordinator
California Public Employees’ Retirement System
P.O. Box 942720
Sacramento, CA 94229-2720
Telephone: (916) 795-3038