On September 20, 2026, Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed Assembly Bill 1383 (“AB 1383”), which would have made some of the most significant changes to the Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013 (“PEPRA”) since its enactment. Among other changes, AB 1383 would have increased the pensionable compensation limit for PEPRA members, reduced the benefit age
Governmental 457(b) plans are a familiar part of the benefits package at many public agencies. Employees can defer a portion of their compensation and into the plan for retirement, often as a supplement to a defined benefit pension. It is tempting to think of a governmental 457(b) plan as the public sector version of a
California public agencies commonly offer a variety of retirement benefits to employees, including defined contribution plans such as 457(b) plans, 401(a) plans, and, in some cases, 401(k) plans or retiree health savings arrangements. While these plans provide valuable retirement security, they also create an often-overlooked administrative responsibility: ensuring that employees complete and maintain current beneficiary
This blog article was authored by Partner Danny Yoo in 2021. It has been reviewed with additional discussion included in August 2025 and is up-to-date.
When working with employees with disabilities, employers need to keep track of various laws that govern whether the employee may be entitled to leaves, accommodation, or even a disability retirement.
This blog was originally authored in August 2019 but has been reviewed and updated for January 2025.
Applying the different California Public Employees’ Retirement System (“CalPERS”) rules related to Temporary Upgrade Pay, out-of-class appointments, and non-reportable extra-duty pays can be unnerving. For classic employees, compensation for appointments meeting the definition of Temporary Upgrade Pay are
The Public Employees’ Retirement Law (PERL) and State Teachers’ Retirement Law (STRL) provide defined benefit retirement plans administered by CalPERS or CalSTRS, respectively, for eligible employees of participating public agencies (“employers”). To fund these plans, public education agency employers report member compensation to either CalPERS or CalSTRS directly, or through their county offices of education.
This post appeared in August 2016. It has been reviewed and is up to date.
CalPERS issued a Circular Letter on July 12, 2016, which provided information on its compliance review process and its most common findings, including employing retired annuitants. In our practice, we have also observed some confusion surrounding the specifics on
Background
On September 27, 2021, Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill (SB) 278, which adds Government Code section 20164.5 and will go into effect on January 1, 2022. SB 278 greatly increases the potential costs to CalPERS agencies for reporting errors, by creating new and in some cases retroactive financial exposure for CalPERS agencies already
When working with employees with disabilities, employers need to keep track of various laws that govern whether the employee may be entitled to leaves, accommodation, or even a disability retirement. What makes matters more complicated is that the definition of disability is not the same under each law. So, while a medical condition may meet
This article was originally published in June 2014. The information has been reviewed and is up-to-date as of August 2021.
It is a common phrase that most in the public sector have heard of – a “PERS audit.” However, despite having heard of CalPERS (“PERS”) audits occurring, many have not experienced an audit firsthand and