ARTICLE 3. Computation of Service Credit [20960. - 20972.]

Cal. Government Code - GOV 3.
in effect

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 20960. Section 20960.

Except as provided in Article 4 (commencing with Section 20990), time during which a member is absent from state service without compensation shall not be allowed in computing service.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 20962. Section 20962.

(a) One year of service credit shall be granted for service rendered and compensated in a fiscal year in full-time employment for any of the following: (1) One academic year of service for persons employed on an academic year basis by the University of California, the California State University system, or school employees who are certificated members, under terms and conditions prescribed by the board. (2) Ten months of service for persons employed on a monthly basis. (3) Two hundred fifteen days of service after June 30, 1951, and 250 days prior to July 1, 1951, for persons employed on a daily basis. (4) One thousand seven hundred twenty hours of service after June 30, 1951, and 2,000 hours prior to July 1, 1951, for persons employed on an hourly basis. (5) Nine months of service for state employees represented by State Bargaining Unit 3 and subject to the 9–12 pay plan or leave plan, provided a memorandum of understanding has been agreed to by the state employer and the recognized employee organization to become subject to this subdivision. (b) A fractional year of credit shall be given for service rendered in a fiscal year in full-time employment for less than the time prescribed in this section.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 20963. Section 20963.

(a) A state member, whose effective date of retirement is within four months of separation from employment with the state, shall be credited at the member’s retirement with 0.004 year of service credit for each unused day of sick leave certified to the board by the state. The certification shall report only those days of unused sick leave that were accrued by the member during the normal course of the member’s employment and shall not include any additional days of sick leave reported for the purpose of increasing the member’s retirement benefit. Reports of unused days of sick leave shall be subject to audit and retirement benefits may be adjusted where improper reporting is found. For purposes of this subdivision, sick leave shall not include sick leave earned as a National Guard member as described in Section 20380.5. (b) This section shall not apply to a state employee, with respect to sick leave credits earned as a state member under Section 21353.5, except that the member shall be entitled to receive credit under this section for the sick leave the member has earned as a state member subject to any other retirement formula, provided the member has a sick leave credit balance remaining at the time of retirement. (c) For the purposes of this section, sick leave benefits provided to state employees pursuant to the state sick leave system shall be construed to mean compensation paid to employees on approved leaves of absence because of sickness.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 20963.1. Section 20963.1.

(a) A state member whose effective date of retirement is within four months of separation from employment of the state, shall be credited at his or her retirement with 0.004 year of service for each unused day of educational leave credit, as certified to the board by the employer. The provisions of this section shall be effective for eligible state members who retire directly from state employment on and after January 1, 2000. (b) This section shall apply to eligible state members in state bargaining units that have agreed to this section in a memorandum of understanding, or as authorized by the Director of Human Resources for classifications of state employees that are excluded from the definition of “state employee” by paragraph (c) of Section 3513 of the Government Code.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 20963.5. Section 20963.5.

On and after January 1, 2020, a school member, a school safety member, or a local member employed by a contracting agency that is a school district, county office of education, or community college district, whose effective date of retirement is within four months of separation from employment with the employer subject to this section that granted the sick leave credit, shall be credited at the member’s retirement with 0.004 year of service credit for each unused day of sick leave certified to the board by the employer. The certification shall report only those days of unused sick leave that were accrued by the member during the normal course of the member’s employment and shall not include any additional days of sick leave reported for the purpose of increasing the member’s retirement benefit. Reports of unused days of sick leave shall be subject to audit and retirement benefits may be adjusted where improper reporting is found. For purposes of this subdivision, sick leave shall include sick leave granted by the employer subject to this section and any sick leave transferred to that employer pursuant to Section 44979, 45202, 87783, or 88202 of the Education Code.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 20964. Section 20964.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any employee who voluntarily resigns from state service during the period January 1, 1980, through June 30, 1980, shall be credited at retirement with additional service credit pursuant to Section 20963 for sick leave accumulated while employed by the state and assumed and maintained by the county pursuant to the agreement with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and certified as unused to the board by the county. County employees having accumulated sick leave credits for both state and county service shall be deemed to draw from county earned sick leave balances existing at the time sick leave is taken prior to the drawing from state earned balances. This section applies only to probationary and permanent employees of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection assigned to the Orange Ranger Unit who, before the June 30, 1980, cancellation of the local government fire protection contract between the department and the County of Orange, voluntarily resign from state service and accept similar employment by Orange County in a fire protection organization.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 20965. Section 20965.

(a) A local miscellaneous member and a local safety member, whose effective date of retirement is within four months of separation from employment with the employer that granted the sick leave credit, shall be credited at the member’s retirement with 0.004 year of service credit for each unused day of sick leave certified to the board by the member’s employer. The certification shall report only those days of unused sick leave that were accrued by the member during the normal course of the member’s employment and shall not include any additional days of sick leave reported for the purpose of increasing the member’s retirement benefit. Reports of unused days of sick leave shall be subject to audit and retirement benefits may be adjusted where improper reporting is found. (b) (1) 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, except that an election among the employees is not required, or, in the case of contracts made after September 26, 1974, by express provision in the contract making the contracting agency subject to this section. (2) This section shall only apply to members who retire after the effective date of the contract amendments. (c) Any contracting agency that is a school district, county office of education, or community college district that elects to contract for unused sick leave conversion under this section or participates in a risk pool pursuant to Section 20840 shall be subject to the provisions of Section 20963.5.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 20966. Section 20966.

For the purpose of calculating retirement allowances, credit for service rendered on a part-time basis in each fiscal year shall be based on the ratio that the service rendered bears: (a) To one academic year if rendered on an academic year basis, for members employed by the University of California, the California State University system, or school employees who are certificated members, under terms and conditions prescribed by the board. (b) To 10 months if rendered on a monthly basis. (c) To 215 days if the service was rendered after June 30, 1951, or to 250 days if the service was rendered prior to July 1, 1951, for services rendered on a daily basis. (d) To 1,720 hours if the service was rendered after June 30, 1951, or to 2,000 hours if the service was rendered prior to July 1, 1951, for service rendered on an hourly basis.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 20966.5. Section 20966.5.

For purposes of Sections 20326 and 21029.5, each day of compensated service with the California National Guard or service by a National Guard member authorized by Title 10 of the United State Code shall count as one day of service and shall be credited in each fiscal year based on the ratio that service bears to 215 days.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 20967. Section 20967.

For the purpose of calculating retirement benefits based on part-time service, except under Section 21381, compensation earnable shall be taken as the compensation that would have been earnable if the employment had been on a full-time basis and the member had worked full time, and shall conform to the definitions given in Section 20636.1 for school members and Section 20636 for all other members.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 20968. Section 20968.

For all retirement purposes including benefit eligibility and calculations of retirement allowances for state employees in the personal leave program, credit for service shall be based on the amount of service that would have been credited had the employee not been in the personal leave program.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 20969. Section 20969.

(a) For all retirement purposes, including benefit eligibility and calculations of retirement allowances for members employed by the state that are subject to mandatory furloughs, credit for service and compensation earnable shall be based on the amount that would have been credited had the employee not been subject to mandatory furloughs. (b) For the purposes of this section, “mandatory furloughs” means time during which a member is directed to be absent from work without pay, pursuant to Section 19849, or during which a member identified below is directed to be absent from work without pay as a consequence of an Executive order in the 2008–09, 2009–10, and 2010–11 fiscal years: (1) A state employee subject to an Executive order requiring a mandatory furlough for state employees. (2) A person who is excepted from the definition of “state employee” in subdivision (c) of Section 3513, or who is an officer or employee of the executive branch of state government who is not a member of the civil service, and who is subject to an Executive order requiring a mandatory furlough for state employees. (3) A state employee, a person who is excepted from the definition of “state employee” in subdivision (c) of Section 3513, or a person who is an officer or employee of the executive branch of state government who is not a member of the civil service, and whose employer is not under the direct executive authority of the Governor, and who is subject to a mandatory furlough imposed by his or her employer in response to encouragement in an Executive order. (c) An employer of an employee identified in subdivision (b) shall notify the board of the terms and conditions of any mandatory furlough, including, but not limited to, the amount of mandatory furlough time imposed on employees during a reporting period and the date on which the mandatory furlough ends. The employer and the Controller shall provide any additional information as the board may require to implement this section.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 20969.1. Section 20969.1.

(a) For all retirement purposes, including benefit eligibility and calculations of retirement allowances for members employed by a trial court that are subject to mandatory furloughs, as defined in subdivision (c), credit for service and compensation earnable shall be based on the amounts of service and compensation earnable that would have been credited had the employee not been subject to mandatory furloughs. (b) A trial court shall notify the board of the terms and conditions of any mandatory furlough, including, but not limited to, the amount of mandatory furlough time imposed on employees during a reporting period, and the date on which the mandatory furlough ends. A trial court and a county in which the trial court is located that participates in this system by joint contract pursuant to Section 20460.1 shall provide that additional information as the board may require to implement this section. (c) For the purposes of this section, “mandatory furloughs” is limited to the time during which a trial court employee is directed to be absent from work without pay in the 2009–10 fiscal year on the day designated by the Judicial Council for closure of the courts as authorized in Section 68106. (d) For purposes of this section, “trial court employee” means a trial court employee, as that term is defined in Section 71601, whose employer has contracted for its employees to become members of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 20969.2. Section 20969.2.

(a) For all retirement purposes, including benefit eligibility and calculations of retirement allowances under this part for a person employed by a county office of education, a school district, a school district that is a contracting agency, a community college district, or a local safety member, as defined in Section 20420, that is subject to mandatory furloughs, the employee’s credit for service and compensation earnable shall include the amount of service that would have been credited and the compensation earnable that would have been reported had the employee not been subject to a mandatory furlough. (b) For the purposes of this section, “mandatory furlough” includes any time period on or after July 1, 2008, during which employees are directed to be absent from work without pay on the day or days designated by their employer or by a memorandum of understanding by the parties entered into on or after July 1, 2008, for purposes of achieving budgetary savings. (c) An employer of an employee identified in subdivision (a) shall notify the board and, if applicable, the county superintendent of schools of the terms and conditions of any mandatory furlough, including, but not limited to, the amount of mandatory furlough time imposed on employees during a reporting period, and the date on which the mandatory furlough ends. The employer and, if applicable, the county superintendent of schools shall provide any additional information as the board may require to implement this section.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 20969.3. Section 20969.3.

(a) A member who was involuntarily terminated and who is subsequently reinstated to that employment, pursuant to an administrative, arbitral, or judicial proceeding, shall be reinstated with all retirement benefits that the member otherwise would have accrued. Administrative proceedings also include proceedings before the governing board of a school district, a charter school, a county office of education, or a community college district. (b) Reinstatement of benefits shall be effective as of the date from which salary is awarded in the administrative, arbitral, or judicial proceeding. Contributions shall be made for any period for which salary is awarded in the administrative, arbitral, or judicial proceeding in the amount that the member would have contributed had his or her employment not been terminated, and he or she shall receive credit as state service, as defined in Section 20069, for the period for which salary is awarded and contributions are received. (c) This section applies to members who were subject to an involuntary termination effective on or after January 1, 2017. (d) An employer of the member described in subdivision (a) shall notify the board of the final decision ordering the member’s reinstatement to employment within five days of the date the decision becomes final. The notification shall include the date of involuntary termination and the date on which the member was reinstated to employment after the decision.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 20970. Section 20970.

The determining qualification for retirement and the benefit provided under Section 21546 and calculating benefits payable upon death before retirement other than that provided under Section 21546, a year of service shall be credited for each year during which the member was employed throughout the year on a part-time basis and was engaged in his or her duties the full amount of time he or she was required by his or her employment to be so engaged. In calculating service to determine the qualification, credit for fractional years shall be granted to the extent of the fraction derived by dividing the time during which the member was engaged in his or her duties within the year, by the time he or she was required by his or her employment to be so engaged.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 20971. Section 20971.

For the purposes of the computations required by subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 21532, the annual compensation earnable by a person in partial service retirement shall be deemed the amount of annual compensation the person would have received had the person been employed on a full-time basis.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 20972. Section 20972.

If a person has been employed by the state or one or more contracting agencies in any relative order and regardless of whether the employment was before or after the effective date of the contract, and if he or she has not been paid his or her accumulated contributions, or having been paid those contributions, he or she redeposits them, he or she shall receive credit for all state service and those employers shall be liable for all state service rendered in their respective employments and that service shall be included in the calculation of the liability of the respective employers under the contracts. A member who has been employed other than concurrently by two or more employers shall not be denied credit under this section for service prior to the contract date because of intervening employment with the same employer after the contract date and under circumstances that did not qualify him or her for prior service credit under Section 20931 or 20933. Any member who reentered this system prior to October 1, 1957, and who did not have a right to redeposit withdrawn contributions because of provisions of this section existing prior to that date may redeposit those contributions in accordance with Section 20750.
Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026

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