At their November meeting, the CalPERS Board will consider
adopting rule changes for retired annuitants who return to work.
Retirees collecting a pension may return to work, so long as the
meet specific requirements, which include limits on the amount of
pay they may receive and the number of hours an annuitant may
work in a 12-month period.
Returning to work is not uncommon and has been especially useful
during the COVID-19 pandemic as a way for local governments to
quickly staff up with a skilled workforce. In fact, earlier this
year, in recognition of this need, Governor Newsom signed an
executive order allowing state and local agencies to expand their
use of retired annuitants.
The precedent in question results from the recent case
Appeal Regarding Post Retirement Employment of DUDLEY J.
LANG. In 2012, Dudley Lang, the retired Controller for the
City of Industry, returned to his former job. He worked over the
960-hour limit while collecting about $66,000 in pension
payments, which CalPERS then directed him to pay back. CalPERS
attorneys now want to use the case to set precedent that retired
annuitants have the responsibility to make sure their
post-retirement employment is legal, and that CalPERS may recoup
all pension money that was paid improperly to a retired
annuitant. Importantly, adopting this case as a precedent would
get rid of the current three-year statute of limitations for
recoveries of overpayment.
The adoption of the Lang precedent would significantly increase
the financial liability of workers and employers who are trying
to navigate complicated regulations. CSAC is opposed to this
decision by the CalPERS Board and encourages counties that
utilize retired annuitants to consider submitting a comments
letter to CalPERS by October 23, 2020.
