Terminating the Employment Relationship

years of service credit toward their retirement benefit. The agency is also able to spread out its own cost of the purchased service credit over several years.

However, PERS strictly limits the circumstances in which Golden Handshakes may be offered and the procedures that must be followed. First, the agency must determine that it is facing an “impending curtailment of, or change in the manner of performing service.” 309 That is, the agency must determine that they will be reducing staffing levels or substantially reorganizing personnel via transfers or demotions. Second, the agency will need to designate one or more job classifications, departments, or “other organizational units” that is facing impending layoffs, transfers, or demotions, such that those job classifications, departments or other organizational units will be offered Golden Handshakes. However, Golden Handshakes cannot be provided on the basis of employee organization or non- represented groups. In other words, the agency cannot simply state that it will offer Golden Handshakes to all employees in the agency who qualify or to only members of SEIU. The intent of the statute is to only offer Golden Handshakes to employees in classifications which might otherwise suffer layoff, transfer or demotion because of curtailment of the public agency’s services or a change in the manner of performing service. The public agency need not intend to layoff, transfer or demote the entire job classification, department, or organizational unit. However, the agency will have to certify to PERS that it is electing to offer these Golden Handshakes because of impending transfers, demotions or layoffs that constitute a minimum of 1% of that entire job classification, department, or organizational unit resulting from the curtailment of, or change in the manner of performing services. Third, the public agency will have to meet and confer with any bargaining units for which its members are within the designated job classification, departments, or “other organizational units.” As future retirement benefits for existing employees are a mandatory subject of bargaining, the collective bargaining units must be notified of the agency’s intent to offer the two years of additional service credit as an incentive for early retirement and be given an opportunity to meet and confer on the issue. 310 Fourth, if this is the first time the benefit is being offered, the public agency must retain an actuary to develop an estimate of the cost to the public agency if all eligible employees in the designated job classification, department or other organizational unit opted to accept the Golden Handshake. Then, the public agency must hold a public meeting where the costs are disclosed, the job classifications, departments or other organizational units are designated, and the governing body must, by resolution, choose to become subject to the provisions of Government Code section 20903. 311 Fifth, no less than two weeks after holding the public meeting, the public agency will have to amend its contract with PERS to become subject to the provisions of Government Code section 20903. In doing so, the public agency certifies to PERS several things, including that it is the agency’s intention, that if anyone accepts the offer of the Golden Handshake and retires, the agency will not fill the vacancy or that at least one vacancy in any position in any department or

Terminating the Employment Relationship ©2019 (s) Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 89