Terminating the Employment Relationship

the member will be reinstated to employment. If the member refuses reinstatement, the member’s retirement benefits may still be canceled. 286

Before a member’s disability retirement benefits are discont inued against the consent or desire of the member, the member is entitled to procedural due process. The member is likely not entitled to a “pre - deprivation” hearing if the member has the immediate right to reinstatement to employment upon cancellation of the disability retirement benefits. If the member is not entitled to immediate reinstatement upon cancellation, the member may be entitled to a hearing before the cancellation of benefits. 287 For PERS miscellaneous members, a disputed cancellation of disability benefits will be heard by CalPERS. For PERS local safety members, it is up to the local agency to provide a hearing. The process and procedure will be the same as for determining whether a member is qualified for a disability retirement. The determination that the member is no longer qualified is first made by the governing body or its delegate. Thereafter, if the member continues to dispute the governing body’s decision, s/he may appeal, and the appeal will be conducted according the Administrati ve Procedures Act. For ’37 Act members, the determination will be made by the county retirement board in much the same way as the original decision to find the member was qualified for a disability retirement. 288

B. S ERVICE R ETIREMENT

1. C AL PERS R ETIREMENTS

a. Minimum Requirements In order to retire for service from CalPERS, an individual must have earned at least five years of credited service and reached the minimum retirement age of 50. 289 b. Mandatory Retirement A local contracting agency may establish a mandatory retirement age of 60 for local safety members through amendment of its contract with CalPERS. In order to establish this mandatory retirement age, the agency must demonstrate that the age requirement is a bona fide occupational qualification that is reasonably necessary to the normal operation of services provided by safety members. 290

Employers seeking to adopt or enforce a mandatory retirement age requirement should speak with their legal counsel to ensure that the requirement complies with the requirements of the Fair Employment and Housing Act and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.

LCW Practice Advisor

Terminating the Employment Relationship ©2022 (s) Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 81