1206 - Retired Annuitants (Historical View)

** Effective: 4/27/2018 9:44:55 AM - 4/27/2018 9:50:01 AM **

Status: Active

Change Notes

Contact updated: Belinda retired. MR new PMD Chief.

Audience List

Personnel Officers
Personnel Transactions Supervisors

Synopsis

This policy describes

The use of Retired Annuitants (RA).
The laws and rules pertaining to RAs.
The procedures for requesting an exception to the RA 180 day waiting period.
The interaction between receipt of unemployment insurance and eligibility for appointment as a RA.

Introduction

RAs are persons retired from a state agency who are appointed to perform mission critical work that is temporary in nature. Approval must be obtained from CalHR before employing a RA under certain circumstances.

Statement

Appointing authorities are authorized to hire RAs, after the RA has been retired for a period of 180 days, to perform duties that have been deemed by the department to be critical to the department’s core mission. RAs are to be temporary in nature. Examples of the proper use of a RA are mentoring new employees, transferring knowledge and providing expertise to other employees, and completing a time limited project. RAs cannot be appointed to a budgeted position on a permanent basis; instead, RAs should be appointed in the temporary help blanket.

The RA must be appointed to a classification that meets one of the following conditions:

The class that the person had permanent or probationary status in at the time of retirement.
A Career Executive Assignment (CEA) appointment if held at the time of retirement.
Another class to which the person could have been permanently transferred, reinstated or demoted at the time of retirement.

NOTE: A RA shall only be appointed to a CEA position if the CEA position has been established by the SPB/CalHR and the RA is to perform the approved duties of the CEA position. Placement can be made to “blanket funds” but the budgeted CEA position cannot be filled while the RA is performing the duties of the established CEA position.

Appointments shall not exceed a maximum of 960 hours in any fiscal year (July-June) without reinstatement, loss or interruption of benefits.

A retired person shall not be eligible for employment as an RA for a period of 180 calendar days after the date of retirement unless the appointment is necessary to fill a critically needed function. The 180-day waiting period does not apply to:

A retired peace officer or firefighter hired to perform functions regularly performed by a peace officer or firefighter.
A retiree who takes office as a judge of a court of record or a retiree under the Judges’ Retirement System I/II who is appointed as a retired judge.

Definition of Critical Need - An immediate need for a particular skill set that only the RA can provide to complete a function for the department to meet one of the requirements outlined below and that cannot be met by a current state employee:

Legislative Mandate
Court Ordered Mandate
Health and Safety Emergencies
Fiscal Impact – Loss of Funding
Any Disruption in Normal Business that may Result in Failure of Business Operations

Departments are reminded to review classification specifications and bargaining unit agreements for additional information.

A retired person cannot be appointed as an RA if, during the 12-month period prior to the appointment, they received unemployment insurance based on state employment. This prohibition covers all state departments and other public employers that provide retirement benefits under CalPERS.

The law does not apply to the following situations:

The first time an employee is appointed as a state retired annuitant (it only applies to subsequent state annuitant hires under Section 21224).
The unemployment insurance was received as the result of employment with a private employer (such as a registry or a retailer).
The unemployment insurance was received as the result of employment with a public employer who does not provide retirement benefits under CalPERS.

This prohibition is intended to prevent retired state employees from collecting three public stipends: a CalPERS retirement allowance, state salary, and unemployment insurance.

Application

To obtain approval for an exception to the RA 180 day waiting period, submit a request to CalHR’s Personnel Management Division (PMD). Your request must include:

A completed CalHR 625 form
A justification outlining the critical need for the hire which includes:
- An in-depth explanation of why the RA being hired is the only person that can provide the expertise needed
- A detailed long-term plan of how this need will be resolved or met in the future
- A statement on whether or not the Governor’s Office is aware of the request
An organizational chart reflecting the position/function
Duty statement for the proposed RA
Proof of the RA’s retirement date (PIMS History or NOPA)
Send the request to PMD@calhr.ca.gov and copy your department’s assigned PMD Analyst.

For RA hires made subsequent to the 180-day waiting period:

Provide RAs who have previously been appointed as a RA with the following forms, which must be completed by the employee. Keep both completed forms in the employee’s personnel file for audit purposes.

CalHR Form 715 self-certification that no unemployment insurance benefits have been received by the RA:
- If a person applies for reemployment as a retired annuitant with the state, and self certifies that he/she received unemployment insurance based on prior state employment as a retired annuitant, this person is ineligible for employment with the state for 12 months after the date of the last unemployment insurance payment.
- If a person already has been appointed as a retired annuitant with the state on or after January 1, 2005, and this employee certifies that he/she received unemployment insurance from a CalPERS-covered employer prior to the appointment (or EDD later verifies that the person received unemployment insurance), you must separate this employee at the end of the pay period; this person will be ineligible to return to work with the state for 12 months.
EDD Form 1181 authorizing EDD to release to state employers the retired annuitant’s records regarding unemployment insurance payments.
- EDD anticipates it will take 10 to 30 days to process each Form DE 1181 and return the information to the inquiring department. While the EDD form is being processed, your department may hire a retired annuitant who certifies on CalHR Form 715 that he/she has not received unemployment insurance payments.

Authorities

Resources

Forms

CalHR 715: Retired Annuitant Self Certification Form
EDD DE 1181: Authorization for Release Unemployment Insurance Records for Retired Annuitant
STD 625: Classification and/or Certification Action Request Form

PML

PML 2005-010: PML 2005-010 - 3/11/2005 - Retired Annuitant Hiring Process
PML 2013-001: PML 2013-001 - 1/8/2013 - Retired Annuitants Hiring Exception Procedure
PML 2013-023: PML 2013-023 - 7/16/2013 - Student Assistants and Retired Annuitants

Related Policies

1202: Intermittent Employees

Authorized By

Melissa Russell
Chief, Personnel Management Division

Contact Person

Personnel Management Division
Personnel Program Consultant, , Personnel Management Division
Phone: 916-324-9381
Fax: 916-327-1886
Email: pmd@calhr.ca.gov

Superseded Policies

Not Applicable.

Human Resources Manual