Retirement Plans

California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS)

Eligibility with the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) for retirement membership is based on full-time employment for more than six months or half-time employment for more than one year.

Lecturers qualify for CalPERS retirement membership based on the following Eligibility Rules:

If appointed for an academic year at full-time, the employee qulifies for CalPERS membership at the time of the appointment.
If appointed for an academic year at half-time or more, the employee qualifies for membership at the beginning of the third consecutive semester or at the beginning of the fourth quarter (GC20305 [a][4]). Note: The fourth quarter can be consecutive or after a one quarter break.
If appointed for a non-academic year (e.g. 10-month or 12-month), CalPERS membership rules follow the same eligibility criteria as staff appointment types (full-time appointment for more than six months or half-time appointment for more than one year).

Membership is mandatory once an employee qualifies.

CalPERS is a defined benefit plan. As a CalPERS member under this formula (State Miscellaneous--2% at 55), which is applicable to all employees except Public Safety Officers (see Public Safety Officers’ section below), an employee contributes a portion (5% of gross pay that exceeds $513 per month) of their monthly pay on a pre-tax basis to their retirement account. The amount of an employee’s contributions, and the interest earned, is shown on their CalPERS Annual Member Statement. The California State University, as an employer, contributes a substantial amount each month on the employee’s behalf. However, this amount is not shown on the employee’s statement as it is placed in a separate account. CalPERS uses the employee’s contributions and those of the employer, as well as income from investments, to pay for the employee’s benefits.

Note: With the exception of Public Safety Officers (see Public Safety Officers notation below) and a few employees who have been in the CSU’s employ since prior to 1961 and opted out of Social Security, it is mandatory for employees contributing to CalPERS to also contribute to Social Security. CalPERS benefits are coordinated with Social Security.

Employees are eligible for service retirement at age 50 or older with five or more years of CalPERS service credit.

There are some exceptions to the five-year requirement; so, if an employee wishes to retire and is age 50 or greater with less than five years of service credit, they should contact a Field Office for CalPERS to find out if an exception will apply.

Also, if an employee has at least five years of CalPERS service credit and becomes disabled for more than six months they may qualify for disability retirement through CalPERS, even if the employee has not yet attained age 50.

For more detailed information regarding CalPERS retirement benefits, visit their Web site at http://www.calpers.ca.gov or obtain a copy of the Member Benefits brochure from the Customer Service Center located in Human Resource Services, CLA Building 98, Room B1-20.

Public Safety Officers: CalPERS provides a separate formula for Public Safety Officers (State Peace Officer/Firefighter, 3% at 50). For Public Safety Officers (Bargaining Unit 8 employees) the CSU currently contributes 100% of the employee’s contribution to CalPERS. For Management Personnel Plan (MPP) Public Safety Officers, the employee contributes 8% of their monthly earnings in excess of $238.00. Additionally, Public Safety Officers, including MPP Public Safety Officers, do not contribute to Social Security. See the CalPERS Member Benefits Booklet for Public Safety Officers for details.