SR 05:235 - Laserfiche WebLink

"miscellaneous" employees (i.e., all other public agency employees) are to be retired on disability is vested in the administration of the Public Employees Retirement System itself (subject to the determination being appealed either by the public agency of by the employee.) The City Council has delegated the authority to make these determinations as to safety members to the City Manager by a resolution adopted in 1979. The determination as to whether an employee could be retired on disability is whether the employee is substantially precluded from performing the duties of the classification. There was disagreement, however, in the courts whether this meant substantially precluded from the performing the duties of the particular department where the person was employed or substantially precluded from performing the duties of the classification for any public agency department. Recently, the California Supreme Court held that a public agency not only has to establish that the employee is substantially precluded from performing his/her usual duties of the employee's classification, but also that the employee must be substantially precluded from performing the usual duties of the classification for other California public agencies in CalPERS as well. In other words, if it is determined that a safety member who is incapacitated from performing the duties of his/her current position can still perform the usual duties of his/her position for other agencies and similar positions with similar benefits are available, the member would not qualify for disability retirement. Because of this ruling, CalPERS has initiated new requirements relating to these retirements and is requiting cities to revise their resolutions that delegated the decision making authority to the city manager to reflect these new requirements. DISCUSSION The change here is a minor one. As described above, the resolution will authorize the City Manager not only to determine whether the employee is substantially precluded from performing the duties of the position and to determine whether the disability is industrial (i.e., work related) or not, but also to determine that the disability precludes the employee from performing similar duties for another CalPERS agency. The procedures involved in these determinations will not change. If there is a disagreement as to whether the employee is disabled, there is an evidentiary hearing by a neutral hearing officer who makes a recommendation to the city manager. Disputes concerning whether the disability is work related or not will continue to be resolved by the Workers Compensation Appeals Board. SR:05:235 Page 2