Service credit may be purchased for unpaid sick time and certain types of County service performed prior to the date you became eligible for LACERA membership. Descriptions, eligibility requirements, contract terms, and calculation methods of the different categories of purchasable service credit are explained below.
Temporary Time
Gov. Code Section 31641.5
- Type of Service
- Employment in a nonpermanent position with the County of Los Angeles (temporary, seasonal, intermittent, or part-time) prior to the date you became eligible for LACERA membership.
- Service credit for work in less than full-time positions will be prorated; for example, two years of service at half-time equals one year of service credit.
- Eligible Members
- Members who entered County service, enrolled in a contributory plan, and had no break in County service; or members who entered County service, enrolled in a contributory plan, terminated employment and withdrew funds, then returned to County service and rejoined a contributory plan.
- Term of Payment Contract
- The number of payment deductions cannot exceed the number of months you are purchasing.
- Calculation Method
- Total compensation earned during the period of temporary service multiplied by your initial retirement contribution rate upon becoming a member of LACERA, plus the interest that would have been credited had the above amount been on deposit from the date you became a member of LACERA up to the expiration date on the Payment Contract. Payments not made by this date or payments made through payroll deductions are subject to additional interest until the contract is paid in full. If total compensation information is not available, LACERA will use your rate of monthly compensation upon becoming a member multiplied by the months of creditable service you wish to purchase to compute your total compensation.
- Service based on nonmonthly compensation will be calculated on a case-by-case basis.
Permanent Time
Gov. Code Section 31641.5
- Type of Service
- Employment in a permanent position of less than three-quarter time with the County of Los Angeles prior to the date you became eligible for LACERA membership.
- Service credit for work in less than full-time positions will be prorated; for example, two years of service at half-time equals one year of service credit.
- Eligible Members
- Members who entered County service, enrolled in a contributory plan, and had no break in County service; or members who entered County service, enrolled in a contributory plan, terminated employment and withdrew funds, then returned to County service and rejoined a contributory plan.
- Term of Payment Contract
- The number of payment deductions cannot exceed the number of months you are purchasing.
- Calculation Method
- Total compensation earned during the period of temporary service multiplied by your initial retirement contribution rate upon becoming a member of LACERA, plus the interest that would have been credited had the above amount been on deposit from the date you became a member of LACERA up to the expiration date on the Payment Contract. Payments not made by this date or payments made through payroll deductions are subject to additional interest until contract is paid in full. If total compensation information is not available, LACERA will use your rate of monthly compensation upon becoming a member multiplied by the months of creditable service you wish to purchase to compute your total compensation.
- Service based on nonmonthly compensation will be calculated on a case-by-case basis.
Redeposit of Withdrawn Contributions
Gov. Code Section 31652
- Type of Service
- Employment in a position with the County of Los Angeles in which retirement contributions were made to LACERA in order to receive credit for that service.
- Eligible Members
- Members who entered County service, and enrolled in a contributory plan, terminated employment and withdrew funds, then returned to County service and rejoined a contributory plan. The entire amount withdrawn, plus all the interest that would have been credited had the withdrawn amount been left on deposit, must be redeposited in order to receive service credit. Service credit in prior plan is restored, and current plan membership, if different, is converted to the prior plan.
- Term of Payment Contract
- Up to 10 years (120 months).
- Calculation Method
- Amount withdrawn, plus the interest that would have been credited had funds been left on deposit from the date of termination to the expiration date on the Payment Contract. Payments not made by this date or payments made through payroll deductions are subject to additional interest until contract is paid in full.
General to Safety Service
Gov. Code Section 31639.75
- Type of Service
- Employment in a position with the County of Los Angeles during which you were a general member. This retirement service credit may be converted to safety member retirement service credit provided you are now a safety member. You may convert up to a maximum of five years of service. If you elect to convert only part of your general member service, you must convert the most recent period of that service first and any remaining service will continue to be credited as general member service.
- Eligible Members
- Active safety members who have five or more years of service as a safety member at the time they elect to convert their previous general member service to safety member service.
- Term of Payment Contract
- Up to 10 years (120 months).
- Calculation Method
- The difference between the total retirement contributions actually paid for general member retirement service credit and the retirement contributions that would have been paid if that general member service had been safety member service. Total contributions payable by the member include the member contributions and the employer contributions, plus the interest those contributions would have earned had they been on deposit up to the expiration date on the Payment Contract. Payments not made by this date or payments made through payroll deductions are subject to additional interest until the contract is paid in full.
- Active members who wish to purchase credit for service while in the Academy or for other similar training must contact us to speak with a LACERA Retirement Benefits Specialist.
Sick Without Pay (SWOP)
Gov. Code Section 31646
- Uploading a scanned copy of your certificate to your My LACERA account and providing your digital signature to the Certificate Attestation Form,
- Printing and mailing the attestation form with a photocopy of your certificate(s), or
- Faxing your certificate and attestation form to 626-564-6155
- Type of Service
- Employment in a position in which you were absent without pay (for up to 12 consecutive months) due to illness or maternity leave while you were a member of Plan A, B, C, or D.
- Eligible Members
- Members who entered County service, enrolled in a contributory plan, and had no break in County service; or members who entered County service, enrolled in a contributory plan, terminated employment and withdrew funds, then returned and rejoined a contributory plan and redeposited funds for the period during which the sick without pay occurred.
- To be eligible, you must have returned to work for at least one day following the absence without pay.
- Maternity Leave
- You may purchase credit for up to five months of unpaid maternity leave without medical verification; a photocopy of birth certificate is required. The copy of the birth certificate must be submitted with a signed Certificate Attestation Form (you must be logged in to My LACERA to access this link) to certify that the copy submitted is correct and contains no alterations from the original. Any photocopied certificate submitted without the signed attestation will be rejected. Contact us if you need the attestation mailed to you.
- You can easily provide LACERA with the necessary documents by:
- Certified documents can be obtained from the Registrar-Recorder in the county in which the birth was recorded. LACERA encourages you to submit photocopies of your certificate(s). However, if you choose to send in an original certificate, it may take a few weeks to return the original(s) to you. LACERA is not responsible for any loss or damage to the original certificates due to the mailing process.
- Purchasable months include the month of birth, two months prior, and two months after. You may purchase up to 12 consecutive months (before and/or after the birth) upon verification that the leave was required for medical reasons.
- Terms of Payment Contract
- The number of payment deductions cannot exceed the number of months you are purchasing.
- The maximum purchase for each SWOP period is 12 consecutive months. LACERA will accept verification by your Department for unpaid sick leave.
- Calculation Method
- Contributions you would have paid while in a contributory plan, plus the interest the contributions would have earned had they been on deposit during the period of absence up to the expiration date on the Payment Contract. Payments not made by this date or payments made through payroll deductions are subject to additional interest until the contract is paid in full.