Pension promises made to current and retired CalPERS members are a “vested right” and protected under State and federal laws, according to a legal analysis released today by the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS).

The analysis, “Vested Rights of CalPERS Members,” articulates provisions found in the “Contract Clauses” of State and federal laws, concluding that the laws establish that public employee retirement benefits are a form of deferred compensation and part of the employment contract.

“The law is very clear – a promise of a pension made by a public employer to its employees is a promise the employer must keep,” said Anne Stausboll, Chief Executive Officer for CalPERS. “We prepared this analysis for two reasons. First, to reaffirm the provisions of the law regarding the nature of our members’ pension rights; and second, to outline CalPERS roles as fiduciaries and stewards of the pension fund. We need to ensure that our members’ vested rights are honored.”

CalPERS analysis looked at more than a dozen California appellate cases over the last 70 years, calling out several rules that have emerged from court decisions, including:

  • Employees are entitled to benefits in place during their employment, meaning they obtain a vested right to the provisions of the applicable retirement law that exists during the course of their public employment.
  • Retired and inactive members have vested rights to the benefits promised to them when they worked.
  • Employees are entitled only to amounts reasonably expected from the contract. Vested rights protection does not extend to unreasonable or unanticipated windfalls.
  • The State’s “emergency” powers are extremely limited and cannot be used to reduce the benefits that have been promised. The State’s emergency powers do not enable it to solve its budgetary problems by eliminating or reducing the long-term benefit promises it has made.
  • Future employees have no vested rights.
  • Only lawful contracts with mutual consideration are protected by the contract clause.
  • Active employees’ vested rights may be unilaterally modified only under extremely limited circumstances. Modifications must be reasonable and must bear some material relation to the theory of a pension system and its successful operation. Changes that result in disadvantage to employees generally must be accompanied by comparable new advantages.

If a pension reform proposal for current employees were to be enacted it would still have to “pass muster” under the Contract Clause of the California Constitution. If a proposed amendment eliminated the State Constitution’s Contract Clause, the Contract Clause in the U.S. Constitution would still give rise to the same protection of vested rights as the State Constitution.

“The assumption by authors of pension reform proposals that amending the State Constitution will avoid a constitutional challenge to altering vested retirement benefits is misplaced,” said Peter Mixon, CalPERS General Counsel. “Without consideration of State and federal rules, well-intentioned proposals may only lead to increased litigation and administrative costs that will further increase the costs of providing benefits.”

The full analysis, “Vested Rights of CalPERS Members,” can be found in the CalPERS Press Room at www.calpers.ca.gov.

CalPERS is the nation’s largest public pension fund with approximately $236 billion in assets. It provides retirement benefits to more than 1.6 million State, public school, and local public agency employees, retirees, and their families, and health benefits to nearly 1.3 million members. The average CalPERS pension is $2,220 per month. For more information about CalPERS, visit www.calpers.ca.gov or www.CalPERSResponds.com.