BACKGROUND:
As a contributing member of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), the City of Cathedral City is subject to statutory and regulatory requirements for Public Agencies. CalPERS requires public agencies contracting with CalPERS to adopt a publicly available pay schedule in compliance with the Public Employees’ Retirement Law (PERL), Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA), and Title 2 of the California Code of Regulations (CCR) Section 570.5, 571 and 571.1
Under the PERL and PEPRA, compensation earnable and pensionable compensation are determined in accordance with amounts identified on publicly available pay schedules.
Compensation Earnable Under Government (Gov.) Code sections 20636 and 20636.1, compensation earnable means the pay rate and special compensation of the member, as further defined by those statutes.
Pensionable Compensation Pursuant to Gov. Code section 7522.34, pensionable compensation of a new member of any public retirement system means the normal monthly rate of pay or base pay of the member paid in cash to similarly situated members of the same group or class of employment for services rendered on a full-time basis during normal working hours, pursuant to publicly available pay schedules, subject to specified limitations.
Requirements of Publicly Available Pay Schedules Subdivision (a) of CCR section 570.5 defines the requirements for a publicly available pay schedule used to determine pay rates. Pay rates shall be limited to the amount listed on a pay schedule that must meet all the following eight (8) requirements:
1. Be duly approved and adopted by the employer's governing body in accordance with requirements of applicable public meetings laws
2. Identify the position title for every employee position
3. Show the pay rate as a single amount or multiple amounts within a range for each identified position
4. Indicate the time base, including, but not limited to, whether the time base is hourly, daily, bi-weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, or annually
5. Be posted at the office of the employer or immediately accessible and available for public review from the employer during normal business hours or posted on the employer's website
6. Indicate an effective date and date of any revisions
7. Is retained by the employer and available for public inspection for not less than five years
8. Does not reference another document in lieu of disclosing the pay rate Special Compensation Pursuant to CCR section 571 for classic members, and CCR section 571.1 for new members under PEPRA, special compensation items are defined under an exclusive list. Each special compensation item shall be reported separately from pay rate, in accordance with the criteria described in those regulations.
DISCUSSION:
As recently as May 24, 2023, the City Council adopted resolutions pertaining to the Fiscal Year 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 Biennial Budget. The proposed Resolution includes the attachments for Publicly Available Pay Schedules, which are up to date, including the actions taken by the City Council related to the adopted budget and conforming to all regulatory parameters.
Anytime new Memorandum of Understanding Agreements are negotiated or when wage rate/range adjustments or classification title changes are approved, staff will amend the pay schedules for City Council’s consideration and adoption by Resolution.
FISCAL IMPACT:
None
FIVE-YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN:
Goal A-8: Initiate a Class and Compensation Study to benchmark and proactively identify compensation issues that impact employee retention and employee attraction.