(a) (1) “Compensation earnable” by a member means the average compensation as determined by the board, for the period under consideration upon the basis of the average number of days ordinarily worked by persons in the same grade or class of positions during the period, and at the same rate of pay. The computation for any absence shall be based on the compensation of the position held by the member at the beginning of the absence. Compensation, as defined in Section 31460, that has been deferred shall be deemed “compensation earnable” when earned, rather than when paid.
(2) (A) To the extent a retirement system has not defined “grade,” it may define “grade,” as described in paragraph (1), to mean a number of employees considered together because they share similarities in job duties, schedules, unit recruitment requirements, work location, collective bargaining unit, or other logical work-related group or class. A single employee shall not constitute a group or class.
(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not be operative in any county until the board of supervisors of that county, by resolution adopted by majority vote, makes that subparagraph applicable in the county. Nothing in subparagraph (A) shall change the holding in Alameda County Deputy Sheriff’s Association v. Alameda County Employees’ Retirement Association (2020) 9 Cal.5th 1032, and to the extent that there is any conflict between this section and the holding in that case, the latter shall prevail.
(b) “Compensation earnable” does not include, in any case, the following:
(1) Any compensation determined by the board to have been paid to enhance a member’s retirement benefit under that system. That compensation may include:
(A) Compensation that had previously been provided in kind to the member by the employer or paid directly by the employer to a third party other than the retirement system for the benefit of the member, and which was converted to and received by the member in the form of a cash payment in the final average salary period.
(B) Any one-time or ad hoc payment made to a member, but not to all similarly situated members in the member’s grade or class.
(C) Any payment that is made solely due to the termination of the member’s employment, but is received by the member while employed, except those payments that do not exceed what is earned and payable in each 12-month period during the final average salary period regardless of when reported or paid.
(2) Payments for unused vacation, annual leave, personal leave, sick leave, or compensatory time off, however denominated, whether paid in a lump sum or otherwise, in an amount that exceeds that which may be earned and payable in each 12-month period during the final average salary period, regardless of when reported or paid.
(3) Payments for additional services rendered outside of normal working hours, whether paid in a lump sum or otherwise.
(4) Payments made at the termination of employment, except those payments that do not exceed what is earned and payable in each 12-month period during the final average salary period, regardless of when reported or paid.
(c) The terms of subdivision (b) are intended to be consistent with and not in conflict with the holdings in Salus v. San Diego County Employees Retirement Association (2004) 117 Cal.App.4th 734 and In re Retirement Cases (2003) 110 Cal.App.4th 426.
(Amended by Stats. 2024, Ch. 824, Sec. 1. (AB 2284) Effective January 1, 2025.)