(a) “First responder” means an employee of the state or a local public agency who provides emergency response services, including any of the following:
(1) A peace officer, as defined in Section 830 of the Penal Code.
(2) A firefighter, as defined in Section 50925.
(3) A paramedic, as defined in Section 1797.84 of the Health and Safety Code.
(4) An emergency medical technician, as defined in Sections 1797.80 and 1797.82 of the Health and Safety Code.
(5) A public safety dispatcher or public safety telecommunicator. For the purposes of this paragraph, “public safety dispatcher or public safety telecommunicator” means an individual employed by a public safety agency, as the initial first responder, whose primary responsibility is to receive, process, transmit, or dispatch emergency and nonemergency calls for law enforcement, fire, emergency medical, and other public safety services by telephone, radio, or other communication device, and includes an individual who promotes from this position and supervises individuals who perform these functions.
(b) (1) Subdivision (a) shall not confer a right to, or entitlement upon, an employee or prospective employee to obtain a retirement benefit formula for an employment classification that is either not included in, or is expressly excluded from, that formula pursuant to the California Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013 (Chapter 21 (commencing with Section 7522) of Division 7 of Title 1), the Public Employees’ Retirement Law (Division 5 (commencing with Section 20000)), or the County Employees Retirement Law of 1937 (Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 31450) of Part 3 of Division 4 of Title 3.)
(2) An employer shall not offer, or indicate an ability to offer, to an employee or prospective employee a retirement benefit formula for an employment classification that is not included in, or is expressly excluded from, that formula pursuant to the California Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013 (Chapter 21 (commencing with Section 7522) of Division 7 of Title 1), Public Employees’ Retirement Law (Division 5 (commencing with Section 20000)), or the County Employees Retirement Law of 1937 (Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 31450) of Part 3 of Division 4 of Title 3), because the employment classification is included in subdivision (a).
(Added by Stats. 2020, Ch. 68, Sec. 1. (AB 1945) Effective January 1, 2021.)