(a) Wherever “SIP” is used in this Chapter, it shall refer to the Separation Incentive Program. The intent of the City in promulgating the SIP is to address the City’s significant financial challenges while minimizing the impact on City services, by incentivizing eligible employees to retire. The SIP is not a retirement benefit. Under no circumstances shall the SIP payments made by the City be considered in any calculation of a retirement benefit or division of a LACERS member’s retirement benefit. Rather, the SIP is a program whereby the City, as employer, has agreed with certain bargaining units to provide two lump-sum, non-pensionable incentive payments to those LACERS members who are eligible for a Full LACERS retirement and who the Office of the City Administrative Officer (CAO), in its sole discretion, has determined to have met all requirements of the SIP program (SIP Eligible Filers). The following provisions and limitations shall apply to the processing of retirement applications by LACERS under the SIP:
(b) To minimize the impact on City services, a SIP Eligible Filer who elects to retire under the SIP may not select their effective date of retirement. Instead, in order to effectuate the City’s intent to assist the City’s financial situation while minimizing the impact on City services, the LACERS General Manager or their designee (LACERS Management) shall determine the effective date of retirement for a person retiring under the SIP.
(1) The portion of Los Angeles Administrative Code Section 4.1005 stating that a person’s effective date of retirement shall be not less than thirty (30) nor more than sixty (60) days from and after the filing of the person’s LACERS retirement application shall not apply to persons retiring under the SIP.
(2) LACERS Management's decision as to a person’s effective date of retirement under the SIP shall be final and binding, regardless of whether the SIP Eligible Filer agrees with LACERS Management’s decision. The SIP Eligible Filer may be required to retire as soon as administratively possible, or may be required to continue working for the City for a longer period of time. The CAO may promulgate rules that LACERS Management shall follow regarding the effective dates of retirement for SIP Eligible Filers. Such rules shall be determined solely by the CAO, based on the City’s intent to minimize the impact on City services and maximize the ability of the SIP to address the City’s financial challenges.
(c) The three-month period from November 1, 2020, through and including January 31, 2021, shall be referred to herein as the “SIP Period”. During the SIP Period, LACERS shall not accept a non-SIP retirement application from a person eligible for Full Retirement or Early Retirement After the SIP Period has expired, any LACERS member who is otherwise eligible to retire may apply to retire, and LACERS shall accept and process new non-SIP retirement applications pursuant to standard, non-SIP LACERS procedures and provisions.
(1) All applications for non-SIP LACERS retirements previously submitted to LACERS by persons eligible for Full Retirement or Early Retirement, and still pending as of the beginning of the SIP Period, shall be held in abeyance for the duration of the SIP Period. After the SIP Period has expired, LACERS shall continue to process previously submitted non-SIP retirement applications pursuant to standard, non-SIP LACERS procedures and provisions.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of the City Charter or Los Angeles Administrative Code, a SIP Eligible Filer who elects to participate in the SIP may not withdraw from LACERS their application to retire under the SIP after the time when their SIP agreement with the CAO becomes final. A SIP Eligible Filer’s SIP agreement is final if it is not rescinded before 3:00 p.m. on the seventh business day after the SIP Eligible Filer submitted it to the CAO, and, for SIP applicants submitting their applications on or before August 3, 2020, if it is not rescinded before the additional rescission period ending at 3:00 p.m. on September 10, 2020.
SECTION HISTORY
Added by Ord. No. 186,765, Eff. 9-23-20.