(a) Application for Disability Retirement. Any Member who has five (5) or more years of Continuous Service and who has become physically or mentally incapacitated and who is incapable, as a result thereof, of performing their duties, may be retired upon written application of such Member, or any person acting their behalf, or of the head of the department in which such Member is employed. Where the Member's incapacity has been continuous from the discontinuance of such service, any application for disability retirement may be made at any time within, but not exceeding, one (1) year after the discontinuance of the service of such employee or the termination of any duly authorized sick leave with pay.
(b) Disability Determination. The Board shall cause each Member who applies for disability retirement to be examined by, and a written report thereon rendered by, at least three (3) regularly licensed, practicing physicians selected by the Board. If the Member is terminally ill, however, the Board only shall require the Member to be examined by one (1) such physician selected by the Board. If, upon considering the report(s) of such physician(s) and such other evidence as shall have been presented to it in connection with the disability retirement application, the Board finds that: (1) the Member has become physically or mentally incapacitated and is incapable, as a result thereof, of performing their duties; and (2) such disability was not due to intemperance or the willful misconduct of such Member, then the Board shall determine that the Member shall be retired as of the date of the discontinuance of their service on account of such disability or termination of sick leave with pay.
(c) Disability Retirement Allowance. Any Member retired on account of disability shall receive a disability retirement allowance that shall consist of:
(1) An annuity which shall be the actuarial equivalent of their Accumulated Contributions at the time of their retirement, calculated in accordance with approved actuarial methods as of the date of retirement; and
(2) A pension which shall be in such an amount that the same, when added to that portion of their annuity not derived from additional contributions paid to provide a larger annuity at the time of retirement, shall be a sum which shall be equal to one-seventieth (1/70) of their Final Compensation, as defined in Section 4.1080.1(b), calculated as of the date of retirement, multiplied by the number of years of City Service Credit of such Member.
If the sum resulting from this calculation should be an amount that represents less than one-third (1/3) of the Member's Final Compensation, the disability retirement allowance shall be one-third (1/3) of their Final Compensation.
(d) Death of Applicant Prior to Board Action. Whenever the Board shall have before it for consideration an application for disability retirement by a Member who died while they were waiting for the application to be processed and prior to the Board's receipt of the physician reports required under Subsection (b) of this section, a disability retirement may be granted on the basis of fewer than three medical reports or no such reports subject to the following provisions:
The Board must find:
(1) That the applicant was physically or mentally incapacitated since the discontinuance of service and incapable of performing the duties of their position; and
(2) That the disabling condition(s) and death of the applicant were not due to the applicant's intemperance or willful misconduct.
The Board shall have the authority to adopt all necessary rules to implement the provisions of this subsection including, but not limited to, rules regarding the type and quantity of evidence required to make the determination required herein.
In the event that an applicant's disability retirement is granted by the Board after their death, whether pursuant to the provisions of this subsection or based upon three or more reports that were obtained from physicians selected by the Board, and they leave a survivor eligible for a continuance of their disability retirement allowance as provided in Section 4.1080.12, the disability retirement allowance payable to such deceased Member shall be reduced so as to provide for a one hundred percent (100%) disability survivorship allowance as if such deceased applicant had elected to provide a one hundred percent (100%) continuance benefit under the provisions of Section 4.1080.14(a)(1).
(e) Review of Disability Retirees. The Board, from time to time in its discretion, may require any beneficiary under the age of sixty (60) years who shall have been retired because of disability to submit to medical examination by one or more regularly licensed practicing physicians selected by the Board. Upon the basis of such examination and other proper evidence, said Board shall determine whether such beneficiary is still incapacitated for service in the position held by the beneficiary at the time of their retirement. If the Board determines that such beneficiary is not so incapacitated, the beneficiary shall be restored to duty in the position held by them at the time of the disability retirement order, and, upon their return to active service, their retirement allowance shall be canceled.
The Board, at its discretion, may cancel a retirement allowance where a beneficiary fails, neglects, or refuses either to submit to a medical examination ordered by the Board or to return to active service when deemed no longer incapacitated and within such reasonable time as determined by the Board. If the Board so determines, the only right that the beneficiary shall have as a former Member pursuant to Section 4.1080.4 of this article is to receive a refund of their Accumulated Contributions, less any payments made on account of the annuity provided herein.
If the Board should determine that a beneficiary is no longer incapacitated, but the beneficiary cannot be restored to duty in the position held by them at the time of retirement due to the beneficiary's termination or resignation, the Board shall cancel their retirement allowance, and, as a former Member, they shall have the rights set forth in Section 4.1080.4, provided that, in the event they requests a refund of contributions, the accumulated contributions shall be reduced by any payments made on account of the annuity provided herein.
(f) Consensual Re-Employment in a Different Position. Any person retired for disability by the Board, even though incapable of performing the duties of the position from which they have been or shall be retired, may be re-employed in a different vacant position if the Board of Civil Service Commissioners finds that they are capable of performing the duties of such position. Such person may be so re-employed only with the consent of the appointing authority for such position and the written consent of such person. The Board of Civil Service Commissioners shall adopt rules and regulations to effectuate the purpose of this subsection. Upon the re-employment of such person, their disability retirement allowance shall cease, and, should they be eligible for membership in the Retirement System, they again shall become a Member of the Retirement System.
(g) Rights and Obligations upon Re-Employment. Any beneficiary who retires for disability as a Tier 3 Member and subsequently re-enters the service of the City, as provided in Subsection (e) or (f) herein, and again becomes a Member of the Retirement System, shall return to membership in Tier 3. The balance, if any, of their Accumulated Contributions, after deducting the annuity payments made to them on account of a disability retirement allowance, shall be credited to the individual account of such Member with the Retirement System, regardless of whether they becomes a Member of the Retirement System or of another City retirement system upon re-employment. Upon returning to service from disability retirement, a Member may elect to make additional contributions to their individual retirement account, as provided by Board rule, in order to restore part or all of their annuity.
A beneficiary shall receive credit for services rendered prior to the date of their retirement in the same manner as though they had never been retired for disability, but the payment of a disability pension shall not constitute compensation from the City entitling them to Service for the period it was paid. If otherwise eligible, a Member may purchase eligible service with another governmental entity for employment during periods in which they received a disability allowance.
(h) Board Authority. The Board shall have the power to hear and determine all matters pertaining to the granting or termination of any retirement allowance provided for in this section, and the determination of the Board shall be final and conclusive.
(i) Loan Program for Disability Applicants. The Board shall establish a loan program, by rule, for Members who have made application for disability retirement or upon whose behalf an application has been made in accordance with the provisions of this section, provided that the loan program shall be in compliance with the provisions of Internal Revenue Code Section 72(p). The loan program further shall provide that in no event shall the amount of funds loaned to any Member exceed the amount of contributions and interest in the Member's LACERS account, and that, once a Board determination is made granting or denying a Member's disability application, no further funds shall be loaned to the Member in connection with that application. Loan repayments will be suspended under this program as permitted under Section 414(u)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code.
(j) Right to Make Back Contributions When Disability Application Denied. Any Member who has, at any time, filed an application for disability retirement that was denied by the Board of Administration upon a finding that the applicant had not become physically or mentally incapacitated so as to be incapable of performing their duties, shall have the right to designate up to six (6) months of the period while such application was pending for purposes of acquiring credit towards City Service as defined in Section 4.1080.1(a), subject to the following conditions:
(1) The designated period does not already entitle the Member to Service Credit.
(2) The maximum period to be designated is six (6) months or the actual period of time while the application for disability retirement was pending, whichever was less.
(3) If a Member has applied more than once for disability retirement, the cumulative total period to be designated may not exceed six (6) months or the time elapsed while applications were processed, whichever is fewer.
(4) The right granted herein shall be exercised in writing, filed with the Board, designating the period of City Service for which the Member desires to receive Service Credit, and must be accompanied by a single payment of back contributions or by an irrevocable agreement to pay such back contributions in installments. The back contributions to be paid shall be in an amount equal to all of the contributions which they would have made to the Fund had they been making contributions during such period, based upon such person's Compensation Earnable before the discontinuance of their service, together with all regular interest which, had they so made the same, would have been credited thereon prior to the date of such payment. Installment payments shall be made pursuant to rules adopted by the Board. Every Member who makes up back contributions as provided herein shall be allowed credit for the period of City Service designated in the declaration filed by them with the Board. If they cease to be a Member of the System before making up the full amount thereof, they shall be allowed Service Credit, counter-calendarwise, for the same portion of such designated period as the amount made up by them. If the Member ceases to be a Member by reason of their death, Service Credit shall be allowed for the whole period designated by them if their surviving spouse or Domestic Partner exercises the option granted in this article to any surviving spouse or Domestic Partner to make a single payment of all of the unpaid installments with accrued interest thereon.
(k) WPERP Service. Service with the Water and Power Employees' Retirement Plan (WPERP) shall not count towards Continuous Service for purposes of Subsection (a) of this section. Service with the WPERP shall be included as years of service in the calculation of the Member's disability retirement allowance pursuant to Subsection (c) of this section, where such service was transferred to the Retirement System pursuant to reciprocity under current Section 4.1095 or former Section 4.1060. LACERS shall consider such service to the extent required by those Code sections.
(l) A Public Safety Officer Member who applies for disability retirement shall be subject to Section 4.1080.8.1, and the provisions of this Section 4.1080.8 shall not apply.
SECTION HISTORY
Added by Ord. No. 184,134, Eff. 1-22-16.
Amended by: Subsec. (e), Ord. No. 184,853, Eff. 4-6-17; In Entirety, Ord. No. 187,923, Eff. 7-9-23.