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11.1 First Tier Eligibility for Employees in Second Tier
New employees who meet the criteria for CalPERS membership are enrolled in the First Tier plan and have the right to be covered under the Second Tier plan within 180 days of the date of their appointment. If a new employee does not make an election for Second Tier coverage during this period, he or she would remain in the First Tier plan.
An employee in the Second Tier may exercise the Tier 1 right of election at any time. An employee who makes this election is eligible to purchase past Second Tier service. The parties will work with CalPERS to establish more flexible purchase provisions for employees. These include, but are not limited to, increasing the installment period from 96 months (8 years) to 144 months (12 years) or up to 180 months (15 years), and allowing employees to purchase partial amounts of service.
Employees who purchase their past service are required to pay the amount of contributions they would have paid had they been First Tier members during the period of service that they are purchasing. As required by CalPERS law, the amount includes six percent (6%) interest, compounded annually.