(a) (1) A member may apply for a disability allowance under the Defined Benefit Program, upon written application for disability allowance to the board on a properly executed form provided by the system, if the member has five or more years of credited service and if all of the following requirements are met:
(A) At least four years were credited for actual performance of service subject to coverage under the Defined Benefit Program. Credit received because of workers’ compensation payments shall be counted toward the four-year requirement in accordance with Section 22710.
(B) The last five years of credited service were performed in this state.
(C) Except as described in subdivision (d) of Section 24201.5, the member is not currently receiving a service retirement allowance and at least one year was credited for service performed subsequent to the date on which the member terminated a service retirement allowance under Section 24208.
(D) At least one year was credited for service performed subsequent to the most recent refund of accumulated retirement contributions.
(E) The member has neither attained normal retirement age, nor possesses sufficient unused sick leave days to receive creditable compensation on account of sick leave to normal retirement age.
(F) The member is not applying for a disability allowance because of a physical or mental condition known to exist at the time the most recent membership in the Defined Benefit Program commenced and remains substantially unchanged at the time of application.
(2) A member who becomes disabled prior to normal retirement age, who has sick leave which will extend beyond normal retirement age, and who has a dependent child, may be awarded a disability allowance with an effective date after normal retirement age if the application is filed prior to attaining normal retirement age.
(b) Nothing in subdivision (a) shall affect the right of a member to a disability allowance under this part if the reason that the member is credited with less than four years of actual service performed subject to coverage under the Defined Benefit Program is due to an on-the-job injury or a disease that occurred while the member was employed and the four-year requirement can be satisfied by credit obtained under Chapter 14 (commencing with Section 22800) or Chapter 14.5 (commencing with Section 22850) in addition to any credit received from workers’ compensation payments.
(c) Nothing in subdivision (a) shall affect the right of a member under this part who has less than five years of credited service to a disability allowance if the following conditions are met:
(1) The member has at least one year of credited service performed in this state.
(2) The disability is the direct result of an unlawful act of bodily injury that was perpetrated on his or her person by another human being while the member was performing his or her official duties in a position subject to coverage under the Defined Benefit Program.
(3) The member provides documentation of the unlawful act in the form of an official police report or official employer incident report.
(d) A member who is eligible to apply for a disability allowance pursuant to this section may also apply for a service retirement pending a determination of his or her application for disability as described in Section 24201.5.
(Amended by Stats. 2014, Ch. 755, Sec. 26. (SB 1220) Effective January 1, 2015.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018