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Employment Status Changes and Your Membership

Change From Full-Time To Part-Time, Temporary, Seasonal/Intermittent Or Project Position

Members, regardless of years of service, who change from full-time to temporary, part-time, seasonal, intermittent or as needed, or per diem positions cannot withdraw their contributions. On a change in status form available from the members payroll or human resources departments, the member chooses from among two options:

Defer Retirement — Stop making further contributions but leave your contributions and interest on deposit with ACERA. Contributions continue to earn interest and you can receive a retirement allowance when you become eligible to retire.

Continue Membership - Continue making contributions, retaining unchanged membership status and rights as a member in active status. Contributions are withheld bast on the part-time hours.

Termination Before Retirement

When terminating employment with Alameda County or a special district, the following options are available:

Withdraw Contributions — Take a refund of accumulated contributions and interest earned. The funds may be paid to the member, rolled over to an IRA or another employer plan, or partly paid and partly rolled over.

In a rollover, the eligible rollover distribution is paid directly from ACERA to an IRA or another employer plan that accepts rollovers. The member is not taxed on any payment until he/she subsequently withdraws from the fund at a later date.

Any contributions that have already been taxed (pre-1985 contributions and lump sum purchase payments) will be paid directly to the member without tax implications. These contributions cannot be rolled over

Note: ACERA is required to withhold federal income tax at the rate of 20% from the taxable portion of a distribution unless the member elects a direct rollover into an IRA or another employer plan. ACERA is required to withhold state income tax at the rate of 2% from the taxable portion of a distribution unless the member elects otherwise. For tax advise, members should consult a tax accountant or a financial advisor. Withdrawal of contributions terminates all membership and benefit rights in ACERA.

Defer Membership — leaving your contributions and interest on deposit with ACERA. Your contributions continue to earn interest and you can receive a retirement allowance when you become eligible to retire.
Reciprocity — leave your contributions and interest on deposit with ACERA because you are going to work for another public agency which has a reciprocal agreement with ACERA.

Your eligibility for these options depend on how many years of credited service you have.

	Withdrawal	Reciprocity	Defer Membership
Under 5 years of service	*	*
5 or more years of service	*	*	*

A vested member, i.e., one with five or more years of credited service, who leaves contributions on deposit may apply for a monthly retirement allowance when eligible to retire, generally at age 50 or higher with 10 years or more in membership.

A member with less than five years of credited service who elects to leave contributions on a deposit generally will only be eligible to receive the balance of contributions and interest at any time he/she chooses to have the funds disbursed. For such members, leaving contribtuions on deposit will usually not later result in attaining retirement benefit eligibility. There are certain circumstances, however, including those listed below, that could allow a member with less than five years of service to be eligible for a retirement benefit:

* The member attains age of 70:

* The member re-enters membership with ACERA and becomes vested (i.e., attains five years of credited service);

* The member enters employment with another California public agency, establishes reciprocity, and becomes vested; or

* The member purchases additional service available for purchase from ACERA, resulting, when combined with the current membership, in more than five years of service, thereby becoming vested.

To elect any of these options, you must complete and submit the appropriate forms within 180 days of your termination date. Report of Status Change or Separation Forms are available for download from this web site (click HERE), or you can contact ACERA for forms and further information. To qualify for reciprocity, you must join the retirement system of your new employer no more than 180 days after your termination date.

Unclaimed Money:

If you terminate employment, and have less than 5 years of service (not vested) and do not contact ACERA to request a refund of contributions, the retirement office will contact you at your last known address to inform you that you have funds on deposit. If you still do not claim your funds after 10 years if Tier I, or 5 years if Tier II, the money will be reverted to the retirement system’s reserves and you will no longer have access to the funds. Therefore, it is very important that you contact ACERA if you move after terminating your employment with the County or, if you did not get a termination of membership form from your payroll/human resources department when you terminated.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):

- Last Modified: 03 / 31 / 2004