Reference & Health Guides

The reference and health guides are designed to help you in your business and health transactions with CalPERS. We encourage you to make the applicable guides available to all staff who process enrollments or convey retirement and/or health benefit information.

Reference Guides

Health Benefits Guides

Retirement Resource Guides

Disability Retirement / Industrial Disability Retirement Resource Guide (PDF)
Local Safety Disability Retirement / Industrial Disability Retirement Resource Guide (PDF)

These guides provide simplified explanations for often complex laws. Should there be a conflict between the language in either the reference or health guides, and the California Public Employees' Retirement Law (PERL) or Public Employees’ Medical & Hospital Care Act (PEMHCA), the PERL and PEMHCA will prevail. If you have comments or suggestions for future editions of these guides, contact us.

*For questions regarding account codes, or requests for account code corrections, adjustments, and/or verifications contact the State Controller's Office retirement liaison at (916) 324-1471.

Revision History

You can view a summary of the revisions made to our guides by selecting the desired link below. For content that received substantive changes, a PDF link is also available in the summary. To stay informed about changes to CalPERS policies and procedures, review our Circular Letters or subscribe to the Employer Bulletin.

Public Agency & Schools Health Benefits Guide

Topic/Summary	Revision Date
Health Plan Options Updated PPO Basic Health Plan Names Health Eligibility Requirements Updates Regarding Former Spouses/Former Domestic Partners Direct Payment Authorization General Updates throughout Topic	Oct 2021 (PDF)

Public Agency & Schools Reference Guide

Chapter/Summary	Revision Date
Introduction Added PEPRA information to service retirement topic	Jul 2017 (PDF)
Contract Coverage Procedures Clarified process to Initiate a New Contact and Updated Cost Estimate Factors for providing Two Years Additional Service Credit	Apr 2018 (PDF)
Membership Minor updates throughout with extensive updates to the Service Credit Purchase Options section	Apr 2021 (PDF)
Compensation Review 2022 Compensation Limits and New Member Contribution Caps	Jan 2022 (PDF)
Compensation Review Updated Requirements for a Publicly Available Pay Schedule	Jun 2021 (PDF)
Compensation Review Updates to the General Information for All Reporting Methods section	Apr 2021 (PDF)
Payroll Reporting Procedures Updated 1959 Survivor Benefit Contribution Index Levels	Apr 2021 (PDF)
Benefit Procedures Updates to the Retirement – General, Disability and Industrial Disability Retirement, Employment of a Retiree, and Refund of Member Contributions topics	Oct 2021 (PDF)
Benefit Procedures Updates to the Employment of a Retiree section	Apr 2021 (PDF)
Web Services & Publications Updated Subscriptions Services	Nov 2017 (PDF)
Education & Other Resources New Educational Resources added	Sep 2018 (PDF)
Appendix New Resolutions Added – Resolution No. 6 (Determination of a Retiree’s Voluntary Reinstatement from Disability Retirement by the Governing Body), Resolution No. 7 (Determination of a Retiree’s Voluntary Reinstatement from Disability Retirement by the Official Delegate) and minor updates to Resolutions 1, 2, 4, and 5	Oct 2021 (PDF)

State Health Benefits Guide

Topic/Summary	Revision Date
Health Plan Options Updated PPO Basic Health Plan Names Health Eligibility Requirements Updates Regarding Ineligible Dependents and PI Deferred Enrollment Health Enrollment Updates to Demographic Changes or Corrections and Permissive Transactions Direct Payment Authorization Topic Re-written for Clarity California COBRA (Cal-COBRA) Health premiums may not exceed 150%	Oct 2021 (PDF)

State Reference Guide

Chapter/Summary	Revision Date
Introduction Added PEPRA information to service retirement topic	Jul 2017 (PDF)
General Membership Information Minor updates throughout with extensive updates to the Service Credit Purchase Options section	Apr 2021 (PDF)
CSU-Only Membership Updates to the General Information for All Reporting Methods section	Apr 2021 (PDF)
Pay Rate & Service Credit 2022 Compensation Limits and New Member Contribution Caps	Jan 2022 (PDF)
Pay Rate & Service Credit Added a requirement for a Publicly Available Pay Schedule	Jun 2021 (PDF)
Pay Rate & Service Credit Updated 1959 Survivor Benefit Contribution Index Levels	Apr 2021 (PDF)
Benefits Procedures Updates to the Retirement – General, Employment of a Retiree, and Refund of Member Contributions topics	Oct 2021 (PDF)
Benefits Procedures Updates to the Employment of a Retiree section	Apr 2021 (PDF)
Web Services & Publications Updated Subscription Services	Nov 2017 (PDF)
Education & Other Resources New Educational Resources added	Sep 2018 (PDF)
Appendix Removed outdated forms	Sep 2013

Policies & Procedures

Resources

Forms & Publications

Is the employer required to provide CalPERS with the original agreement?
An original or certified copy of the agreement is acceptable. If the employer wishes to have an original signed copy of the agreement, it should send two copies with original signatures to CalPERS. After approval, CalPERS will sign both copies and return one to the employer.