The 2025-26 Budget: Concession Bargaining

May 19, 2025 - Most state employees earn a pension. The pension that an employee receives in retirement depends on the pension formula they earned during their career. The specific pension formula that an employee earns depends on their job and when they were hired.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5047

MOU Fiscal Analysis: Bargaining Unit 18

Aug 12, 2022 - If an employee at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is assigned to observe, supervise, or suicide watch an inmate, they are not allowed to leave their assigned post unless they are relieved by another employee who can provide coverage.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4617

MOU Fiscal Analysis: Bargaining Unit 6 (Corrections)

Sep 7, 2023 - As such, the normal cost for the benefit earned by employees is the best estimate of the value of the employer-provided benefits earned today by employees and therefore the best way to compare pension benefits across employers.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4800

State Options to Expand Unemployment Benefits

Apr 9, 2020 - The state could set benefit amounts based on earnings for workers who are able to document earnings. For all other workers, the state could set a minimum benefit amount. Workers who can demonstrate earnings would receive the minimum benefit and the benefit based on prior earnings.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4219

MOU Fiscal Analysis: Bargaining Unit 9 (Professional Engineers)

Jun 27, 2025 - Under state law, vacation or annual leave is considered a form of wages that is vested when earned. As such, employers cannot adopt a “use it or lose it ” policy for earned employee vacation and annual leave whereby unused vacation or annual leave above a certain level is forfeited at the end of the year.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5061

MOU Fiscal Analysis: Bargaining Unit 5 (Highway Patrol)

Aug 23, 2024 - State-employed peace officers earn their benefit under one of two plans: Peace Officers and Firefighters (POFF) or Highway Patrol. While all other peace officers employed by the state earn the POFF benefit, CHP officers earn the Highway Patrol pension benefit.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4920

The 2023-24 Budget: Total Compensation Studies

May 24, 2023 - For example, the retirement benefits earned by state employees varies significantly depending on an employee ’s date of hire. A compensation study should compare wages but also should attempt to quantify the value of most of the ancillary benefits earned by employees in an effort to compare the value of total compensation earned by employees.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4773

Savings Plus Program: An Optional Retirement Benefit for State Employees

Mar 14, 2017 - During the career of employees in Social Security, both the employer and employee pay taxes on earnings. In 2017, both the employee and the state pay 6.2  percent of the employee ’s pay. Payroll taxes are not applied to earnings above a wage limit —$127,200 in 2017.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3616

A Review of the CalSTRS Funding Plan: Background

Feb 2, 2016 - That is, the assets held by the fund at any one time have been insufficient to cover benefits earned to that date. As of the most recent estimates, CalSTRS would need an additional $72.7 billion in its investment fund to pay for teacher pension benefits earned as of the end of 2013-1 4.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3332

MOU Fiscal Analysis: Bargaining Unit 16 (Physicians, Dentists, and Podiatrists)

Jul 14, 2025 - However, the benefit earned by the employee is based on their full (not reduced) salary. Accordingly, during furloughs, the state systematically underfunds its pensions —contributing to larger unfunded liabilities.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5064