Oden

A plaintiff class of pensioners under the Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS) and its class representatives obtained judgment directing issuance of a writ of mandate commanding the respondent class of more than 1,350 California public agencies and the Board of Administration of PERS to increase pensioners’ retirement allowances.

The trial court judgment rests on an interpretation of Government Code section 20022’s definition of “compensation,” upon which pension contributions and allowances are calculated. “Compensation” is defined to include an employer “pick up” payment of employee pension contributions meeting federal taxation law standards, but exclude employers’ payments credited as employee pension contributions. (Gov. Code, § 20022, subds. (a)(6), (b)(6).) At issue is the characterization of employer payments made in addition to an employee’s salary and credited as an employee pension contribution—payments which meet the literal definitions of both an employer “pick up” and an employer payment credited as an employee contribution. The trial court characterized such payments as “compensation,” thereby requiring higher retirement allowances and increased…