Pay codes are used by employers to identify and classify types of pay remitted to employees. Some types of pay are includable in retirement earnings,* as determined by CERL and the Board of Retirement, and some are not. In the Alameda Decision, the California Supreme Court clarified for county retirement systems which categories of pay are excluded from a member’s retirement earnings.

The attachments below contain charts reflecting the pensionability of your employer’s pay codes before and after the Alameda Decision:

• The two files labeled “Impacted Pay Codes” list the pay types that were previously included in retirement earnings but that are now (i.e., post-Alameda) included to a limited degree or excluded altogether.

• The two files labeled “All Other Pay Codes” list pay items that, in general, did not see a change in their pensionability due to the Alameda Decision.**

Because the charts are categorized by membership type, and a majority of the members impacted by the Alameda Decision are Legacy members, it is important to first identify yourself as a Legacy or PEPRA member. If you have questions about a particular pay code, please contact your Human Resources or Payroll representative. If you have questions about the pensionability of a specific pay code that are not answered by these charts, please contact VCERA.

COV Impacted Pay Codes
COV All Other Pay Codes
VRSD Impacted Pay Codes
VRSD All Other Pay Codes

(The “COV” files apply to employees of the County of Ventura, Ventura County Superior Court, Ventura Air Pollution Control District, and VCERA.)

* Retirement earnings are known as “pensionable compensation” for PEPRA members and as “compensation earnable” for Legacy members.

** However, a portion of the pay codes in these lists may not be pensionable if they correspond to payments for services rendered outside of normal working hours (also referred to as “situational pay codes”).