2023 California Code › Government Code - GOV › TITLE 3 - GOVERNMENT OF COUNTIES › DIVISION 4 - EMPLOYEES › PART 3 - RETIREMENT SYSTEMS › CHAPTER 3 - County Employees Retirement Law of 197 › ARTICLE 7 - Service › Section 31646.

31646. (a) A member who returns to active service following an uncompensated leave of absence on account of the member’s illness may receive service credit for the period of the absence upon the payment of the contributions that the member would have paid during that period, together with the interest that the contributions would have earned had they been on deposit, if the member was not absent. The contributions may be paid in a lump sum or may be paid on a monthly basis for a period of not more than the length of the period for which service credit is claimed. Credit shall not be received for any period of such an absence in excess of 12 consecutive months.
(b) (1) A member who returns to active service following an uncompensated leave of absence on account of parental leave may receive service credit for the period of the absence upon the payment of the contributions that the member and the employer would have paid during that period, together with the interest that the contributions would have earned had they been on deposit, if the member was not absent. For purposes of this subdivision, parental leave is defined as any time, up to one year, during which a member is granted an approved maternity or paternity leave and returns to employment at the end of the approved leave for a period of time at least equal to that leave. The contributions may be paid in a lump sum or may be paid on a monthly basis for a period of not more than the length of the period for which service credit is claimed. Credit shall not be received for any period of such an absence in excess of 12 consecutive months.
(2) This subdivision shall not be operative until the board of supervisors, by resolution adopted by majority vote, makes the provisions applicable to that county and applies it to parental leave that commences after the adoption by the board of supervisors.
(c) (1) A member who returns to active service following an uncompensated leave of absence on account of the serious illness of a family member when the absence is eligible for coverage under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 2601 et seq.) or the Moore-Brown-Roberti Family Rights Act, commonly referred to as the California Family Rights Act, as described in Section 12945, may receive service credit for the period of the absence upon the payment of the contributions that the member and the employer would have paid during that period, together with the interest that the contributions would have earned had the contributions been on deposit, if the member was not absent. For purposes of this subdivision, “leave of absence on account of illness of a family member” means any time, up to one year, during which a member is granted an approved leave to care for a seriously ill family member and returns to employment at the end of the approved leave for a period of time at least equal to that leave. The contributions required to receive the service credit may be paid in a lump sum or may be paid on a monthly basis for a period of not more than the length of the period for which service credit is claimed. Credit shall not be received for any period of such an absence in excess of 12 consecutive months.
(2) This subdivision shall not be operative until the board of supervisors, by resolution adopted by majority vote, makes the provisions applicable to that county and applies it to leave that commences after the adoption by the board of supervisors.
(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 524, Sec. 1. (AB 1971) Effective January 1, 2023.)