Reciprocity

SFERS, CalPERS, and other California public retirement systems provide “reciprocal” retirement benefits. Under reciprocity, you may combine credited service earned under each reciprocal retirement system to qualify for retirement in each plan. Generally, the eligibility criteria seen below qualify for reciprocity under SFERS:

Eligibility for Reciprocity under SFERS

• Terminate employment with CalPERS or a reciprocal retirement system and within six (6) months after your termination date, become a member of SFERS; or
• Terminate from your SFERS covered employment and become a member of a reciprocal system within six (6) months after your termination date from your SFERS covered position. If you elect reciprocity, you must be separated completely from your SFERS covered employment before becoming a member in a new reciprocal plan (membership in two retirement plans at the same time disqualifies reciprocity benefits)
• You have credited service and/or contributions on account with the reciprocal system(s) as of your termination date from the reciprocal system(s), and on your effective membership date with SFERS
• At retirement, you must apply to retire from each system separately using the same retirement date
• When you retire simultaneously from all systems, your highest compensation earned with any of the reciprocal systems will be used to calculate benefits in each system (given the system uses a retirement formula based on compensation)

Make an Election for Reciprocity

Coming to work for the City

If you terminated employment from a reciprocal retirement system within six (6) months of being hired in a SFERS covered position, you can make an election for reciprocity during the new member enrollment process.

Leaving City employment

• If you are leaving SFERS covered employment and considering employment with another public agency, log in to mySFERS and select “Termination Options Request” under the Profile tab to access the SFERS Termination Options Form. Complete and submit the form according to the instructions provided.
• To inquire about your options and the potential impact to your retirement benefits should you join a reciprocal agency, email SFERS at [email protected]. An appointment is not required to make an election for reciprocity.

For a list of reciprocal retirement systems, reference page 16 in the CalPERS’ When You Change Retirement Systems Guide. (The CalPERS When You Change Retirement Systems Guide is published by CalPERS. SFERS cannot guarantee the accuracy of its content).

SFERS does not have a reciprocal agreement with the University of California Retirement Plan, Judges Retirement System (JRS), Legislator’s Retirement System, State Teacher’s Retirement System, or Federal Employees’ Retirement System