Reciprocity

Reciprocity is the linking of two California public agencies.

Any time prior to your retirement, you can request to establish reciprocity if you meet the following conditions:

  1. You have a gap in membership between 2 eligible California public agency retirement systems that is less than six months
  2. There was no overlap in your membership*
  3. You left your funds on deposit at the previous agency

*There are some cases where membership can be delayed or terminated early to prevent an overlap in memberships.  Please contact us for details.

Benefits of Establishing Reciprocity:

  • Service credit will be added together from all linked agencies to determine vesting and eligibility
  • The highest final compensation from any linked agency will generally be used by all agencies to calculate your retirement benefit
  • In an age-based contribution system, your age of entry into membership from the first linked agency will be used by all subsequent linked agencies to determine contribution rates. The lower your age at membership, the lower your retirement contributions would be.

There are numerous agencies and employers that are eligible for reciprocity. Due to the number of agencies that CalPERS manages or has an agreement with, we just can’t list them all. Here’s an idea:

  • Any county in California
  • Many cities/municipalities (including city of Fresno)
  • Any CalPERS managed agency (includes many more than just state employees)
  • Any agency or local government that has an agreement with CalPERS
  • CalSTRS

When can you request to establish reciprocity? Any time prior to retirement. The 6 month time limit only refers to the time between memberships, not to the time required for making your request. Did you work at a California public agency prior to working for the County of Fresno? Do you meet the other requirements? Even if you think you may be eligible but are not sure, let us know with a simple written request, and we can begin the research for you. If you have additional questions regarding reciprocity, please contact us.

You can also view a recent webinar about reciprocity here: