31461.7.
(a) This section applies only to a county of the thirteenth class, as defined by Section 28020, as amended by Chapter 1204 of the Statutes of 1971, and Section 28034, as amended by Chapter 1204 of the Statutes of 1971.(b) (1) Compensation, as defined in Section 31460, and compensation earnable, as defined in Section 31461, include flexible benefits plan allowances paid by a county or a district on behalf of its employees as part of a cafeteria plan offered pursuant to Section 125 of the Internal Revenue Code if all of the following requirements are met:
(A) The flexible benefit plan allowance is made available to any person in the same grade or class of positions. For purposes of this subdivision, “grade or class of positions” means a number of employees considered together because they share similarities in job duties, work location, collective bargaining unit, or other logical, work-related grouping. A single employee shall not be considered a grade or class of positions.
(B) The flexible benefit plan allowance is not expressly excluded from “compensation earnable” pursuant to paragraphs (2) to (4), inclusive, of subdivision (b) of Section 31461.
(C) The retirement system included the flexible benefit plan allowance as part of compensation earnable as of July 30, 2020, and the employer and employee paid contributions to the retirement system based on the flexible benefit plan allowance as of that date.
(D) The employer and employee pay the required contributions to the retirement system as the employee continues to earn the flexible benefit plan allowance.
(2) For employee groups in which the monetary amount of the flexible benefits plan allowance is the same for all employees, regardless of the number of dependents, the entire amount shall be included in compensation earnable. For employee groups in which the monetary amount of the flexible benefits plan allowance varies among employees depending on the number of dependents, the amount included in compensation earnable shall be the amount provided to an employee with no dependents.
(c) This section shall not apply to employees who are new members, as defined in Section 7522.04.
(d) This section shall apply to eligible members who retire on or before December 31, 2025.
(e) For members who retire after December 31, 2025, to the extent the retirement system excludes any remuneration described in subdivision (b) from the definition of “compensation” or “compensation earnable,” the retirement system shall refund contributions to the member, and shall credit contributions to the employer, that were made based on the excluded remuneration in accordance with requirements under the Internal Revenue Code.