Skip to main content
  • Next Retirement Payment Date:
.VCERA
Member Login/Registration
Member Portal Login/Registration
  • Members
    • Active Members
      • Deferred Members
        • Retirees & Beneficiaries
          • New Employee Orientation
            • Life Events
              • Planning for Retirement
                • Pension Calculators
                • Forms & Publications
                  • Forms
                    • Publications
                      • Legal Resources
                      • Board of Retirement
                        • Board Governance
                          • Board Members
                            • Board Committees
                              • Board Meeting Schedule
                                • Meeting Agendas & Minutes
                                • News & Media
                                  • Alameda Decision Information
                                  • About VCERA
                                    • Your Pension Plan
                                      • Executive Leadership & Key Staff
                                        • Investments
                                          • Financial Reports
                                            • “1937 Act” Retirement Systems
                                            • Contact Us
                                            homeReciprocity
                                            Members
                                            • Active Members
                                              • Membership
                                              • Benefit Tiers
                                              • Contributions
                                                • Contribution Rates
                                              • Vesting
                                              • Service Credit
                                                • Purchasing Service Credit
                                                • Payment Options
                                              • Reciprocity
                                              • Disability Retirement
                                              • Retiring From VCERA
                                                • Eligibility for Retirement
                                                • Calculating Your Pension
                                                • Retirement Options
                                                • Deductions, Taxes & Insurance
                                                • Mandatory Retirement Age
                                              • Active Member Death
                                                • Nonservice-Connected Death
                                                • Service-Connected Death
                                            • Deferred Members
                                              • Vesting & Deferred Retirement
                                              • Rehired & Retiring Members
                                              • Deferred Member Death
                                            • Retirees & Beneficiaries
                                              • Payment Dates
                                              • Optional Deductions
                                              • Returning to Work
                                              • Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA)
                                              • Supplemental Benefits
                                              • Retired Member Death
                                            • New Employee Orientation
                                            • Life Events
                                              • Divorce & Community Property
                                              • Termination of Employment
                                              • Designation of Beneficiary
                                            • Planning for Retirement
                                            • Pension Calculators
                                              • Legacy Pension Calculator
                                              • PEPRA Pension Calculator
                                            • Alameda Decision Information

                                            Reciprocity

                                            Reciprocity allows VCERA members to move from one public agency in California to another without jeopardizing their earned retirement benefits. By establishing reciprocity between retirement systems, your total retirement benefits can increase, among other advantages. But to reap the benefits of reciprocity, you must follow certain rules.

                                            Advantages of Reciprocity

                                            The advantages of establishing reciprocity between VCERA and an eligible retirement system include:

                                            • The age for determining your retirement contribution rate in the new system will be the same as your entry age in the first system. (VCERA has a fixed contribution rate, regardless of age, so this provision does not apply to VCERA rates unless you entered the first retirement system before August 2, 1974.)
                                            • The service credit earned in the first system will contribute to meeting your vesting and retirement eligibility in the new system. This means you do not need to “start over” when transitioning between retirement systems. (Establishing reciprocity with the Judges’ Retirement System II may have some limitations. Contact VCERA for more information.)
                                            • The highest salary earned in any public agency will be used by all reciprocal systems to determine your final average compensation when calculating your retirement benefits, unless limited reciprocity has been established under G.C. Section 31831.3. This could increase your benefit from the first system. (The final average compensation used is subject to each reciprocal system’s rules governing which pay items to include in “compensation earnable” or “pensionable compensation.”)
                                            • If you were a member of the first reciprocal system prior to 2013, you may be eligible for a non-PEPRA benefit tier in the new system.

                                            Rules of Reciprocity

                                            To establish and maintain reciprocity, you must comply with the following rules. Violating any of them will break reciprocity, resulting in the loss of all reciprocal benefits.

                                            • Membership in the new reciprocal system must occur within 180 days after leaving the previous reciprocal public agency; and
                                            • Service between both systems cannot overlap; and
                                            • Your accumulated contributions* may not be withdrawn from the reciprocal system; and
                                            • You must retire from all reciprocal systems on the same day.

                                            Qualifying Retirement Systems

                                            Reciprocity can only be established between VCERA and other eligible retirement systems in California, includ­ing any other “1937 Act” (CERL) county system, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), most agencies reciprocal with CalPERS, the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), and the Judges’ Re­tirement System to a limited extent.

                                            * Contributions left on deposit with VCERA may not be withdrawn unless your employment is terminated with all reciprocal agencies and you withdraw contributions from all reciprocal systems. If this occurs, you must refund from the most recent system first and then refund from the other systems in reverse order of membership.

                                            VCERA Footer Logo

                                            1190 S. Victoria Avenue, Suite 200
                                            Ventura, CA 93003

                                            M-F: 8:00am - 5:00pm

                                            (805) 339-4250

                                            TTY: (877) 249-7442

                                            • Board of Retirement & Administration
                                            • County of Ventura
                                            • Deferred Compensation
                                            • Safe Harbor
                                            • Forms & Publications
                                            • Member Handbook
                                            • Retirement Law Book
                                            • Terms of Use
                                            • Contact Us