Under the California
County Employees Retirement Law, an employee is eligible for disability
retirement as of the last day he or she receives “regular compensation.” A
California appeals court has ruled that sick leave and vacation pay count as
regular compensation, meaning that retirement doesn’t kick in for a disabled employee
on leave until he or she exhausts sick leave and vacation pay.1 In this case, the
employee argued unsuccessfully that her disability retirement date should have
been her last actual day worked, even though she received sick leave and
vacation benefits for more than four years beyond that date.
_
1 Katosh v.
(Dist. 1) No. A115094, 2008