Administration
Overview
Membership
Contributions
Retirement
Disability
Death Benefits
Health Plans
Quick Reference Charts
Mission Statement

To Main Page
To Publications

This Page Describes

• Becoming a Member
• Full Membership
• Membership After Termination and Return to Department Employment
• Membership - Transfers From Other City Departments

Becoming a Member

Plan membership is mandatory for all eligible employees; however, you cannot be a Plan member if you are ineligible.

You are ineligible for Plan membership if:

• you are an elected officer or an officer appointed by the Mayor,
                            or

• you are employed under a contract for professional services,
                            or

• you perform only intermittent or occasional work for the Department,
                            or

• you are employed in certain Civil Service exempt
  construction classifications,
                                  or

• you work less than 20 hours a week.

 If you are an employee who has never worked for the City or the Department before, your membership will begin on the first day of the payroll period after your first day of work.  Your paycheck for that payroll period will show a deduction for Retirement.

When you start employment with the Department, you will sign a “Verified Statement of Facts” which provides personal information needed for your membership; names of beneficiaries; and authorization of deductions for Plan benefits.

Full Membership

You become a “Full” Plan member when you complete 26 weeks (approximately six months) of continuous service.  Full membership means you are eligible for Temporary Disability, Permanent Total Disability, and Death Benefits.  Deductions for these benefits also begin.

Certain changes in your employment status can cause your Plan membership to end.

Your membership will end if:

• you terminate employment in DWP,
  or

• you retire,
  or

• you become ineligible to participate. (See "You are ineligible for Plan membership if"),
  or

• you are suspended from Plan membership for supplying false or misleading personal data.

Membership After Termination and Return to Department Employment

If you leave the Department after you have become a Plan member and later return to work for the Department and are eligible, your membership will begin again. (See "Becoming a Member")

You will become a Full Member again:

• on the first day of the payroll period following your reemployment
  or

• on the day of reemployment if you are returning from another Los Angeles City department with no break in service.

Membership - Transfers from Other City Departments

If you transferred to DWP directly from another City department without a break in service, the Reciprocity Program between the Plan and LACERS may affect your membership date in the DWP Plan, as shown below.  (See "Reciprocity Between the Plan and the LACERS").

• If your transfer occurred after you completed 26 weeks of LACERS membership, and you are eligible to participate in the Reciprocity Program, you will become a Full Member on your first day of DWP employment.  Your funds and service credit will be automatically transferred to DWP.
   

• If your transfer occurred after you completed 26 weeks of continuous LACERS membership but you are not eligible to participate in the Reciprocity Program because you left your retirement contributions at LACERS, your membership will begin on the first day of the next pay period after your transfer and you will become a Full Member on the first day of the next payroll period following 26 weeks of continuous DWP service.
  
  If you previously withdrew your LACERS contributions, you can call the Retirement Plan Office to reacquire credit for your City service by re-depositing your withdrawn contributions (see "Purchasing Service Credit").
   

• If your transfer occurred after you completed 26 weeks of continuous City service but you were not a LACERS member, you will become a Full Member on the first day of the next pay period after your transfer.
   

• If your transfer occurred before you completed 26 weeks of  continuous City service and you were a LACERS member, your membership will begin on the first day of DWP employment.  If you were not a LACERS member, your membership will begin on the first day of the next payroll period after your transfer.  In either case, you will become a Full Member the first day of the next payroll period following completion at DWP of the rest of the 26 weeks of continuous service.

• On to Contributions to the Plan