Gov. Code, § 20480

(a) An out-of-class appointment by a contracting agency employer or a school employer shall not exceed a total of 960 hours in each fiscal year.

(b) A contracting agency employer or school employer shall track the hours worked by an employee serving in an out-of-class appointment and report that service to the system no later than 30 days following the end of each fiscal year.

(c) The compensation for an appointment described in subdivision (a) shall be pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement or a publicly available pay schedule.

(d) (1) An employer who violates this section shall pay penalties to the system according to the following:

(A) An amount of money equal to three times the employee and employer contributions that would otherwise be paid to the system for the difference between the compensation paid for an appointment described in subdivision (a) and the compensation that would have been paid and reported to the system, but for the vacancy, for the position in accordance with a publicly available pay schedule applicable to the vacant position, for the entire period or periods the member serves in an out-of-class appointment.

(B) Reimbursement for administrative expenses incurred in responding to this situation.

(2) Penalties paid to the system pursuant to this subdivision are not normal contributions or additional contributions that would stand to the credit of a member’s individual account.

(e) The member shall bear no liability, obligations, or expense as a result of the unlawful actions of the employer with respect to this section.

(f) For purposes of this section, “out-of-class appointment” means an appointment of an employee to an upgraded position or higher classification by the employer or governing board or body in a vacant position for a limited duration.

(g) For purposes of this section, “vacant position” refers to a position that is vacant during recruitment for a permanent appointment. “Vacant position” does not refer to a position that is temporarily available due to another employee’s leave of absence.