Section 20516.5 - Equal sharing of costs between contracting agency or school employer and employees(a) Equal sharing of normal costs between a contracting agency or school employer and their employees shall be the standard. It shall be the standard that employees pay at least 50 percent of normal costs and that employers not pay any of the required employee contribution.(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this part, a contracting agency or a school district may require that members pay 50 percent of the normal cost of benefits. However, that contribution shall be no more than 8 percent of pay for local miscellaneous or school members, no more than 12 percent of pay for local police officers, local firefighters, and county peace officers, and no more than 11 percent of pay for all local safety members other than police officers, firefighters, and county peace officers.(c) Before implementing any change pursuant to subdivision (b), for any represented employees, the employer shall complete the good faith bargaining process as required by law, including any impasse procedures requiring mediation and factfinding. Subdivision (b) shall become operative on January 1, 2018. Subdivision (b) shall not apply to any bargaining unit when the members of that contracting agency or school district are paying for at least 50 percent of the normal cost of their pension benefit or the contribution rates specified in subdivision (b) under an agreement reached pursuant to Section 20516.Added by Stats 2012 ch 296 (AB 340),s 21, eff. 1/1/2013.