Is a public employee entitled to a right to tenure?

Defendant's basic argument is that the terms and conditions relating to employment by a public agency are strictly controlled by statute or ordinance rather than by ordinary contract standards. (Markman v. County of Los Angeles, 35 Cal.App.3d 132, 134-135, 110 Cal.Rptr. 610.) ¹

Nevertheless, the cases also recognize that "(a)lthough there may be no right to tenure, public employment gives rise to certain obligations which are protected by the contract clause of the Constitution, including the right to the payment of salary which has been earned." (Kern v. City of Long Beach, 29 Cal.2d 848, 852-853, 179 P.2d 799, 802.)

The courts have recognized, for instance, that an employee begins earning pension rights from the day he starts employment. "While payment of these benefits is deferred, and is subject to the condition that the employee continue to serve for the period required by the statute, the mere fact that performance is in whole or in part dependent upon certain contingencies does not prevent a contract from arising, and the employing governmental body may not deny or impair the contingent liability any more than it can refuse to make the salary payments which are immediately due." (Id., at p. 855, 179 P.2d at p. 803; see In re Marriage of Brown, 15 Cal.3d 838, 846-847, 126 Cal.Rptr. 633, 544 P.2d 561; see also Waite v. Waite, 6 Cal.3d 461, 472-473, 99 Cal.Rptr. 325, 492 P.2d 13.)