(

a) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, no minimum or maximum age limits shall be established for the employment or continuance in employment of persons as part of the classified service. (

b) Any person possessing all of the minimum qualifications for any employment shall be eligible for appointment to that employment, and no rule or policy, either written or unwritten, heretofore or hereafter adopted, shall prohibit the employment or continued employment, solely because of the age of any such person in any community college employment who is otherwise qualified therefor. (

c) No person shall be employed in community college employment while he or she is receiving a retirement allowance under any retirement system by reason of prior school or community college employment, except as provided in

Article 5 (commencing with

Section 21150) of

Chapter of Part of Division of Title of the Government Code. (

d) Subdivision (

c) shall be inapplicable to persons who were employed in the classified service of any community college district as of September 18, 1959, and who are still employed by the same district on September 15, 1961, and the rights of those persons shall be fixed and determined as of September 18, 1959, and none of these persons shall be deprived of any right to any retirement allowance or eligibility for any such allowance to which he or she would have been entitled as of that date.

Any such person who, by reason of any provision of law to the contrary, has been deprived of any right to retirement allowance or eligibility for such an allowance, shall, upon the filing of application therefor, be reinstated to those rights as he or she would have had, had this subdivision been in effect on September 18, 1959. (

e) This

section shall apply to districts that have adopted the merit system in the same manner and effect as if it were a part of

Article 3 (commencing with

Section 88060).