Oregon Revised Statutes
For the purposes of this chapter: “Active member” means a member of the pension program or the individual account program of the Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan who is actively employed in a qualifying position. “Actuarial equivalent” means a payment or series of payments having the same value as the payment or series of payments replaced, computed o…
OREGON PUBLIC SERVICE RETIREMENT PLAN
The Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan is established. The purpose of the Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan is to provide career public employees with a secure and fair retirement income at an affordable, stable and predictable cost to the taxpayers. The Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan is composed of a pension program and an individual account p…
Subject to such direction and oversight as may be provided by the Legislative Assembly, the Public Employees Retirement Board shall take all steps necessary to develop and implement a dedicated information technology system to manage the Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan established by ORS chapter 238A. The board shall ensure that the essential record ke…
The Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan is part of the Public Employees Retirement System and is administered by the Public Employees Retirement Board. ORS 238.008, 238.225, 238.229, 238.235, 238.285, 238.410, 238.445, 238.447, 238.450, 238.455, 238.458, 238.460, 238.465, 238.470, 238.600, 238.601, 238.605, 238.610, 238.615, 238.618, 238.630, 238.635, 238…
All public employers participating in the Public Employees Retirement System on August 29, 2003: Shall continue to be participating public employers for the purpose of the Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan; Shall provide benefits under the pension program established under ORS 238A.100 to 238A.250 for eligible employees who are members of the pension p…
Except as provided by subsection (2) of this section, an eligible employee who is employed in a qualifying position on or after August 29, 2003, by a public employer that is participating in the pension program and who will not receive benefits under ORS chapter 238 for service with the participating public employer pursuant to the provisions of ORS 238A.025…
Membership under the pension program terminates when: A member dies; A member withdraws under ORS 238A.375; or A member forfeits retirement credit under ORS 238A.145. (Vesting)
Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, a member of the pension program becomes vested in the pension program on the earliest of the following dates: The date on which the member completes at least 600 hours of service in each of five calendar years. The five calendar years need not be consecutive, but are subject to the provisions of subsecti…
Notwithstanding ORS 238A.115, a deceased member of the Public Employees Retirement System shall be considered vested for all purposes under the pension program if: At the time of death the member was an active member of the system; The employer of the member certifies to the Public Employees Retirement Board that the member was killed in the course and sco…
An inactive member who withdraws from the individual account program under ORS 238A.375 cancels the person’s membership in the Public Employees Retirement System. If the person is thereafter reemployed by a participating public employer: The person may reestablish membership in the pension program only for the purpose of service performed after the person i…
Upon retiring at normal retirement age, a vested pension program member shall be paid an annual pension for the life of the member as follows: For service as a police officer or firefighter, 1.8 percent of final average salary multiplied by the number of years of retirement credit attributable to service as a police officer or firefighter. For service as o…
Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, for purposes of the computation of pension program benefits under ORS 238A.125, “final average salary” means whichever of the following is greater: The average salary per calendar year paid to an active member in the three consecutive calendar years of membership that produce the highest average salary, …
Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or ORS chapter 238, benefits received by a member under ORS 657.370 to 657.390 shall be treated as salary. Note: 238A.132 was added to and made a part of ORS chapter 238A by legislative action but was not added to any smaller series therein. See Preface to Oregon Revised Statutes for further explanation.
For purposes of determining the salary, as defined in ORS 238A.005 (17), of an active member of the Public Employees Retirement System, a housing allowance paid to a member in return for services as a prison chaplain or a chaplain at the Oregon Health and Science University shall be treated as if it were includable in the member’s taxable income under Oregon…
An active member of the pension program accrues one year of retirement credit for each complete year of service and one-twelfth of a year of retirement credit for each full month and each major fraction of a month of service. An active member who is a school employee shall be credited with at least six months of retirement credit if the member performs serv…
For purposes of calculating hours of service of an academic employee of a community college operated under ORS chapter 341 or a public university listed in ORS 352.002, each hour assigned to the academic employee as an hour of lecture time or as an hour of classroom time constitutes 2.67 hours of service.
A pension program member who is not vested forfeits all retirement credit if the member performs fewer than 600 hours of service in each of five consecutive calendar years. A forfeiture under this section takes effect at the end of the fifth calendar year. If a pension program member forfeits retirement credit under this section and is subsequently reemploy…
Notwithstanding any other provision of ORS 238A.100 to 238A.250, an eligible employee who leaves a qualifying position for the purpose of performing service in the uniformed services, and who subsequently returns to employment with a participating public employer with reemployment rights under federal law, is entitled to accrue retirement credit, credit towa…
Notwithstanding any other provision of ORS 238A.100 to 238A.250, an active member of the pension program who becomes disabled shall accrue retirement credit and hours of service credit for vesting purposes for the period during which the member is disabled. Retirement credit accrues under this section only for as long as the member remains disabled or until…
(Retirement)
Except as provided in subsections (2) and (3) of this section, normal retirement age for a member of the pension program is the earlier of: 65 years of age; or 58 years of age if the member has 30 years or more of retirement credit. Normal retirement age for a member of the pension program who retires from service as a police officer or firefighter, and w…
Except as provided in this section, earliest retirement age for a member of the pension program is 55 years of age. Earliest retirement age for a member of the pension program who retires from service as a police officer or firefighter is 50 years of age if the member’s last 60 months of retirement credit preceding retirement eligibility under this section …
An active member of the pension program who is 72 years of age or older must retire not later than April 1 of the calendar year following the calendar year in which the member terminates employment with all participating public employers. An inactive member of the pension program must retire not later than April 1 of the calendar year following the calendar …
Upon retiring on normal retirement date or thereafter, a member of the pension program who is vested shall be paid an annual pension for the life of the member, calculated as provided in ORS 238A.125. The annual pension provided for under this section shall be paid in equal monthly installments, payable as of the first day of each calendar month, beginning o…
A member of the pension program who is vested may retire with a reduced pension that is the actuarial equivalent of the pension provided for in ORS 238A.180 at any time on or after the member’s earliest retirement date as described in ORS 238A.165.
Before the effective date of retirement of a member of the pension program, the member may elect to convert the pension calculated under ORS 238A.180 or 238A.185 into the actuarial equivalent pension as follows: A pension payable monthly during the member’s life and, after the death of the member, continuing at the same monthly amount for the life of a bene…
If the monthly pension benefit payable to a member of the pension program under ORS 238A.180 is less than $200, or the monthly death benefit payable to the beneficiary of a deceased member under ORS 238A.230 is less than $200, the Public Employees Retirement Board shall convert the benefit into a lump sum that represents the actuarial equivalent of the prese…
Once every two calendar years, the Public Employees Retirement Board shall adopt actuarial equivalency factor tables for the purpose of computing the payments to be made to members of the pension program and their beneficiaries and alternate payees under ORS 238.465. The tables may be adopted in conjunction with the biennial evaluation of the Public Employee…
On July 1 of each year, the board shall increase every pension payable under ORS 238A.180, 238A.185 and 238A.190, every disability benefit under ORS 238A.235 and every death benefit payable under ORS 238A.230 as provided in subsection (2) of this section. The increase shall be made for the payments payable on August 1 and thereafter. If a person’s yearly pe…
A participating public employer shall make employer contributions to the Public Employees Retirement Board at intervals designated by the board in the amounts determined by the board under ORS 238.225. All participating public employers shall be considered to be a single employer for the purposes of the employer contributions under ORS 238.225 that are requi…
If a member of the pension program who is vested dies before the member’s effective date of retirement, the Public Employees Retirement Board shall pay the death benefit provided for in this section to: The spouse of the member to the extent not provided to a former spouse in accordance with a judgment or order under ORS 238.465; The former spouse of the m…
An active member of the pension program described in subsection (2) of this section who becomes disabled shall receive a disability benefit in the amount of 45 percent of the salary of the member determined as of the last full month of employment before the disability commences. The provisions of this section apply only to: A member, other than a school em…
If a member who is a police officer or a firefighter requests a contested case hearing to dispute a final denial of an application for disability benefits under ORS 238A.235, the Public Employees Retirement Board shall ensure that the contested case is referred for a hearing no later than 180 days after the member requests the hearing, or, if the member requ…
A participating public employer shall contribute to the pension program, at intervals designated by the Public Employees Retirement Board, all amounts determined by the board to be actuarially necessary to adequately fund the disability benefits to be provided under ORS 238A.235 and the reasonable costs of administering the provision of those benefits. The b…
Except as provided in ORS 237.650 and 238A.250, the Public Employees Retirement Board shall cease making pension payments to a retired member of the pension program who is reemployed by a participating public employer in a qualifying position. A retired member of the pension program who is employed in a qualifying position becomes an active member of the pen…
Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter: A retired member who has retired as other than a member of the Legislative Assembly and who is thereafter appointed or elected as a member of the Legislative Assembly may elect, by giving the Public Employees Retirement Board written notice, to receive the pension provided by this chapter for service as o…
Except as provided in ORS 238A.100 (2) and subsection (2) of this section, an eligible employee who is employed in a qualifying position on or after August 29, 2003, by a public employer that is participating in the individual account program and who will not receive benefits under ORS chapter 238 for service with the participating public employer pursuant t…
Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, all members of the Public Employees Retirement System who established membership in the Public Employees Retirement System before August 29, 2003, as described in ORS 238A.025 become members of the individual account program on January 1, 2004. A member of the Public Employees Retirement System may not b…
Membership under the individual account program terminates when: A member dies; or An inactive member receives a distribution of the vested accounts of the member under ORS 238A.375. (Vesting)
A member of the individual account program becomes vested in the employee account established for the member under ORS 238A.350 (2) on the date the employee account is established. A member who makes rollover contributions becomes vested in the rollover account established for the member under ORS 238A.350 (4) on the date the rollover account is established…
A member of the individual account program must make employee contributions to the individual account program of six percent of the member’s salary. Employee contributions made by a member of the individual account program under this section shall be credited by the Public Employees Retirement Board as follows: Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this s…
A participating public employer may agree, by a written employment policy or by a collective bargaining agreement, to pay the employee contribution required under ORS 238A.330 (1). The policy or agreement need not include all members of the individual account program employed by the employer. An agreement under this section may provide that: Amounts be ded…
A participating public employer may agree, by a written employment policy or agreement, to make employer contributions for members of the individual account program employed by the employer. The percentage of salary paid as employer contributions may not be less than one percent of salary or more than six percent of salary, and must be a whole number. A part…
Upon any contributions being made to the individual account program by or on behalf of a member of the program, the Public Employees Retirement Board shall create the account or accounts described in this section. Each account shall be adjusted at least annually in accordance with rules adopted by the board to reflect any net earnings or losses on those cont…
The Public Employees Retirement Board shall establish an employee pension stability account for each active member of the Public Employees Retirement System. Each account established under this section shall be adjusted at least annually in accordance with rules adopted by the board to reflect any net earnings or losses on the amounts in the account. The ad…
The Public Employees Retirement Board may accept rollover contributions from a member of the individual account program or from an eligible retirement plan from which the member is entitled to an eligible rollover distribution. The board may accept rollover contributions under this section only if the amounts contributed qualify as eligible rollover distribu…
Notwithstanding any other provision of ORS 238A.300 to 238A.415, the annual addition to the employee and employer accounts of a member of the individual account program for a calendar year, together with the annual additions to the accounts of the member under any other defined contribution plan maintained by the participating public employer for a calendar …
An inactive member of the individual account program may elect to receive a distribution of the amounts in the member’s employee account, rollover account, employer account and employee pension stability account to the extent the member is vested in those accounts under ORS 238A.320 if the inactive member: Has a bona fide separation from all service with pa…
Upon retirement on or after the earliest retirement date, as described in ORS 238A.165, a member of the individual account program shall receive in a lump sum the amounts in the member’s employee account, rollover account and employer account to the extent the member is vested in those accounts under ORS 238A.320. In lieu of a lump sum payment under subsect…
If a member of the individual account program dies before retirement, the amounts in the member’s employee account, rollover account and employer account, to the extent the member is vested in those accounts under ORS 238A.320, shall be paid in a lump sum to the beneficiary or beneficiaries designated by the member for the purposes of this section. If a mem…
Notwithstanding any other provision of ORS 238A.300 to 238A.415, an eligible employee who leaves a qualifying position for the purpose of performing service in the uniformed services, and who subsequently returns to employment with a participating public employer with reemployment rights under federal law, is entitled to credit toward the probationary period…
Except as provided in subsection (5) of this section, the Public Employees Retirement Board, in consultation with the office of the State Treasurer, shall adopt rules providing that if the Oregon Investment Council invests the assets of the individual account program in multiple risk categories depending on the characteristics of an individual member, a memb…
The state, the State Treasurer, the Oregon Investment Council and the Public Employees Retirement Board, and their officers or employees, are not liable in a civil action or otherwise, for any losses suffered by a member because of a member’s election of an investment option under ORS 238A.420. DIRECT ROLLOVERS
To the extent required by law, and except as otherwise provided by rules adopted by the Public Employees Retirement Board under subsection (4) of this section, any portion of a distribution of benefits described in subsection (2) of this section shall, at the election of and in lieu of distribution to the distributee, be paid directly to an eligible retireme…
If a benefit is payable under this chapter to a beneficiary by reason of the death of a member of the system, the beneficiary may elect to have all or part of the distribution of the death benefit paid in an eligible rollover distribution to an individual retirement plan described in 26 U.S.C. 408(a), or an individual retirement annuity, other than an endowm…
The Public Employees Retirement Board shall adopt rules for the administration of this chapter. All rules adopted by the board under this section become part of the written plan document for the Public Employees Retirement System that is required to maintain the status of the pension program and the individual account program as parts of a tax-qualified gov…
The Public Employees Retirement Board, the director employed by the board and staff employed by the board may not adopt any rule or take any administrative action that has the effect of increasing the total liability for benefits under this chapter that is in excess of one-tenth of one percent. Subsection (1) of this section does not apply to any rule or ad…
It is the intent of the Legislative Assembly that any increase in benefits under the Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan be provided through changes in the individual account program and not through changes in the pension program.
The Legislative Assembly may change the benefits payable to persons who become members of the Public Employees Retirement System on or after August 29, 2003, as described in ORS 238A.025, as long as the change applies only to benefits attributable to service performed and salary earned on or after the date the change is made.
Any law enacted after January 1, 2004, that has the effect of increasing the total liability for benefits under this chapter that is in excess of one-tenth of one percent does not apply to service by members of the Legislative Assembly that entitles those members to benefits under the Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan. [2003 c.733 §44c] REPORTS ON MEMBE…