Chapter 238A — Chapter 238A

ORS 238A.005 For the purposes of this chapter

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ORS 238A.010 [2003 c.733 §1a; repealed by 2025 c.49 §8]

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ORS 238A.025 Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan established. (1) 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 program. The pension program and the individual account program are separate accounts for purposes of federal income tax qualification, and the assets of each program must be held as part of the trust established by ORS 238.660 for the exclusive benefit of the participants and beneficiaries. It is the intent of the Legislative Assembly that pursuant to section 414(k) of the Internal Revenue Code the individual account program be established and maintained as a tax-qualified defined contribution governmental plan for the purposes of sections 72(d) and 415 of the Internal Revenue Code. The Public Employees Retirement Board may create separate accounts within the Public Employees Retirement Fund for the pension program and the individual account program

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ORS 238A.030 Information technology system. 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 keeping components of the information technology system are in operation as soon as practicable. The board shall ensure that the information technology system is designed to support the current and future business and technology needs of the Public Employees Retirement System arising out of the implementation of ORS chapter 238A. [2003 c.733 §83]

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ORS 238A.050 Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan part of Public Employees Retirement System. (1) The Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan is part of the Public Employees Retirement System and is administered by the Public Employees Retirement Board

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ORS 238A.070 Participation generally. (1) All public employers participating in the Public Employees Retirement System on August 29, 2003

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ORS 238A.100 Establishing membership under pension program. (1)(a) 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 becomes a member of the pension program on the first day of the month after the employee completes six full calendar months of employment. The six-month requirement may not be interrupted by more than 30 consecutive working days

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ORS 238A.110 Termination of membership. Membership under the pension program terminates when

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ORS 238A.115 Vesting. (1) 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

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ORS 238A.117 Vesting of member killed in course and scope of employment. 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

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ORS 238A.120 Withdrawal from pension program by vested inactive member. 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

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ORS 238A.125 (1) 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

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ORS 238A.130 Final average salary; rules. (1) 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

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ORS 238A.132 Shared work benefits to be treated as 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. [2023 c.404 §24]

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ORS 238A.134 For purposes of determining the salary, as defined in ORS 238A.005 (18), 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 law

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ORS 238A.140 Accrual of retirement credit. (1) 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

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ORS 238A.142 Accrual by academic employees of community college. 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. [2005 c.332 §20; 2007 c.769 §10; 2023 c.512 §2]

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ORS 238A.145 Loss of retirement credit. (1) 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

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ORS 238A.150 Retirement credit for service in uniformed services; rules. (1) 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 toward the probationary period required by ORS 238A.100 and credit toward the vesting requirements of ORS 238A.115 under rules adopted by the Public Employees Retirement Board pursuant to subsection (2) of this section

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ORS 238A.155 Retirement credit for periods of disability. (1) 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

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ORS 238A.157 [2005 c.332 §12; repealed by 2007 c.769 §7]

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ORS 238A.160 (1) Except as provided in subsections (2) to (4) of this section, normal retirement age for a member of the pension program is the earlier of

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ORS 238A.165 Earliest retirement age; earliest retirement date. (1) Except as provided in this section, earliest retirement age for a member of the pension program is 55 years of age

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ORS 238A.170 Latest retirement date; required minimum distributions; rules. (1) 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 year in which the member attains 72 years of age

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ORS 238A.180 Normal retirement benefit. 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 on the later of the member’s normal retirement date or the member’s effective date of retirement and ending on the first day of the month in which the member dies. [2003 c.733 §18]

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ORS 238A.185 Early retirement. 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. [2003 c.733 §19]

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ORS 238A.190 Survivorship benefits. (1) 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

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ORS 238A.195 Cash out of small benefits. 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 present value of the pension or death benefit and pay that amount to the member or the deceased member’s beneficiary in lieu of a pension or death benefit under ORS 238A.100 to 238A.250. [2003 c.733 §21]

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ORS 238A.200 Actuarial equivalency factor tables. (1) 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 Employees Retirement System required by ORS 238.605. Tables adopted under this section must use the best actuarial information on mortality available at the time the board adopts the tables, as provided by the actuary engaged by the board. Actuarial equivalency factor tables adopted under this section become effective on January 1 of the calendar year following adoption of the tables by the board. All computations of payments must use the actuarial equivalency factor tables that are in effect on

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ORS 238A.210 (1) As soon as practicable after January 1 each year, the Public Employees Retirement Board shall determine the percentage increase or decrease in the cost of living for the previous calendar year, based on the Portland-Salem, OR-WA, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers for All Items, as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor. Before July 1 each year, the board shall adjust 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 by multiplying the monthly payment by the percentage figure determined by the board. If a person has been receiving a pension or benefit for less than 12 months on July 1 of a calendar year, the board shall make a pro rata reduction of the adjustment based on the number of months that the pension or benefit was received before July 1 of the year. The adjustment shall be made for the payments payable on August 1 and thereafter

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ORS 238A.220 (1) 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 required for funding the pension program established under ORS 238A.025

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ORS 238A.230 Death benefit; rules. (1) 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

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ORS 238A.235 Disability benefit. (1) 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

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ORS 238A.237 Timeline for referral of contested case to dispute denial of application for disability benefits. (1) 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 requests an extension, no later than 360 days after the member requests the hearing

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ORS 238A.240 (1) 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 board shall periodically determine the liabilities attributable to the disability benefits and shall set the amount of contributions to be made by participating public employers, and by other public employers who are required to make contributions on behalf of members, to ensure that those liabilities will be funded no more than 40 years after the date on which the determination is made. All participating public employers shall be considered to be a single employer for the purposes of the contributions required under this section

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ORS 238A.245 Reemployment after commencement of pension benefits. (1) 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 pension program without serving the probationary period provided for in ORS 238A.100

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ORS 238A.250 Option of legislators to receive certain benefits. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter

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ORS 238A.300 Establishing membership under individual account program. (1) 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 to the provisions of ORS 238A.025 becomes a member of the individual account program on the first day of the month after the employee completes six full calendar months of employment. The six-month probationary period may not be interrupted by more than 30 consecutive working days

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ORS 238A.305 Persons establishing membership in system before August 29, 2003. (1) 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

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ORS 238A.310 Termination of membership. Membership under the individual account program terminates when

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ORS 238A.320 Vesting. (1) 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

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ORS 238A.330 Employee contributions. (1) A member of the individual account program must make employee contributions to the individual account program of six percent of the member’s salary

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ORS 238A.335 Employer payment of employee contribution. (1) 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

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ORS 238A.340 Employer contributions. (1) 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 participating public employer may make an agreement under this section for specific groups of employees employed by the public employer

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ORS 238A.350 Individual accounts established. (1) 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 contributions and to pay the reasonable administrative costs of maintaining the program to the extent the earnings on the assets of the program are insufficient to pay those costs. The adjustments described in this subsection shall continue until the account is distributed to the member or forfeited

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ORS 238A.353 Employee pension stability accounts established. (1) The Public Employees Retirement Board shall establish an employee pension stability account for each active member of the Public Employees Retirement System

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ORS 238A.360 Rollover contributions; rules. (1) 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 distributions under the federal income tax laws governing tax-qualified retirement plans and, if the rollover contribution is made by the member, the contribution is paid to the individual account program within the time limits established by the federal income tax laws governing tax-qualified retirement plans

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ORS 238A.370 Limitation on contributions; rules. 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 year, may not exceed the lesser of $40,000, or 100 percent of the member’s compensation for that calendar year. For purposes of this section, “annual addition” has the meaning given that term in 26 U.S.C. 415(c)(2), as in effect on December 31, 2023, and “compensation” has the meaning given the term “participant’s compensation” in 26 U.S.C. 415(c)(3), as in effect on December 31, 2023. The Public Employees Retirement Board shall adopt rules for the administration of this limitation, including adjustments in the annual dollar limitation to reflect cost-of-living adjustments authorized by the Internal Revenue Service. [2003 c.733 §39; 2009 c.5 §6; 2009 c.909 §6; 2010 c.82 §6; 2011 c.7 §6; 2012 c.31 §6; 2013 c.377 §6; 2014 c.52 §6; 2015 c.442 §6; 2016 c.33 §7; 2017 c.527 §7; 2018 c.101 §7; 2019 c.319 §7; 2021 c.456 §8; 2022 c.83 §8; 2023 c.171 §8; 2024 c.75 §8]

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ORS 238A.375 Distribution of accounts to inactive member. (1)(a) 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

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ORS 238A.400 Payment of accounts at retirement; rules. (1) 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

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