Retirement Benefits - Deferred Compensation and PERS
Leaving Deschutes County employment but not eligible or not ready to apply for your PERS pension? This page will explain what happens with your Oregon PERS, as well as your deferred compensation accounts. If you plan on retiring in the near future, visit the Retirement Planning webpage.
Oregon Public Employees Retirement System (PERS)
Deschutes County participates in the State of Oregon Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS).
PERS Plans – What Plan Am I In?
- Tier One member if you began working for a PERS-participating employer on or before December 31, 1995, and worked six full calendar months for a PERS-participating employer in a qualifying position requiring at least 600 hours per calendar year. All Tier One members who have worked in a qualifying position after January 1, 2004, have an Individual Account Program (IAP) account.
- Tier Two member if you began working for a PERS-participating employer on or after January 1, 1996, and before August 29, 2003, and worked six full calendar months for a PERS-participating employer in a qualifying position requiring at least 600 hours per calendar year. All Tier Two members who have worked in a qualifying position after January 1, 2004, have an Individual Account Program (IAP) account.
- Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan (OPSRP) if you started working for a PERS-participating employer after August 28, 2003, and worked six full calendar months for a PERS-participating employer in a qualifying position requiring at least 600 hours per calendar year. All OPSRP Pension Program members have an IAP account.
What is the IAP? (Individual Account Program)
The Individual Account Program (IAP) is an account-based benefit for all Tier One/Tier Two and Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan (OPSRP) members who have worked in a qualifying position since January 1, 2004.
Vesting
Once you are vested in your PERS benefits, you cannot lose those benefit rights, even if you stop working in a qualifying position.
You are vested in your Tier One or Tier Two member account if you have not withdrawn your member account and you have been an active member in each of five calendar years. You are immediately vested in the IAP account.
You are vested in the OPSRP Pension Program on the earliest date in which you complete at least 600 hours of service in each of five calendar years (the years do not have to be consecutive). If you are an active member any time on or after reaching normal retirement age, you become a vested member regardless of years of service. Once you are vested in the OPSRP Pension Program, you cannot lose your benefit rights unless you withdraw from the program. You are immediately vested in the IAP account.
What happens if I change, lose, or quit my job? https://www.oregon.gov/pers/
If you change jobs:
Your membership in PERS is portable, so once you become an Oregon PERS member, you remain a member if you later leave one participating employer to work for another participating employer in a qualifying position. If you are an active Tier One or Tier Two member, you retain your PERS membership for service unless you terminate your membership by withdrawing your account or your account goes into loss of membership. If you are an active OPSRP member, you retain your PERS membership for service unless you withdraw or your account goes into loss of membership.
If you lose or quit your job:
If you leave covered employment without being vested, and you are a Tier One/Tier Two member, your contributions will remain in the PERS Trust Fund for five years if you do not withdraw your account. At that point, you should contact PERS to apply for a withdrawal, as your account will stop earning interest.
If you leave covered employment without being vested and do not return to covered employment within five years, you lose PERS membership. You re-establish membership in the Oregon Public Employees Retirement Plan (OPSRP) after serving another six-month waiting period in a qualifying position.
If you were previously an OPSRP member, were not vested, and did not return to covered employment within five years, you lost all previous retirement credit toward your pension.
Learn more about whether you can withdraw your Individual Account Program (IAP) on PERS' Withdrawal/Inactive Member Information page. Note that Senate Bill 1049 (2019) changed withdrawal rules for OPSRP members.
Deferred Compensation
If you are participating in a Deferred Compensation account through Deschutes County, and you are planning to leave County employment, you may want to consider deferring payouts of your accrued leave into an established deferred compensation account. Any changes to your deferred compensation election must be received by HR in the month prior to your last day of employment. Deferred comp changes are made via Employee Self Service (ESS.) Please reach out to Benefits Staff at benefits@deschutes.org if you have questions on how to change your deferred compensation contribution.
Once you have separated from employment, you will need to contact your deferred comp carrier to learn of options available to you regarding the funds in your account.
Deferred Compensation Carrier Contact Information Sheet
PLEASE NOTE: If you return to work for Deschutes County immediately after leaving employment, you will still be employed by the county, and will not be able to withdraw from your deferred comp until you have totally separated from employment with the county.
