8
Retirement System Progress Report
By JE R R Y SAYLER
Executive Secretary Oregon Public Employees Retirement System
Progress, in assembling data, compil
ing and tabulating service records for
use o f the consulting actuary in estab
lishing rates of employee and employer
contributions to the Public Employees
Retirement Fund, is in the main satis
factory.
As soon as the personnel question
naires are received at the office of the
Retirement System, they are segregated
as to age, sex, occupation, rate of pay,
length of service and employer depart
ment. Reports are tabulated and for
warded to the actuary where a force of
actuarial computers perform various
computations.
From these computations is evolved
the rates necessary to accomplish the
over-all objectives of the Public Em
ployees Retirement Act. Obviously it is
highly desirable that the information
flow smoothly from the various depart
ments, through the office of the system
and on to the actuary.
Some departments by the very nature
of their work experience a great deal
more difficulty in assembling and
checking their personnel records than
do others. This is especially noticeable
in those departments where a large por
tion of the employees work on a broken
schedule.
Because the Retirement Act is quite
broad in its scope and makes provi
sions for many contingencies it is only
natural that some confusion exists con
cerning various of its phases. Probably
the question most frequently asked is
"When may I retire?** Regardless of
present age no one may retire and re
ceive retirement benefits prior to July
1, 1947.
Policemen and firemen after July 1,
1947 must retire at age 60 regardless
of length of service and after June 30,
1951 they have the option of retiring at
age 5 5 with reduced benefits.
Employees other than police or fire
men after July 1, 1947 must retire at
age 65 regardless of length of service
and after June 30, 1951 may retire at
age 60 with reduced benefits.
Another point about which there
seems to be confusion is the method
used in measuring future and prior
service and the benefits to be derived
therefrom. There is no membership in
the system until July 1, 1946. A t that
time an employee must be filling a po
sition normally requiring 600 hours or
more of work each year in order to be
eligible for membership. The retirement
benefit for service after July 1, 1946
(future service) will be determined by
contributions based on age and rate of
pay. Prior service (service before July
1, 1946) is measured to the nearest full
year or major fraction thereof. The
retiring employee will receive $2.50
per month for life for each year of
prior service or major fraction thereof.
The 600 hours per year which qualifies
an employee for membership after July
1, 1946 appears to have no bearing on
or connection with prior service. Twen
ty years is the maximum time for which
prior service credits are allowed even
though many employees have served
longer. No one may retire and receive
benefits unless at the time of retirement
he is a member of the system which
means that he must at that time be
currently employed by an employer par
ticipating in the system at a job normal
ly requiring 600 hours or more of
work each year.
Political sub-divisións of the state
with five or more employees qualified
by the 600 hour provision aré auto
matically included in the system, unless
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