House Bill (HB) 2296 (2023) extended the Senate Bill (SB) 1049 (2019) exemptions to hour limitations for those working after retirements through December 31, 2034. This page hosts the standard rules that will once again be in place on January 1, 2035. Read more about the exemptions by clicking the graphic below.
You are an Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan (OPSRP) member if you were hired into a PERS-qualifying position on or after August 29, 2003.
If you return to work for a private or non-PERS employer, your OPSRP pension and IAP retirement benefits will continue unchanged.
However, if you return to work for a PERS-participating public employer after retirement, Oregon statutes impose certain limitations on that employment.
It is your responsibility to be aware of these limitations and to track your hours to ensure compliance. If you exceed the work hour limitations, you will be accountable.
If you decide to return to work with a PERS-participating employer after retirement, you can control the number of hours you work and, accordingly, whether you comply with or violate the limitation.
It is your responsibility to remain in compliance with the limitations applicable to you if you do not want your retirement benefits to stop.
PERS recommends that you track the hours you work in order to avoid exceeding the work-hour limitations for each calendar year.
The following sections describe the limitations.
If you are an OPSRP pension or IAP retiree (collectively referred to as “OPSRP retiree”) who is receiving a monthly
pension or installment payment, and you become employed in a qualifying position by a participating employer, you will
become an active member of the pension program and the IAP immediately, and all payments will cease .
You are considered to be employed in a qualifying position if:
If you are an OPSRP retiree receiving a monthly pension or installment payment and become employed in a nonqualifying
position, you will remain an OPSRP retiree and continue to receive your monthly pension or installment payment provided
you do not work more than 599.99 hours in a calendar year.
If you work more than 599.99 hours in any calendar year, you will become an active member of the pension program and the
IAP, effective back to the later of the first of that year or your date of hire in that year. All retirement benefit
payments will cease, and retirement benefits paid after active membership is re-established must be repaid. The Oregon
Administrative Rule (OAR 459-075-0300) amendment — adopted at the July 31, 2015, PERS Board meeting — clarifies PERS
administration for OPSRP retirees who return to work for a PERS employer after retirement. OAR 459-075-0300 also
explains how PERS restarts the clock if an OPSRP retiree returns to work in a nonqualifying position in the same year in
which they retire and counts post-retirement hours separately from preretirement hours.
If you are an OPSRP retiree who received a lump-sum retirement benefit payment and become employed in a qualifying
position, you will return to active membership effective back to the later of the first of the year or your date of hire
in that year. If you resume active membership on or before the date your payment is issued, you will have to repay the
benefit payment. If you resume active membership after the date your payment is issued, you do not have to repay the
benefit.
If you are an OPSRP retiree who received a lump-sum retirement benefit payment and you become employed in a
nonqualifying position, you do not have to repay the benefit.
However, if you are hired into a nonqualifying position but work more than 599.99 hours post-retirement in the calendar
year you receive the payment, you will become an active member of the pension program, effective back to the later of
the first of the year or your date of hire in that year. If that date is before the date your payment was issued, you
will have to repay the benefit.
The employer’s designation of an eligible employee’s position as temporary or permanent has no effect on the
applicability of these limitations. Any employment by a person who is not specifically excluded by statute as an
“eligible employee” with a participating employer may count toward the 599.99-hour limitation. Whether that employment
is in a qualifying or nonqualifying position will determine whether you return to active membership and whether you will
be able to continue receiving your monthly pension, installment payments, or keep your lump-sum payment.
An elected or appointed official is a person who is appointed by the governor to an office as head of a department or a
person elected or appointed to an office with a fixed term, other than a member of the Legislative Assembly.
If you are an OPSRP retiree who becomes an elected or appointed official, you are subject to the same restrictions as
any other OPSRP retiree unless you make a written election to not become a member of the pension program and IAP within
30 days of taking office.
After you retire, keep PERS informed of your correct mailing address. That way, you will continue to receive tax
reporting forms, retiree health insurance information, Perspectives newsletters, and other important information.
For your protection, address changes must be in a signed and dated letter, or you can use the Information Change Request
form.
Send address changes to:
PERS
P.O. Box 23700
Tigard, OR 97281-3700