City Retirement benefits are provided by the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS). The City has two contracts:

1. Local Safety: Police and Fire 3% at 50. (The member would receive 3% of salary for every year of service if he/she retires at age 50. The benefit varies depending on age and length of service.)
2. Local Miscellaneous 2.7% at 55. (The member would receive 2.7% of salary for every year of service for if he/she retires at age 55. The benefit varies depending on age and length of service.)

Enrollment

1. Enrollment is automatic for regular, benefited employees.
2. Temporary, non-benefited employees are not covered unless they are currently active members of PERS or they reach the maximum of 1,000 hours worked in a fiscal year.

Changes

1. Employees are responsible for notifying PERS of change of an address or beneficiaries. Forms are available in Human Resources.
2. Status changes (separations, change in salary, change in job classification, etc.) are reported by the City.

Plan Highlights

1. Employees will receive an annual statement from CalPERS approximately in October. The statement covers the period of July 1 through June 30.
2. Members do not need to designate beneficiaries. CalPERS has a statutory list of beneficiaries. If the member wishes to designate beneficiaries in a different method, forms are available in HR.
3. Section 415 of the IRS code is legislation which limits the amount of retirement allowance public employees receive. This affects mainly "highly compensated" employees. For questions, call PERS at (888) 225-7377.
4. Service credit under previous public employers, including the military, may be bought back. Employees must complete the Service Credit buy back form and send to CalPERS. All decisions and calculations are made by PERS.
5. For those employees who are current CalPERS members with another agency, CalPERS should transfer all information into one account under the City of Riverside. For questions or to verify the transfer, employees should call CalPERS at (888) 225-7377. Forms and specific information booklets are available in Human Resources or by contacting CalPERS.
6. Employees will receive an annual statement in October.
7. PERS instead of Social Security. Medicare portion of Soc. Sec. only. Hired on or after April 1, 1986 must participate.

The PERS packet contains complete details of benefits.  The City of Riverside Human Resources Department and PERS  Member Services are also available to answer questions.