PERS Participating Employer SurveyQuestions about calculating average overtime for Oregon Public Service Retirement Program members

The Oregon Department of Administrative Services (DAS) developed this survey for counties participating in the Oregon Public Employee Retirement System (PERS), and the League of Oregon Cities (LOC) is distributing the survey to its members.

As required by Oregon law and administrative rules, PERS-participating employers are responsible for determining the average number of overtime hours for employee classes “based on a reasonable expectation of the average number of hours of overtime employees in that class would perform over the course of a calendar year” (ORS 238A.130; OAR 459-075-0030). PERS uses that average overtime number when calculating the final average salary amount for employees who are part of the Oregon Public Service Retirement Program (OPSRP), excluding any overtime hours that exceed the average number for the employee’s class. PERS then uses the final average salary to compute the retiring employee’s pension benefit.

The purpose of the survey is to help DAS gain insight into how other PERS-participating employers determine the average number of overtime hours for OPSRP members. DAS reports the average overtime hours to PERS for state employees, and DAS is currently working with a technical advisory committee to develop an informational report for future decision-making on how DAS may execute its responsibilities across multiple geographic areas. A representative from LOC is currently serving on the committee, and your responses to this survey will help inform the section of the report that discusses city practices. Thank you in advance!

1.Your Contact Information

City

Name

Title

Phone

2.How does your city group employees to determine average overtime amounts for OPSRP members?
Select all that apply.

Based on Fair Labor Standards Act exempt status (exempt versus non-exempt)

Job family/series (e.g., Administrative Specialists, Information System Specialists)

Specific job classification (e.g., Administrative Specialist 2, Information Specialist 3)

PERS service classification (general service, police/fire)

Other (please explain in box below)

Please describe how OPSRP employees are grouped in the box below. For instance, if you selected multiple criteria above, explain how you form the groups using those options. Or if you selected “other,” please explain the criteria you apply.

3.How many total OPSRP job groupings does your city use for PERS reporting?

4.Which groupings of OPSRP employees work the most overtime in your city?
List the top 5 classes in the text box below.

5.What is your city’s current highest average overtime amount (cap) provided to PERS?

6.Does your city look at one year of data or multiple years of data to determine the reasonable expectation for overtime hours that an employee class would perform over the course of a calendar year?
Select an option below.

One year of data. (For example, the city used only 2025 data to set the average for 2026.)

Multiple years of data. (For example, the city used data from 2020-2025 to determine how many overtime hours in a year and updated the average for 2026-2030.)

If the city uses multiple years of data, please provide the number of years used in the box below.

7.How often does your city re-evaluate the overtime average?

Please provide more details about how your city determines how often to re-evaluate.

8.Please share the method your city uses to calculate the average overtime for your employee classes.

9.Is there any other information you think would be helpful for DAS to consider?

Thank you for participating in this survey!