As an employee of Riverside County, you have one of the best retirement plans available, offering retirement, disability, and survivor and death benefits. Upon employment as a regular employee, you become a member of the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS). Most employees are also covered by Social Security; Safety members are not, but do have a substitute Survivor Benefits provision in their retirement plan.
Your contribution toward the cost of the CalPERS plan is based on your bargaining unit’s MOU and is computed as a percentage of your salary (usually 8 to 9 percent). The County also pays into the retirement program. In general, once you have reached five years of continuous County service, the County pays your retirement contribution. When you retire, the benefit amount you receive will depend on the length of time you worked for the County, your age at retirement, and your average monthly salary during your highest one-year earning period. For a service retirement, you are eligible to retire and receive a monthly allowance when you reach age 50. For a disability retirement, there is no minimum age. You must have at least five years of service in the CalPERS system for either a service or disability retirement. Safety members have no minimum service requirement for an industrial disability retirement.
If you leave County service before you are eligible to retire, you may request a refund of your employee contributions (the money deducted from your pay) or you may leave your account on deposit with CalPERS and your service credits will continue to accrue once you become employed with another CalPERS-covered employer. You will receive an annual statement from CalPERS showing your employee contributions and service credits.
For additional information or to address any questions you may have, please contact the Benefits Information Line at (951) 955-4981, or contact CalPERS at (888) 225-7377. You may also visit the retirements benefits page found on the Human Resources website.