CHAPTER I: HEALTH AND FINANCIAL BENEFITS, GENERALLY
A. Health Benefits
- The City of Portland provides health benefit programs to eligible employees and their qualified dependents. The City’s plans are compliant with the Affordable Care Act. Additional information is available on the Bureau of Human Resources’ Health and Financial Benefits website or by request to the Health and Financial Benefits Office.
- Employees who are not hired into benefits-eligible status may still qualify for City paid coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Currently:
- Employees may be eligible for coverage if they average 26 hours weekly over a pre-determined six-month measurement period.
- Benefits are equivalent to CityBasic medical, dental, and vision coverage.
- Eligibility can be maintained for up to six months, if a worker is employed and in paid status.
- Coverage may continue if an employee averages 26 hours per week during the next measurement period.
Additional information (including measurement period dates, hours required, costs to the employee and Auditor’s Office, and health plan details) can be found in the current Benefits Handbook.
B. Life Insurance and Long-Term Disability
- The City provides basic group term life insurance options for eligible employees at the amount of the employee’s annual salary (up to $50,000). Supplemental life insurance is available for all benefit-eligible employees to purchase. Coverage for the employee’s spouse or domestic partner and dependent children is also available to purchase.
- The City provides basic coverage for short and long-term disability plans to eligible employees. The City also offers buy-up options to supplement the basic plans. The plans provide partial income protection for employees in case of loss of income. Short-term and long-term disability benefits are coordinated with PERS, Social Security, workers’ compensation, and other sources of income to replace a portion of pre-disability earnings. Additional information is available on Human Resources’ Insurance (Life and Long-Term Disability) website.
C. Medical Expense and Dependent Care Reimbursement
The City offers flexible spending account plans, established under Section 125 of the Internal Revenue Code, which allow participants to be reimbursed for certain eligible medical and dependent care expenses with pre-tax dollars. Additional information is available on Human Resources’ Flexible Spending Accounts website.
D. Deferred Compensation
Deferred compensation is a voluntary plan available to eligible permanent employees to help save for retirement on a pre-tax basis. Deferred compensation for public employees is regulated under Section 457 of the Internal Revenue Code. City Code Chapter 5.09 governs the City’s deferred compensation program. Additional information is available on Human Resources’ Deferred Compensation Program website.
E. Public Employee Retirement (PERS)
Eligible employees can establish membership under the Public Employee Retirement System (“PERS”). The City makes a monthly contribution to PERS on behalf of eligible employees. The contribution is six percent of the employee’s pre-tax annual salary (or nine percent for sworn Portland Police and Fire & Rescue employees). In addition, the City contributes an actuarily-determined amount to PERS based on an annual valuation of plan costs. Additional information is available on the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System website.
F. Social Security
Most employees pay a set amount each bi-weekly payroll cycle to the Social Security System, which is automatically deducted from their paychecks. The City matches this amount. For more information, contact the Social Security Administration.
This Chapter was adapted from:
City Human Resources Administrative Rule 10.01 - Benefits General. Adopted by Council on March 6, 2002 (Ordinance No. 176302). Last revised January 1, 2020.
CHAPTER II: EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
- Personal problems can affect an employee's job performance and impact co-workers. An employee assistance program is a comprehensive service based on the early identification of employees with a variety of personal issues. The City offers an employee assistance program for benefits-eligible City employees.
- Supervisors may recommend that employees use the program’s services, or may make mandatory referrals, in consultation with Operations Management and legal counsel.
This Chapter was adapted from:
City Human Resources Administrative Rule 10.02 - Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Adopted by Council on March 6, 2002 (Ordinance No. 176302). Last revised November 4, 2011.
CHAPTER III: TRIP REDUCTION INCENTIVE PROGRAM (TRIP)
The Auditor’s Office adopts HRAR 10.03 regarding “Trip Reduction Incentive Program (TRIP)” in its entirety.
This Chapter was adapted from:
City Human Resources Administrative Rule 10.03 - Trip Reduction Incentive Program (TRIP). Adopted by Council on March 6, 2002 (Ordinance No. 176302). Last revised by interim rule February 26, 2024.
CHAPTER IV: DOMESTIC PARTNERS
A. Domestic Partners: Eligibility for Benefits
- The City and the Auditor’s Office recognize domestic partnerships without regard to the gender or sex of the partners. A domestic partner who meets the following criteria is considered equivalent to a spouse for purposes of eligibility for health and non-health benefits:
- Is 18 years of age or older and shares the same permanent residence and household with the employee
- Is the exclusive domestic partner of the employee
- Is not married to anyone
- Is not related to the employee by blood, closer than would be a bar to marriage in the state of the employee’s permanent residence
- Was mentally competent to enter into a contract when the partnership began
- Is jointly responsible for common welfare, including providing for basic living expenses such as food, shelter, and other necessities of life, with the employee.
- An employee must submit the Affidavit of Benefit Eligible Dependent Status to the Benefit Office to enroll a domestic partner in health coverage. The signatures of the employee and their domestic partner must be notarized. Additional information regarding domestic partner health benefits is available on the City’s Benefits website.
- An employee must submit a separate Statement of Domestic Partnership to receive non-health City benefits, such as catastrophic leave, funeral leave, dependent care, or family medical (FMLA / OFLA) leave. The Statement of Domestic Partnership must be placed in the employee’s personnel file for leave management purposes.
B. Termination of Domestic Partnership
An employee must report the termination of a domestic partnership, within 60 days of the event, by filing a Notice of Change in Family Status form.
This Chapter was adapted from:
City Human Resources Administrative Rule 2.05 - Domestic Partners. Adopted by Council on March 6, 2002 (Ordinance No. 176302). Last revised July 1, 2004.
Auditor’s Office Administrative Rule Information and History
Questions about these administrative rules may be directed to the Auditor’s Office’s Operations Management Division.
These rules were originally adopted by the City Auditor on December 11, 2017, and are adapted from City of Portland Human Resources Administrative Rules, as noted below.
Revised and adopted by the City Auditor as ARA 3.10 on December 23, 2022.
Revised and adopted by the City Auditor on May 9, 2023.
Amended by the City Auditor on June 4, 2024, after a minimum 30-day public comment period.