(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of ORS § 238A.100 to 238A.250, an active member of the pension program who becomes disabled shall accrue retirement credit and hours of service credit for vesting purposes for the period during which the member is disabled.

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(2) Retirement credit accrues under this section only for as long as the member remains disabled or until the member reaches the normal retirement age under ORS § 238A.160.

(3) If a disabled member does not return to employment with a participating public employer after the period of disability, the member shall receive a pension under ORS § 238A.180, 238A.185 or 238A.190 upon retirement based on an adjusted salary. The adjusted salary shall be the salary paid to the disabled member on the date the member left active employment with the participating public employer by reason of disability, adjusted for each year after the member left employment and before the member’s effective date of retirement to reflect cost-of-living changes, based on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, West Region (All Items), as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor. Adjustments under this subsection may not exceed a two percent increase or decrease for any year. An adjustment shall be made under this subsection only for calendar years in which the member is disabled for at least six months during the year.

(4) Retirement credit for the period of disability under this section shall be classified the same as the member’s last qualifying position prior to the disability.

(5) A pension program member is considered to be disabled for the purpose of this section if:

(a) The member is found, after being examined by one or more physicians selected by the Public Employees Retirement Board, to be mentally or physically incapacitated for an extended duration and unable to perform any work for which qualified, by reason of injury or disease that was not intentionally self-inflicted; or

(b) The member receives workers’ compensation benefits by reason of injury or disease that was sustained while in actual performance of duty with a participating public employer and that was not intentionally self-inflicted and returns to employment with a participating public employer after the period of disability. [2003 c.733 § 14; 2017 c.653 § 1; 2019 c.57 § 12; 2023 c.404 § 13]

[2005 c.332 § 12; repealed by 2007 c.769 § 7]

(Retirement)