Membership

Membership in VCERA is effective upon appointment to an eligible position with the County of Ventura or a participating district. An eligible position includes all regular County or district employment in which an employee is scheduled to work 64 or more hours per biweekly pay period.

The Bylaws & Regulations of the Board of Retirement exclude extra-help and part-time employees from membership in VCERA. A schedule of less than 64 hours biweekly constitutes part-time employment. However, eligible “excluded” employees became covered under the County of Ventura’s Safe Harbor Retirement Plan in 1992. Since April 17, 2021, the majority of those excluded members moved to the County Supplemental 457 Plan instead of Safe Harbor. Questions regarding the Safe Harbor Plan and the County Supplemental 457 Plan should be directed to Ventura County Human Resources at (805) 654-2921.

Safety and General Members

There are two types of members in VCERA: Safety and General. Safety members refer to employees involved in active law enforcement or fire suppression. All other employees are considered General members. 

Legacy and PEPRA Members

Employees hired prior to January 1, 2013 are known as “Legacy” members, and those hired on or after January 1, 2013 are known as “PEPRA” members.

PEPRA refers to the California Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013, which primarily affected “new members” hired on or after January 1, 2013, not Legacy members. PEPRA’s areas of greatest impact affected benefit tiers, final average compensation period, “pensionable compensation,” salary cap, and retirement contributions.