In 2019, thousands of homecare and personal support workers took our bargaining surveys and said that retirement security was a top concern. In response, the care providers on our Union’s bargaining team fought for and won a proposal to create a new retirement plan for care providers – the first of its kind in Oregon.

DHS was scheduled to implement the new retirement savings plan last July. However, DHS did not have proper processes in place when the deadline arrived and they delayed implementation of the homecare retirement savings program to Feb 1.

Unfortunately we were just informed that, once again, DHS has broken its agreement due to a miscommunication between DHS and the contractor that works with OregonSaves, and will not meet its obligation to implement the plan on time.

This is unacceptable. This is the second time the homecare retirement savings plan implementation has been delayed.

This issue, along with DHS repeatedly not paying homecare workers on time, continues to demonstrate that the State does not value us or respect the work we do – even while we’re on the front lines of a global pandemic.

Take a moment and share what these consistent failures mean to you. We will compile your responses and present them to legislators, pushing them to call DHS and demand answers.

Key Points: 

• Homecare workers won a landmark retirement plan in our last contract.

• The State has not met its obligation to implement the plan on time, but our Union made sure workers still got the money they’re owed in the form of a raise which you received back in July.

• We believe the program will go into effect on our February 16, 2021 check. (Note that PSWs are already enrolled in OregonSaves.)

We will keep you informed as we learn more details. If you have questions please contact the SEIU 503 Member Assistance Center at 844-503-SEIU(7348). Learn more about OregonSaves here.​​​​