From health insurance to paid parental leave to wellness resources, Metro offers a comprehensive benefits package to make sure employees have the support to balance work, home, and everything in between.
Metro offers a wide variety of services to the greater Portland area: parks and nature, the Oregon Zoo, land and transportation planning, garbage and recycling, and arts and events venues. This means there are all kinds of jobs in all sorts of settings – from restoring habitats outdoors to taking tickets at a theater to administering grants in a hybrid remote work environment.
Some of these jobs are budgeted, full-time positions, others are seasonal or temporary and are called variable hour jobs. Most Metro employees – full-time or variable hour – are eligible for paid parental and sick leave, retirement benefits under the Oregon Public Employee Retirement System (PERS), an Employee Assistance Program and other perks.
Some benefit details, such as the rate paid vacation leave is earned, may depend on the union that represents the position. If the position is not represented by a union, Metro policies provide additional details.
View labor union contracts
View employee policies
Benefits for all employees
Full PERS retirement contribution covered by Metro
PERS is Oregon’s public employee retirement system. Employees who have worked for six full months and 600 or more hours in a calendar year for a PERS-qualifying employer are eligible for PERS. Metro pays the mandatory 6% employee contribution along with the employer contribution to the Oregon pension fund. Typically, employers contribute 12-18% of the employees’ salary to the pension fund, depending on what pension plan the employee is enrolled in.
Learn more about PERS retirement plans
Paid sick leave
All employees receive paid sick leave benefits. Sick leave calculations are based on which union an employee is in (if any), and employees may begin using sick leave as soon as it accumulates.
For most employees, sick leave is accrued at .05 hours for every hour paid.
Paid parental leave
Metro provides eight weeks of paid leave for employees welcoming a child to their family, whether it’s through birth, adoption or fostering. Parental leave can be taken any time within the year after the birth or placement of a child and can be used for adoption-related legal procedures.
All employees who have worked a minimum of 180 days at Metro are eligible for parental leave.
Transit benefits
Employees who work at least 10 hours a week qualify to receive a TriMet Hop Pass. This free transit benefit begins on the first day of work.
Employee Assistance Program access
Metro partners with Canopy, an employee assistance provider, to offer supportive resources and services for employees. This includes counseling services, budgeting and finance resources, and help finding child and elder care.
Read more about Canopy
Wellness resources and other perks
Metro offers a variety of perks for all employees, including free admission to the Oregon Zoo (including ZooLights!), Oxbow and Blue Lake Regional Parks, membership discount at Lloyd Athletic Club, credit union eligibility and more. Employees also receive access to financial wellness and legal consultation services, as well as first-time home buying and ownership counseling.
Additional benefits for regular status, full-time employees
In addition to the benefits listed above, regular, full-time employees receive health and wellness benefits, vacation, paid holidays, supplementary insurance options and more.
Paid vacation, holiday and other paid leave benefits
In addition to paid sick and parental leaves, regular status employees also receive paid vacation leave. How many vacation hours an employee receives depends on if they are represented by a union and what that union is – accrual rates are outlined in each union’s contract.
Metro also observes 11 paid holidays a year and offers a variety of leave options to support employees, including paid bereavement leave that follows a “family of choice” model, allowing employees to use the leave for whomever they choose.
Check union contracts or Metro’s policies for more information on vacation accrual rates and requirements for other types of leave.
Medical, vision and dental insurance
Metro offers medical insurance with Kaiser and Regence Blue Cross, both offering standard plans and high-deductible plans with Health Savings Accounts. For full-time employees, Metro currently contributes 92% percent of the cost for insurance premiums. For high deductible health plans, Metro pays the deductible to the Health Savings Account, currently $1,500 for individuals and $3,000 for families. Eligible employees may also choose a dental insurance plan from either Kaiser or Delta Dental and have the option to enroll in vision care insurance with VSP.
Life, disability and supplemental insurance options
Metro provides basic life and accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) insurance, as well as spouse, domestic partner and dependent coverage at no cost to employees. Employees may choose to buy supplemental life or AD&D insurance for themselves, their spouse or partner, and/or their eligible children.
Benefit-eligible employees receive long-term disability insurance at no cost. Employee-paid short-term disability insurance, as well as hospital care coverage is also available.
Flexible spending accounts
Metro sponsors a flexible spending account program which allows employees to have a portion of their salary set aside before taxes to pay for a variety of expenses. Employees may elect for any or all options: healthcare, dependent care, and parking and transportation accounts.
Optional additional retirement benefits
Metro offers two deferred compensation retirements savings plan – a 401(k) and a 457. Employees can contribute savings into one or both plans.
Transparency in Coverage requirement
To comply with the 2021 Federal Consolidated Appropriations Act, Regence maintains machine-readable files regarding in-network and out-of-network provider reimbursement amounts for company-sponsored health plans.