Q: I was hired by the USPS on Jan. 5, 1985, as a casual. Two weeks later, on Jan. 19, 1985, I was converted to career status. I was told at the time that was because of a new retirement system going into effect, and I have been in FERS my entire career. My question(s): Is there a significance to the date Jan. 19, 1985? If FERS did not become effective until Jan. 1, 1987, was I placed in the wrong retirement system? If that is the case is there anything that can be done at this point in time to be placed in CSRS?
A: No, you weren’t placed in the wrong retirement system. Anyone first hired after Dec. 31, 1983, and before Jan. 1, 1987, was placed in an interim system (CSRS and Social Security). When FERS went on line, anyone who didn’t have five years of CSRS service was automatically converted to FERS.
