Q. I retired on Jan 1 and have been living on approximately half pay since then. I was advised about two weeks ago that the Office of Personnel Management had the file as of June and were completing the file and could expect my back pay owed before September.
Also, does the possibility of the “high 5” as opposed to the “high 3” affect my pay status, since the effective date of my retirement was January 2011? Would this decision be retroactive?
A. When your retirement is finalized, you’ll receive any underpayments you are entitled to while you were on interim pay. If you were in interim pay for three months, you’d get three months back pay, six months, six months, etc.
While no one knows how the high-3/high-5 debate will end up, it’s unlikely that any change would be made retroactively.
