Q: There has been talk that there may be a COLA increase this year. If a person retires on Dec. 31, would they be eligible for the COLA? A: No. If you retired on Dec. 31, 2011, you’d receive 11/12ths of the 2013 COLA in your January 2013 annuity payment. You would have to retire no later than Nov. 30, 2011, to receive a full COLA adjustment in 2013.
Monthly Archives: December, 2011
Q: I am a Title-38 registered nurse for the Veterans Affairs Department. For more than 10 years, I have worked as evening-shift supervisor. My shift has been 3:30 p.m. until midnight. I carry an emergency pager, and I am not allowed to pass this pager off in order to take my 30 minute meal break. Am I entitled to overtime? A: Probably not. However, you’ll have to check with your personnel office to be sure.
Q: According to an OPM chart, the Annual Leave Year for 2012 begins on Jan. 1, 2012, and ends Jan. 12, 2013. If I am counting correctly, that is 27 pay periods. Is this correct? What will be the maximum number of annual leave hours an employee can accrue for Annual Leave Year 2012? A: As always, the maximum number of annual leave hours you can accrue is the amount you earn during all the pay periods in a leave year. However, with rare exception, the maximum number of hours a nonpostal employee can carry over to the next leave…
Q: In 2005, I retired from active service in the Army with 21 years. I have been working for six years as a FERS employee. I am considering buying back my military service. Does the the buyback for the post-56 military service affect my Service Computation Date for leave, reduction in force and retirement? A: Yes.
Q: I am a postal employee with 30 years of service at age 51. I recall the Postal Service offering years toward service as an incentive to retire. This happened in the 1990s. Do you know the history and details of such an offer? Does my memory serve me correctly, or am I just wishfully dreaming? A: You are wishfully dreaming. There is no provision in law — nor has there ever been — that would add years of service as an incentive to retire.
Q: Can you explain the maze of life insurance options once one retires? Especially the 50 percent, 75 percent or no-reduction options? A: When you retire, you must choose how much life insurance you want to carry into retirement. You can elect to retain the full face value of your policy on the day you retire or allow it to reduce by 75 percent or 50 percent. If you elect the 75 percent reduction, beginning at age 65 the coverage will decline by 2 percent per month until it reaches 25 percent of its original face value. If you elect…
Q: I am a 59-year-old Postal Service employee covered under CSRS with 34 years service. Can legislation be passed to reduce the annuity I have earned, or is the Civil Service Retirement System a vested, defined benefit plan? If I do retire, can my annuity be reduced? A: The gift of prophecy is not among my skills. You’ll have to wait and see.
Q: I left the Postal Service in 1999 to go to Arizona and received the refund then, and was reinstated in 2001. I’m 48 and in FERS. I bought back my military time already. I’m making biweekly payments to buy back the 13 years I lost when I left Rockford, Ill., in 1999. If the Postal Service offers a VERA, would I be eligible and given the opportunity to pay the balance due to buy back my time? Or do I need to make a full payment now to get the credit and be eligible if the VERA happens? A:…
Q: I receive survivor annuity benefits because my husband, who worked for the post office for 25 years, died in 1993. He didn’t have Social Security. Will my annuity benefits be affected if I begin collecting my own Social Security at age 62, or if I decide to wait several years to begin collecting full-time Social Security benefits? A: The fact that you are receiving a civil service survivor annuity will have no effect on your earned Social Security benefit, no matter when you decide to start collecting it.
Q: After 42 years of government service under CSRS, do you continue to pay the employee contribution into your retirement each payday? If so, what happens with that money when you retire? A: Yes, you will continue to have retirement contributions deducted from your salary. When you retire, you’ll be offered a choice. You can either get a refund of those excess contributions or use them to buy additional annuity.