Monthly Archives: February, 2013

Q. OPM’s Standard Form 71 (Request for Leave or Approved Absence) contains options for Advanced Annual/Sick Leave in addition to Accrued Annual/Sick Leave, Leave Without Pay (LWOP), etc. Due to personal circumstances, I asked my immediate supervisor for both Advanced Leave and LWOP, and he said that he while he could grant LWOP, he would not be able to grant Advanced Leave because his upper management discourages it. Can my agency legally exclude Advanced Leave as one of my leave options? A. Yes. You’re not entitled to advanced annual leave. In making a decision, your agency may consider such factors…

Q. I have more than eight years of active-duty service, and I have just obtained my first federal government job. Where can I go to find out how much annual leave I’ll be entitled to? A. Go to www.opm.gov/StaffingPortal/vetguide.asp#ServiceCredit-Leave Accrual Rate.

Q. I was in CSRS with Tennessee Valley Authority for 9½ years. I had a 15-year break in service and returned to work with the USPS under CSRS offset. When I retire at age 62, I will have 15 years with the USPS. Will the 9½ years I spent with TVA be added to my service time from the USPS for retirement calculation purposes? A. No.

Q. My health insurance is carried by Rural Carrier Benefit Plan because my husband was a rural carrier for 26 years plus military time. He passed away seven years ago, and I receive a portion of his retirement pay. If I remarry, can I continue to carry the same insurance? I am 75. A. Yes.

Q. My husband of six months passed away in April 2005 while an active federal employee. His will made me the personal representative and his daughter (my stepdaughter) as alternate if I should not wish to be the personal rep. After his death, his daughter said she would be the personal rep because I asked her to since the estate would be given to his three children. After his death, I was told that I had no claim on his FERS account since we were not married for a year. But do his grown children? If not, what happens to…

Q. You have stated that to calculate the high-3, OPM will consider only salaries from which the government has deducted retirement contributions. For which items will they not deduct the contributions? Social Security taxes? Medicare taxes? Medical, dental and vision insurance payments? Thrift plan payments? I think it is fraud when everywhere it is stated “average of three highest salaries” and the actual amount is way low. Nobody told me that’s how it is calculated. I was a title 38 physician and have retired under FERS, but I also have CSRS component. A. First, let’s clear the deck. There isn’t…

Q. I am a CSRS employee. I have 10 years of part-time service after 1986. I also have 1½ years of part-time service in 1977-78 from while I was in college. I had heard that when OPM implemented the 1986 part-time law, it made a mistake that seriously disadvantage retirees with part-time service. I also heard there were efforts to correct that, but I hadn’t learned the outcome of those. With respect to the Q&A below from your website, does it mean OPM’s error has been corrected with respect to part-time service and the calculation of annuities? Does 55A no…

Q. I worked for the federal government for 13½ years under CSRS. I left federal service in 1990 and withdrew my contributions because I never expected to go back. However, I was recently offered a job in the federal government that is worth taking and know I would have to go under FERS. I was fairly young when I left the federal service, so I would work at least five more years before retiring. Can I buy back my previous 13½ years of federal service, and if so, would the deposit to buy back my time be based on what…

1 2 3 4 20