Q. I am a retired FERS annuitant and returned to work on a full-time continuous basis for one year and 25 days. During this time, my salary was offset by the amount of my annuity. I worked for the Veterans Affairs Department, and my human resources submitted the supplemental annuity application to the Office of Personnel Management in December 2012. After waiting for eight months, I finally received a letter from OPM stating, “To be eligible for a supplemental annuity benefit, you needed to be re-employed at least two years.” All the information I have been able to find indicates a one-year eligibility requirement. Do you know if this has changed to two years and, if so, what is the reference and effective date?
A. According to OPM’s CSRS and FERS Handbook for Personnel and Payroll Offices, “A supplemental annuity is payable only if the final period of re-employment of at least one year of actual continuous full-time and/or part-time (equivalent to at least one year of full-time employment) service.” Go to www.opm.gov/retirement-services/publications-forms/csrsfers-handbook/c100.pdf, then scroll to Section 100A51.1, which is the same for FERS as it is for CSRS. Either your work record doesn’t conform to the standard or OPM has made an error. You’ll need to ask for an explanation from them.
