Q. I’m a FERS employee covered under the law enforcement officer/firefighter provision. I have 25 years of service and have reached my minimum retirement age. If I get fired for misconduct, can they deny me my firefighter retirement benefit?
A. According to the Office of Personnel Management, “FERS law enforcement officers and firefighters may retire voluntarily or involuntarily (except by removal for cause on charges of misconduct or delinquency).” Whether your misconduct will bar you from retiring under the LEO provisions is something your agency will have to decide. If there is any question about that, they can check with OPM.
3 Comments
As long as he has reached his MRA and has 25 years of service, he is already eligible for voluntary retirement. They can’t deny his retirement since he’s already eligible. Now if he were not eligible for retirement already and got fired for misconduct, he wouldn’t be eligible for Discontinued Service Retirement. Since he’s already eligible, it shouldn’t be an issue. My advice is that if he thinks he may be fired for misconduct, he should retire now.
Yes that is a no-brainer! The only smart choice for anyone eligible for immediate retirement facing possible termination or being threatened with it is to apply for retirement immediately!
Don’t know how smart, but it does let the bully off the hook to continue strong arming the little guy (employee.) Yea! That’s the Federal Government way…forced retirement.