Q: I am an employee with U.S. Customs and Border Protection in a covered 6(c) law enforcement position. I have 19 6(c) law enforcement years for retirement purposes. I am also in the National Guard. If I enter the active-duty Army and take leave without pay for the next five years, which years would be included to make up my “high 3” for retirement purposes under the Federal Employees Retirement System? Is the high-3 calculation based on actual money earned (i.e., the three years prior to entering active duty with the military), or is it based on my paygrade and…
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Q: I was a federal employee for the better part of 1991-1997, during which time I made a deposit for a percentage of my base pay received during active-duty Army service that totaled $8,098.17. I then separated from civilian service and returned to active duty, where I remained until retirement in 2007. I am now a civilian employee again. I no longer intend to use my years of military service toward a civilian retirement. Is there any way I can have that deposit refunded, either now or when I retire as a civilian employee? A: You could only receive a…
Q: I am retired under the Federal Employees Retirement System. I had sick leave accrued, but I did not use it before I retired. I am looking at returning to federal service; will the sick leave I did not use be given back to me if I am rehired? A: Yes, it will.
Q: I have worked for the federal government since February 2008 when I was hired as a temporary employee. In September 2009, the job converted to permanent. Is there any way to buy back my temporary time so that I could reach career status sooner? A: No, there isn’t. You can’t make a deposit to get credit for any period of non-deduction service occurring on or after Jan. 1, 1989.
Q: If I retire with 30 years of federal service under the Federal Employees Retirement System at my minimum retirement age of 56 and I go back to work outside of the federal government, will I lose my Social Security supplement? A: If you exceed the Social Security earnings limit, your special retirement supplement will be reduced by $1 for every $2 you earn. In 2010, that limit is $14,160.
Q: I am a 58-year-old physician with 16 years of military service from 1978 to 1994. I am taking a job with the Veterans Affairs Department. In the benefits booklet I received, there is a note as follows: “Physicians and dentists covered under Title 38 provisions must complete 15 years of creditable service in order to use Physicians/Dentists Special Pay as basic pay in determining the high-3 average salary used in the computation of a [Federal Employees Retirement System] annuity. If I buy into FERS for my 16 years of military service, does this count toward “creditable service,” or is…
Q: I’m on Civil Service Retirement System disability retirement. Will my annuity be affected if I return to work for my local county government or the federal government? A: If you were to be rehired by the federal government, the salary of your new position would be offset by the amount of your annuity. If the salary for that position was equal to or exceeded 80 percent of the current pay for the position you held before retiring on disability, your disability annuity would be suspended. If you went to work in a nonfederal position, there wouldn’t be any offset…
Q: I understand that a military deposit has an effect on a person’s service computation date, Thrift Savings Plan funds and leave issues, but does it have any bearing on a new hire’s employment status? To clarify, will it change a person from “career conditional” to “career” if they have more than three years of military service? A: Making a deposit for active-duty service in the armed forces has no effect on a new hire’s employment status. As a rule, he must complete a probationary period and have three years of substantially continuous service to receive a career appointment.
Q: I left federal civil service in 1982 after 17 1/2 years of service, and I am considering returning on a part-time (50 percent) basis. I had more than seven months of unused sick leave when I left; will I get the unused sick leave reinstated? What amount of sick leave will I earn? At what rate will I earn annual leave? Also, I was under the Civil Service Retirement System when I left. If I return to civil service, will I go back under CSRS, would I go under the Federal Employees Retirement System, or would I have a…
Q: I am a Civil Service Retirement System optionally retired rehired annuitant. Because I am under CSRS for retirement, is my salary as a rehired annuitant subject to Social Security withholding? A: As a pure CSRS rehire, you aren’t subject to Social Security deductions unless you were hired as a senior official. If you were, you’d be covered by CSRS Offset, and Social Security deductions would be mandatory.