Q. The Postal Service is moving my job 83 miles away (out of the Office of Personnel Management’s “commuting area” definition). But USPS management is denying any claim for severance pay if anyone turns down these positions. Shouldn’t anyone at my installation who turns down these 1½-hour commuting jobs be entitled to severance pay? My particulars are: 45 years old with 15½ years of creditable FERS service.
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Q. I am a disabled veteran. I was employed by the Postal Service for almost 10 years. I was injured in 2011, the result of a previous ankle sprain. I was approved for workers’ compensation and have received benefits for the past two years. Recently, I received a letter stating that my employer USPS will separate me via disability separation. If they do, should I apply for increased veteran benefits or Social Security disability? What laws should protect me from being separated?
Q. I am a Postal Service employee under FERS. I originally planned to retire Nov. 28, 2014 to avoid another holiday season. First, can you retire with more than 440 hours of annual leave? Second, if I delay my retirement to the end of December and my annual leave is paid in January, will that lessen the taxes I would pay since my income would be less?
Q. I am a rural carrier under FERS. I am 58 with 22 years. If I defer my pension until 60 to keep from getting the 5 percent-per-year penalty under 62, can I still get my health insurance now?
Q. I worked for 35 years with the Postal Service. I am 64 years old. My 40 quarters are fully paid up from work prior to the USPS job and being a military reservist and active duty. I understand the reduction that the windfall elimination provision and government pension offset takes. After my federal retirement, however, I have continued working. I have not applied for Social Security yet. I still work, landing a job at a military base as a New York state employee. So I have now been making “substantial” payments into Social Security ($100 per pay period). I…
Q. I am a Postal Service employee in maintenance as an electrical technician. I have 23 years of service at age 56. Our office is going through an accelerated plant closing. I received a letter of involuntary reassignment (no date given) in May. There are no ET jobs within 50 miles of our office (limit on excessing under American Postal Workers Union contract). Under the contract, I can be forced into a lower-level job, (window clerk, city carrier, custodian) up to 50 miles away with saved grade and retreat rights. Can I qualify for a discontinued service retirement? If not, what do I need to…
Q. I have worked for the Postal Service for 26 years. I just turned 50. I am under FERS. If I decided to retire at the end of the year, how would I calculate what my annuity will be? Additionally, if there were another early-out offer from the Postal Service, how would I benefit from that rather than retiring outside of the offer?
Q. I have been told by the Office of Personnel Management that if I postpone my retirement until age 60, I would be penalized for every year I am under 62 and will not be eligible for the special retirement supplement. I am 59½ with more than 28 years in the Postal Service. Our facility is consolidating, and our jobs are at stake. I am a clerk and do not want a carrier position because of my health. I plan on retiring in February to reach my 60th birthday. If I don’t accept a carrier position, can I: 1. Take…
Q. I am a Postal Service employee with an issue. I was on active duty from January 1985 until April 1994, when I separated from the military and entered the Reserve. I started work at the Postal Service in 1995, and bought back my military time. In January 2003, I was mobilized on active duty until 2013. During this period (approximately July 2011), I fell into sanctuary (18-year lock in) and was retained on active duty to complete 20 years of active federal service, Feb. 28, 2013. I am now back at the Postal Service trying to make up contributions…
Q. I am covered as a retiree from the Postal Service under a Federal Employees Health Benefits plan. I am also covered on a plan under my name from my late husband’s employer, from which he retired. The rules for coordination of benefits state that if you are covered under two plans in your name, the plan that you had longer would be primary. Since I retired in July, my FEHB plan changed in that it is no longer paid with pretax dollars; it is paid monthly and the premium is not the postal rate but the rate other federal…