Q. I’m due to retire this September. I receive my estimated annuity statements but have LWOP accumulated over the years under FMLA. How will this affect my pension? Is there a formula that will, for example, reduce the annuity by a certain percentage for (blank) number of hours? A. Unless you took more than six months of LWOP in any calendar year, it will have no affect on your eligibility to retire or in your annuity calculation.
Browsing: LEAVE
Q: I am 54 years old and under the FERS system of retirement with close to 20 years of service. I will turn 56, the MRA, in September 2012. My plan is to take sick leave with a combination of LWOP from Aug. 1, 2011, to Sept. 29, 2012, and around July 2012 apply for the MRA+10. Does this seem logical? A: Your plan is self-centered and doesn’t take into account the needs of your employer. Sick leave may only be taken if it fits one of the reasons stated in regulation. Leave-without-pay may be granted at the sole discretion…
Q: I am a federal employee GS 1811-14 step 10 with the ATF. I am also a member of the Army Reserve. For the last several years I have performed extensive military service in LWOP status from my civilian position with ATF. I am now approaching retirement and being told that my high-3 is based upon “actual” pay received and not my grade and step at the time. In that the LWOP I used to perform military duty significantly reduces the pay I would have received for my grade/steps/25 percent LEAP, I am significantly penalized for my military service. As…
Q: In 2008, I retired involuntarily at 60, with 20 years under FERS, because of funding cuts. In 2009, I was re-hired in a permanent GS position by another department. My salary was offset by the amount of my annuity. I am planning to retire after completing at least five, or six+ years, in 20015-16. How will my re-determined annuity affected, under following conditions: (1) do I qualify for 1.1 percent per year rate, instead of 1 percent, as I have now; (2) my earlier high-3 was approx $120,000, at GS14-10 for all years, whereas as GS-13/10, in current job…
Q: I am a CSRS employee with 32 years of service and have held a full-time billet my entire career. After the birth of my second child, for six months I worked 20 hours a week and took LWOP on my timecard. This was an approved action by my supervisor and everything was in writing. My question, could this affect my retirement calculations? I was not officially part time, but when using the FedCalc there is a section to enter part-time hours and when I do, my final reports are definitely different. A: The combination of reduced hours and leave…
Q: I am a FERS Rural Carrier in New Jersey. I have 13 years in as a full-time carrier. I have a question about using LWOP (leave without pay). Every year I use all of my annual leave, however I have more than 100 sick days unused. I am a healthy person in general, but in 2010, I did have to use three weeks of SL (under FMLA) for the care of my father. However, the question is, I would like to take more time off. If I have coverage of my route and the time I take off does…
Q: I am a FERS rural carrier for the U.s. Postal Service. I have 13 years in as a full-time carrier. Every year I use all of my annual leave, however, I have more than 100 sick days unused. I am a healthly person in general, but in 2010, I did have to use three weeks of sick leave (under FMLA) to care care for my father. I would like to take more time off. If I have coverage of my route and the time I take off does not conflict with other carriers and their requested time off, can…
Q: When civilians work compressed schedules (such as six 12-hour shifts and one eight-hour shift for 80 hours in a two-week period), how many holidays are they entitled to have off, or can the agency make them work all the holidays? A: Full-time employees are entitled to an “in lieu of” holiday when it falls on a nonworkday, even if they are on flexible or compressed work schedules. When that happens, the employee’s holiday is the basic workday immediately preceding the nonworkday. There are exceptions, one of which allows the head of an agency to designate a different “in lieu…
Q: If while on leave without pay for OWCP work-related injury the LWOP used does not count against me for retirement purposes, then why does the LWOP used count against my sick leave and annual leave accrual? It doesn’t make sense to lower my accrual rate for annual leave and sick leave while I’m absent due to OWCP-LWOP work-related injury. They don’t penalize us for retirement purposes, and they shouldn’t penalize us in our accrual of annual and sick leave either. If it’s not counted against us for retirement purposes, it shouldn’t count against us for anything. It’s not our…
Q: You recently answered a question regarding sick leave credit, outlining the formula used to determine the credit at retirement. Does the same formula apply to a worker who works a 4-10 work week? A: Yes.