Q. I’m a FERS employee whose federal service has been broken up by multiple periods of leave without pay due to permanent changes of station accompanying my active-duty spouse. I looked over your website and found lots of questions/answers regarding high-3 and LWOP of less than six months but not much on what happens when it is more than six months. Based on the answers I found, is LWOP greater than six months considered a break in service and thus possibly damaging to your high-3? For example, I worked 18 months at a base salary of $57,146 and $58,141, followed…
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Q. I retired under CSRS and chose a survivor benefit for my wife. My wife worked in private industry and contributed to Social Security and started collecting a Social Security pension. My last letter from OPM said my wife would receive a survivor benefit of $670 per month. How would the offset provision affect her monthly income in the case of my demise?
Q. I will complete nine years of civil service as of August, as well as 22 years of military service. If I apply for Voluntary Separation Incentive Pay, what, if anything, can I expect to receive?
Q. I recently separated after 12 years of active duty in the military. I now work as a GS. What are the advantages of buying back my time, and how do I calculate how much will it cost? How many years do I have to serve as a GS before I can retire? I am 32 and been in the GS one year.
Q. Early retirement was offered at our agency with a must-separate date of Aug. 3. Can that day be extended to Dec. 31 by our associate commissioner or the Office of Personnel Management if you are working on a specific project important to the agency? A. No.
Q. I took the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority on July 31. I am receiving the special retirement supplement. I have since applied for Social Security disability. If I am approved for SSDI, will I lose the supplement even though I did not file for Postal Service disability? And will I have to pay back the supplement for the months I receive back pay from Social Security? And will I need to notify the Office of Personnel Management that I am receiving Social Security disability?
Q. I am an 083 series DA police officer nearing retirement. I believed the retirement requirement for federal law enforcement officers was the same as federal firefighters in that retirement was mandatory at age 57. Our SF 50s indicate that we are not emergency-essential, but our installation says we are and maintains requirements as though we are — e.g., we cannot be released when the post shuts down early for severe weather, we work weekends and holidays, and we are expected to go to work when the installation is closed and winter driving advisories are in effect. What federal and/or…
Q. Can a supervisor force an employee to take leave without pay over taking annual leave? The employee’s day care provider called in sick, and the employee had to stay home with a healthy 4-year-old child. The employee has exhausted sick leave but has an annual leave balance, as well as some comp and credit time. The supervisor denied the request for annual leave and instead put the employee on LWOP for the day. The employee called in and left a voice mail for the supervisor promptly on the day the child care provider was not available. Can the supervisor…
Q. I served from April 1983 to April 2001 with 17 years, 11 months and 29 days. I received a separation payment of $32,690. I have since received a 90 percent disability rating through the VA and have paid back the separation pay. I am looking at starting working for the federal service at a GS-9 position at the VA hospital; should I buy back my military time? I am 49 and looking at working until I reach 62. If I buy back my time, how much will I have to pay to buy it back? A. I don’t know…
Q. I was a federal employee for 26 years and, from 1987 onward, was under FERS. I left my last federal job in June 2009 at age 58, after having passed the minimum retirement age and having been enrolled in the Federal Employees Health Benefits plan over the entire 26 years of my federal employment. In June 2009, I said that I intended to take a postponed retirement, some time after I reached age 60. It is my understanding that my enrollment in FEHBP was suspended at the time I left my last federal employment, in June 2009. I had…