Q: I was recently offered voluntary early retirement from the U.S. Postal Service. I have 30 1/2 years of credible service, I am under the Federal Employees Retirement System, and I am 51 years old. I am also considered a reduction-in-force employee because our district office has been closed. Do I qualify for the special retirement supplement? A: You would be eligible for the special retirement supplement when you reach your minimum retirement age, which is 56.
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Q: I receive federal disability retirement from the U.S. Postal Service after 27 1/2 years of service. My disability was approved for anxiety and severe depression. During my postal career, I was a city letter carrier. I have an opportunity to take a job as a medical courier. Do you think this job will jeopardize my continuing to receive disability? The two jobs are a bit similar in nature, however the stress level of the new job would be far less. I do not want to jeopardize my disability in any way. There is no way I could ever return…
Q: According to the American Postal Workers Union, the grievance to give postal employees who took early out in 2008 and 2009 severance pay is now 15 months old. Is this going to happen? I voluntarily left, moved over for the next person, then in October 2009, they came out with the $15,000 buyout. I feel that postal employees who retired early really got the shaft. A: No one who accepts an offer to retire early is eligible for severance pay. On the other hand, what you may be asking is whether the U.S. Postal Service is going to give…
Q: My husband has been working for the U.S. Postal Service for 26 years. He is 53 years old. He is entitled to Federal Employees Retirement System benefits at age 56, but he wants to retire now due to health issues. Can he do that? A: The only way he could retire before reaching his minimum retirement age would be if he was approved for disability retirement. To find out if he is eligible, he’d have to file for disability retirement and, at the same time, file for Social Security disability benefits. His personnel office can help him do that.
Q: My husband passed away Jan. 25, 2009, and I’m receiving his Social Security benefits, as well as benefits from the U.S. Postal Service. If I remarry, will I lose the benefits from the USPS? I know I will still collect his Social Security. A: Unless you were to remarry before age 55, your survivor annuity wouldn’t be affected. If you did remarry before age 55, that annuity would be suspended. It could only be restarted is the marriage were ended by annulment, divorce or the death of the new spouse.
Q: I am need to clarify whether disability retirement becomes nontaxable once a person reaches retirement age. I cannot get a clear answer from the Office of Personnel Management or the Internal Revenue Service. I have gone over IRS Publications 721 and 525. My father left the Post Office on disability in 1972. He is now 78 years old, and I am trying to file his tax returns. He is not eligible for Social Security. A: There isn’t a tax break for a federal disability retiree unless he is totally disabled for all gainful employment. The retiree’s age has no…
Q: I have been working at the U.S. Postal Service for 26 years. I am 58 years old, and I will retire very shortly. I know that I cannot collect the special retirement supplement under these conditions, but will I start to receive the supplement when I turn 60? Or does retiring under the Minimum Retirement Age +10 provision require me to forfeit the SRS totally? A: No one who retires under the MRA+10 provision is eligible to receive the special retirement supplement. That’s the law.
Q: I was retired medically from the Army with less than 20 years of service. My health improved enough for me to work at the U.S. Postal Service. I was then called back to active duty to complete my 20 years of service, serving an additional three years and eight months. I returned to the USPS in 2005. I retired from the Army with a military pension and Veterans Affairs Department disability of 50 percent. Can I still receive my military pension and VA disability and buy back only those years I returned to active duty to get credit for…
Q: I’m a U.S. Postal Service employee. For more than two years, I’ve been on periodic roll with the Labor Department. My physician’s report was disputed, and the Labor Department sent me to its physician. Eventually there was a referee physician picked by the Labor Department. The referee physician determined that I was unable to work until I had knee joint replacement. I’ve had five knee surgeries, four of them job-related, and at this time will not have the surgery. My question is, is it possible to be put on permanent periodic roll by the Labor Department, or do I…
Q: I started working for the Postal Service in January of 1995 as a PTF clerk. Now I am a full-time employee. Under the Federal Employees Retirement System, how do my part-time hours get counted for retirement time? Over 14 years, I have between 12,000 and 13,000 hours. A: Go to to Office of Personnel Management’s chapter on the computation for part-time employees and scroll down to Subchapter 55B, Part 55B2.